Acts 28 · Story · Hope
Hope in the Cell
The apostle Paul under guard at Rome and John Bunyan in Bedford jail each wrote about hope while held.
A Bedford prisoner of the 1660s wrote that he had never in all his life had so great an inlet into the word of God as in his cell.
So for this reason I have called to see you and speak with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”
- Where
- Rome
- Who
- Paul
- When
- Paul's two years at Rome (Acts 28:30)
Summary
Acts ends with Paul a prisoner at Rome, and he told the leaders of the Jews there that he wore his chain because of the hope of Israel. His letters from chains look past the verdict of his trial to Christ and to the heavenly kingdom. In seventeenth-century England John Bunyan, jailed for his preaching, wrote in Grace Abounding of the fears and the comforts of his years in prison, and of the Scripture that sustained him there.
- Paul stayed two full years at Rome in his own rented house under guard, welcoming all who came and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 28:16 and Acts 28:30 to 31).
- The hope of Israel for which Paul was bound is Israel's own hope, the resurrection of the dead and the promise God made to the fathers (Acts 23:6; Acts 26:6 to 7).
- From chains Paul wrote that he hoped Christ would be exalted in his body whether by life or by death (Philippians 1:20).
- Bunyan was arrested on 12 November 1660 as he was about to preach at Samsell, and he was sentenced for refusing to conform to the national church.
Two Prisoners Who Hoped
Luke's last chapter begins Paul's two years at Rome with a meeting he called.
Hope in the Cell sets two imprisonments side by side, one at the close of Acts and one in seventeenth-century England. The story belongs to the value of hope, the confident expectation of what God has promised. Luke tells Paul's story as a companion who arrived with him at Rome, and Bunyan tells his own.
The question the story answers is how a prisoner can hope when he cannot know how his imprisonment will end. Paul's words to the leaders of the Jews at Rome and his letters from chains give his answer. Bunyan's own account in Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners gives his.
When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to stay by himself, with a soldier to guard him.Luke records the terms of Paul's custody, which explain how so many could come to him in the two years that followed.
Three days after he arrived, Paul called together the leaders of the Jews in Rome. He told them, "although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, I was taken prisoner in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans" (Acts 28:17). He said he had appealed to Caesar with "no charge to bring against my nation" (Acts 28:19).
Two Years at Rome and Twelve at Bedford
Luke gives no year for Paul's arrival at Rome, and Bunyan dates his own arrest to the day.
Paul's custody at Rome is counted in days and two full years, and Bunyan's in the twelve years he counted himself.
- Paul arrives at Rome and lives by himself with a soldier to guard himon arrivalActs 28:16
- Paul calls the leaders of the Jews and speaks of the hope of Israelthree days laterActs 28:17 to 20
- Paul explains the kingdom of God from morning to eveninga day the leaders setActs 28:23
- Paul welcomes all who come to his rented housetwo full yearsActs 28:30 to 31
- Bunyan is taken at Samsell in Bedfordshire, where he had come to teach12 November 1660
- Bunyan is sentenced at the sessions for refusing to conformthe next sessions
- Bunyan writes that he has lain in prison twelve years completeabout 1672
A timeline of seven turns in two imprisonments, four from Acts 28 with their verses, one from Bunyan's A Relation of my Imprisonment and two from his autobiography.
Two Full Years in a Rented House
The leaders of the Jews heard Paul for a whole day, and he went on teaching for two years.
The leaders replied that no letters about Paul had come from Judea, and they set a day to hear him. Many came to the place where he was staying. He spoke "from morning to evening, testifying about the kingdom of God and persuading them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets" (Acts 28:23). "Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others refused to believe" (Acts 28:24).
As they began to leave, Paul quoted Isaiah's words about a people "ever hearing but never understanding" (Acts 28:26). He said that God's salvation "has been sent to the Gentiles" (Acts 28:28).
Paul stayed there two full years in his own rented house, welcoming all who came to visit him. Boldly and freely he proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.Luke closes the book with Paul still a prisoner and his teaching still unhindered.
What Paul Meant by the Hope of Israel
Before he reached Rome Paul had named his hope three times, to the Sanhedrin, to Felix and to King Agrippa.
To the Sanhedrin Paul said, "It is because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial" (Acts 23:6). Before Felix he said he had "the same hope in God that they themselves cherish" (Acts 24:15). Before King Agrippa he called it "the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to realize" (Acts 26:7).
I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel:Paul, writing to the church at Rome before he came there, answers whether Israel's place was lost.
For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.The verse states the ground on which Israel's calling stands, the faithfulness of the God who gave it.
So the hope Paul wore the chain for remained the hope of Israel. In the same letter he tells Gentile believers that they were "grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root" (Romans 11:17).
Paul's Letters from Chains
In Philippians and 2 Timothy Paul writes as a prisoner whose chains have carried the gospel further.
Paul told the Philippians that his chains had become known "throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else" (Philippians 1:13). Most of the brothers, he wrote, were made bold by them to "speak the word without fear" (Philippians 1:14).
In 2 Timothy Paul writes from Rome, where Onesiphorus "searched diligently until he found me" (2 Timothy 1:17). He says that at his first defense "no one stood with me", and then, "But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me" (2 Timothy 4:16 to 17).
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.Paul looks past the verdict of his trial to the crown the Lord will award on that day.
John Bunyan in Bedford Jail
Bunyan's own account names the justice who took him, his charge and his sentence.
Bunyan wrote that he had promised friends in the country to come to a meeting, and that a justice, Francis Wingate, heard of it and issued a warrant to take him. The constable found the gathering "only with our Bibles in our hands, ready to speak and hear the word of God", and Bunyan was taken (A Relation of my Imprisonment).
At the next sessions he was indicted "for an upholder and maintainer of unlawful assemblies and conventicles, and for not conforming to the national worship of the church of England" (Grace Abounding, section 319). The justices sentenced him to banishment because he refused to conform, and he was returned to the jail. He wrote that he had "lain now complete twelve years, waiting to see what God would suffer these men to do with me" (section 319).
The verses that held himsections 321 to 323
Bunyan named 1 Peter 1:21 among the verses that comforted him in prison (section 321). He added, "I never knew what it was for God to stand by me at all turns ... as I have found Him since I came in hither" (section 323).
His wife and childrensections 327 and 328
Bunyan feared most for his blind child. He resolved, "I must venture you all with God" (section 328).
The fear of the gallowssections 333 to 339
As a young prisoner Bunyan feared "that my imprisonment might end at the gallows for ought that I could tell" (section 333). He wrote, "Thus was I tossed for many weeks, and knew not what to do" (section 336). When his resolution was fixed, he wrote, "Now was my heart full of comfort; for I hoped it was sincere" (section 339).
What the Accounts Leave Unsaid
Acts stops before Paul's trial, and Bunyan's account stops before his release.
Luke ends Acts with the two years and records neither the hearing of Paul's appeal nor its outcome. Philippians names the palace guard and the household of Caesar (Philippians 4:22) and leaves the city where Paul was held unnamed. Bunyan wrote the prison sections of his autobiography while he was still held, so his release stands in no sentence of his own in that book.
A Hope That Rested on God
Both men's hope rested on God and on the resurrection of Christ.
Bunyan resolved to stand to God's word whether God gave him comfort in prison or only at the hour of death, and he gave his reason: "I was bound, but He was free" (section 337).
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have complete boldness so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.Paul joins apokaradokia, eager expectation, to elpis, and the STEP Bible lexicon counts only two uses of the first word in the New Testament.
Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.Peter writes to scattered believers who were suffering trials, and the verse sets their faith and hope in God.
Books to Read Next
Two books by Bunyan, both free to read in full.
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
John Bunyan · enlarged about 1672
Sections 318 to 339 are Bunyan's own account of his arrest, his sentence and his years in Bedford jail.
Read on Project GutenbergThe Pilgrim's Progress
John Bunyan · 1678
In the first part Giant Despair shuts Christian and Hopeful in Doubting Castle until a key called Promise opens its locks.
Read on Project GutenbergThe Lord Will Rescue Me
Paul's account of his first defense in 2 Timothy ends in praise.
And the Lord will rescue me from every evil action and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.Paul writes as a prisoner expecting death, and his hope is the heavenly kingdom the Lord will bring him into.
Sources
Scripture is the Berean Standard Bible.
- STEP Bible TBESG lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, based on Abbott-Smith (1922)
- STEP Bible, Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, the tagged Greek text (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0.
- John Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, sections 318 to 339 (Religious Tract Society edition, 1905)
- John Bunyan, A Relation of my Imprisonment in the Month of November 1660, printed with Grace Abounding (Religious Tract Society edition, 1905)
- John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress from this world to that which is to come (1678), first part, Doubting Castle.
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