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Acts 28:16-22  PAUL MEETING WITH  THE JEWISH LEADERS 

Introduction:

	In our previous text the Apostle Paul, along with other prisoners finally 
arrived at Rome to await their trial before the Roman Caesar.  Our text today 
tells of Paul calling for a meeting with the Jewish leaders at Rome.   

I.  Paul’s special privileges

	V. 16, “And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to 
the captain of the guard...”  Luke, the writer of the book, says, “...we came to 
Rome...”  That is, Julius, the Roman centurion who was in charge, along with the 
100 Roman soldiers under his command, plus Paul and the other prisoners, plus 
Luke, Aristarchus and all of the Christian brethren from Rome who had gone out 
to meet Paul and accompany him to Rome.  
	One of the first things that took place upon their arrival at Rome was 
that Julius, the Roman centurion, delivered his prisoners to the captain of the 
guard and turned them all over to him.  He, no doubt, also delivered whatever 
letters that Festus, the Roman governor of Judea had sent to explain why he was 
sending each of the prisoners to the Caesar for trial.  
	For the most part, it must have been a great relief for Julius to finally 
arrive at Rome and to turn his prisoners over to the captain of the guard.  His 
trip with these prisoners had been a hair-raising experience.  The ship in which 
they had traveled had been caught in a terrible storm.  The ship had been 
destroyed by the storm and they had all been forced to go into the stormy waters 
and attempt to get to the shore.  It had been by the mercies of God that they 
had all reached the shore safely.  So it must have been good to turn them all 
over to the captain of the guard and be relieved of his responsibility 
concerning them.  
	However, it must have been with much regret that he would part with one of 
those prisoners.  It must not have been an easy task for him to say “Goodbye” to 
the Apostle Paul.  I think that it is safe to say that he had never before had a 
prisoner like this man.  He had come to respect this man and to like this man.  
Here was a man of real character.  Here was man who had contact with Almighty 
God.  Here was a man who had the favor of God.  He was a man to be heard and a 
man to believed, a man to be respected.  
	Luke does not tell us if the centurion had become a believer in the Lord 
Jesus Christ under the influence of Paul, but I think that there is the strong 
possibility that he was by this time a saved man.  
	Luke does not say so, but Julius must have spoken to the captain of the 
guard about the Apostle Paul and persuaded him to be deal kindly with Paul.  But 
Luke does make it clear that the captain of the guard gave Paul privileges which 
prisoners did not normally  receive.  (V. 16), “...but Paul was suffered to 
dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him.”  Paul was not required to stay 
in a prison cell as other prisoners had to do, but was placed under house 
arrest.  He was allowed to acquire a private dwelling where he could stay.  He 
did, of course, have a guard with him at every hour of the day.  In all 
likelihood,  We may assume that the guard was changed regularly.  This would 
allow Paul to witness to many different men during the two years that he would 
be there awaiting his trial.  It appears that Paul’s Christian friends, members 
of the church at Rome, rented the house for him and  supplied it with whatever 
his necessities may have been.  
.        
II.  Paul calling for the Jewish leaders

	V. 17, “And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief 
of the Jews together...”  Another great privilege which was given to Paul was 
that visitors were allowed to come and go freely and visit with him in his 
rented house.  Luke says that he did not summons the Jewish elders to come visit 
him until after the first three days had passed.  It would seem that Paul spent 
those three days visiting with his Christian brethren.  There was Luke and 
Aristarchus, who had accompanied him from Caesarea.  There were the Christian 
brethren who had gone out to meet Paul and accompany him on the last leg of his 
journey into Rome.  There must have also been other members of the church at 
Rome who visited him in addition to those who had gone out to meet him as he 
traveled in.  Those three days must have been a time of rejoicing and also a 
time of prayer and counseling.  After three days of visiting with the Christian 
brethren, Paul sent a message to the Jewish synagogue and asked that the chief 
Jewish leaders of the synagogue get together and pay him a visit.  
	(V. 17), “...and when they were come together...”  Luke does not say if 
the Jewish leaders came the very day they were summoned, but they apparently 
were not long in coming.  Once they had gathered Paul wasted no time in telling 
them the reason that he had asked them to come.  He wanted to inform of the 
circumstances regarding his arrest and imprisonment.  It was important, if 
possible, to win these people to his favor so that they would not speak against 
him in his hearing before the Caesar.  He wanted to gain their good favor before 
the Jews of Jerusalem could prejudice them against him.  
	(V. 17), “...he said unto them, Men [and] brethren, though I have 
committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I 
delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.”  Paul readily 
acknowledged that he had been arrested and was brought to trial before the Roman 
court.  Although his accusers were Jews, he declared to these Jews at Rome that 
he had done nothing against the Jewish people nor had he done anything against 
the customs of the Jews.    
	Paul stated that the Roman court at Caesarea had heard the case against 
him and that the Roman officials had concluded that he was not guilty of crime 
and that they would have set him free had not the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem 
insisted that he go back to Jerusalem to be tried by the Sanhedrin Court.  V. 
18-19, “Who, when they had examined me, would have let [me] go, because there 
was no cause of death in me.  But when the Jews spake against [it], I was 
constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of.”  
Paul had appealed his case to the Roman Caesar in order to keep from having to 
go back to Jerusalem where the leaders insisted that he be put to death.  
	V. 20, “For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see [you], and 
to speak with [you]: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this 
chain.”  Paul said that this was the reason that he had called this group of 
Jewish leaders in Rome together.  He wanted them to know that real reason that 
the Jews at Jerusalem were insisting that he be put to death.  Paul said that it 
was because of the hope of Israel.  That is, it was because of the faith that he 
had placed in the Messiah, the Christ, whom God had promised would come to save 
the people of Israel.  
	All of the Jews of that day believed in the coming of the Christ.  But the 
Jewish leaders at Jerusalem had rejected the idea that Jesus of Nazareth is the 
Christ.  Paul, on the other hand had come to believe that Jesus is the Christ.  
It was because Paul believed that Jesus is the Christ that the Jewish leaders at 
Jerusalem wanted Paul put to death.  They had successfully brought about the 
crucifixion of Jesus.  Now they wanted this man who preached that Jesus is the 
Christ put to death.  

III.  The response of the Jewish Paul’s explanation

	V. 21, “And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judaea 
concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm 
of thee.”  The Jewish leaders of Rome who had come to see Paul responded by 
saying in effect, “Paul, we do not know anything about any accusations against 
you.”  You will note that they did not say, “Paul, we have never heard of you.”  
It was well known that Paul, who had once severely persecuted and persecuted 
Christians, had become a Christian and had become a zealous preacher saying that 
Jesus is the Christ.  They had not heard anything about Paul being arrested.  
But they had heard nothing about any charges which the Jews at Jerusalem had 
made against Paul.  They had heard nothing about Paul being a prisoner of the 
Roman government and, therefore, had not heard about Paul’s trial being appealed 
to Caesar.  They had heard nothing about any effort on the part of the Jews from 
Jerusalem seeking to get them to testify against Paul before the Caesar.  
	V. 22, “But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as 
concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against.”  But there 
was one thing these Jewish leaders at Rome had heard about.  They had heard 
about the Christian movement which proclaimed that the Christ had already come 
and that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ.  They had heard that in all places 
where Jews lived the Christian movement was Christians were being spoken 
against.  
	They had heard about the Christian movement which proclaimed that the 
Christ had already come, but they really did not know much about this movement.  
They did not know why the followers of Jesus proclaimed that Jesus is the 
Christ.  They had apparently had a desire to know more about the Christian 
movement for a long time, but they had no opportunity to learn much about it 
first hand.  At this time they were not concerned at all that the Jewish leaders 
at Jerusalem were enemies of Paul.  What they were concerned about was that one 
of the leading men in the Christian movement was in their city and that they now 
had an opportunity to learn firsthand what the Christian movement is all about.  
This was the kind of opportunity that did not come along every day.  It was for 
them a chance in a lifetime and they wanted to take advantage of it.  
	I am not going to read verse 23, but I do want to refer to it.  Instead of 
trying asking Paul questions about his conflict with the Jewish leaders aback at 
Jerusalem, these Jews asked Paul to set a day on which he would explain to them 
what the Christian movement is all about.  They wanted to go back to the 
synagogue and announce it so that every member of the synagogue who was 
interested could come and hear Paul’s explanation of what Christianity is all 
about.  
   
IV.  Great blessings in times of trouble 

	In this text we see that the Apostle Paul experienced some great blessings 
at a time when his life was filled some very great troubles.  Those of us who 
are Christians have similar experiences in our own lives.  Let us take a look 
first at Paul’s situation.  
	Paul experienced great joy in his fellowship with other  Christians.  Paul 
had great fellowship with the Christian brethren who were in the church at Rome.  
A goodly number of them upon hearing that Paul was being brought to Rome had 
walked out to meet him and accompany him as he traveled that last leg of his 
journey into Rome.  Once he was in Rome and in his rented house, he spent the 
first three days fellowshipping with brethren of the church at Rome.  What a 
joyous time they must have had!
	We, too, have great joy fellowshipping with our Christian brothers and 
sisters.  What joy they bring to our hearts!  How dreadful it would be to have 
to do without them!  They are worth more to us than silver and gold.  It is a 
great blessing from God to have the privilege of Christian fellowship.  Their 
presence helps to lighten the heavy load of this life’s troubles.  Their 
presence makes it much easier to endure the troubles of this world that we live 
in.  
	The Apostle Paul received help through some unexpected sources.  He 
received help from the Roman centurion.  It is a rare thing for an officer of 
the law to speak on behalf of one of his prisoners the way that the Roman 
centurion did for Paul.  Paul received help from the Roman captain of the guard.  
It is a rare thing for an officer of a prison to allow one of his prisoners to 
leave the prison compound and to rent a house in town and live there.  Yet that 
is what the captain of the guard did for Paul.  If we were able to look back and 
see all of the very unusually nice things that people have done for us through 
the years even we would be amazed by it.  And some of those outstanding 
kindnesses have come from people that we might have least expected it.  Isn’t 
God good to lay it on the hearts of so many people to be so kind and helpful to 
us?
	The Apostle Paul received both physical and material blessings to supply 
his need.  He really needed that house in order to do the preaching and teaching 
that he would do during the two years he would remain a prisoner awaiting his 
trial.  He needed that house and he got it.  He not only got the house, but 
somebody else paid the rent for him.  He had no means of his own to pay the 
rent.  He could not even make tents and sell them in order to pay his rent as he 
had done earlier while on the mission field.  He needed a bed to sleep in and, 
even though Luke does not mention it, we can feel confident that a bed was 
furnished so that he would not have to sleep on the floor.  He would need 
clothing for the changing seasons of the year.  Whatever clothing he had in his 
possession when he left Caesarea, he had lost in the shipwreck --- all except 
what clothes he had on his back.  Whatever he needed, some of the Christian 
friends generously furnished.  He may have needed some food in addition to the 
rations he would get as prisoner of the Roman government.  I feel confident that 
some of those members of he church at Rome carried some welcome meals to Paul as 
they visited with him in his rented house.  
	When it comes to the physical and material blessings we have received, I 
think we could all say that God has been mighty good to us.  In all probability 
there are probably none of you who could be counted as “rich folks” when it 
comes to material things, but I also feel sure that we could all say that God 
has been mighty good to us in supplying our need both in physical health and in 
material blessings.  Led us never forget to thank the Lord and praise the Lord 
for His goodness to us.  
	The Apostle Paul was blessed with continued opportunity to witness for 
Jesus and to win souls to Jesus.  Paul was given an ideal setup for preaching 
and teaching the word of God for the next two years. We have no idea how many 
people he won to the Lord during that space of time nor do we have any idea how 
much good he did the cause of Christ as he taught Christians the truths of God 
during that two year period.  I suspect that all of us combined may not win as 
many souls to Christ or teach and many Christians in our whole lives as Paul did 
in that two year period of time.  But even we have been blessed with continued 
opportunity to witness for Jesus and teach and strengthen some Christians along 
the way.  We should praise the Lord for every opportunity to witness to the 
unsaved and to strengthen some saved person.  Our Christian witness is not only 
of great potential worth to others, but it should be highly valued by us.  We 
should count the opportunity to witness to the unsaved and to be of some 
spiritual help for the saved as being worth more to us than a fortune in silver 
or gold.  It is worth more to us to witness to a lost soul than to strike it 
rich on the stock market of to win in the lottery.