Contemplative Bible Reading

Acts 28:4-6 (New International Version)

⁴When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” ⁵But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. ⁶The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

Here is another one of those “big change of mind” occasions we find in the Bible.

First, Paul was a murderer. I don’t make the connection of being bitten by a snake and being a murderer. That must have been part of the local folklore – only murderers are bitten by snakes or something like that.

Next, bitten by a snake meant that you would swell up suddenly and fall dead. I can buy that one. A poisonous snake latches onto your hand, has a while to fill you with deadly venom, and you die. Hence the adjective “deadly” attached to the noun “venom.”

Finally, Paul doesn’t swell up and suddenly fall dead. This is inexplicable except for one explanation – Paul is a god. Well, that explanation isn’t right. Paul had heard it a few times in his ministry, but it still wasn’t true. Paul was serving the one true God, and God had chosen for Paul to live instead of swelling up and suddenly dying.

Local folklore meets the power of God. The power of God holds sway – every time.