"Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.” (v.30-31)
Paul spent more than two years at Caesarea waiting for his case to be resolved (Acts 24:27). Now he spent another two years in his own rented house waiting for his case to be heard before Caesar. He probably continued his work as a tentmaker (leatherworker) to supply the rent for his house (as in Acts 18:1-2 and 20:33-35). Paul was always a hard-working man.
We also read that, "He received all who came to him." One example of someone who he received in Rome was a convert of Paul’s, a runaway slave named Onesimus (Philemon 1:10), who Paul told to go back to his master Philemon. Though Paul could not travel, he could teach and preach to all who came to him – and this he did (Preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence). He also wrote many letters; we have these two years of Roman custody to thank for the letters to the Ephesians, the Philippians, and the Colossians. These two years were obviously not wasted, and God didn’t waste Paul’s time in Rome. God never wastes our time, though we may waste it by not sensing His purpose for our lives at the moment.
As Paul came to Rome, the sea, the soldiers, and the snake all threatened his life. But God delivered him from them all. Through Paul, God shows that God’s man, fulfilling God’s will, cannot be stopped – though all kinds of difficulty may come in the way. Even the disbelief of some of the Jews – or anyone else’s rejection of Jesus – will not hinder the gospel. The gospel will go forth and find those who will believe.
Every story has an ending. But the great stories end with a new beginning. In the final chapter of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series, the characters are invited “further up, further in” as the land of Narnia is restored. Lewis writes;
“The things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this, the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.” (C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle)
Just as one adventure leads to another in the Narnia series, so Paul’s story is not over. Even though the book itself comes to an abrupt end, another story is about to begin. The Epistles are loaded with more chronicles, if you will, on the life and ministry of this faithful servant of God.
The Truth: His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ (Matthew 25:21)
