Is He a God or a Murderer?

If you’ve stuck with me the past 28 days you have finished reading through the book of Acts. In Acts 28 we have a very interesting story, at least it’s interesting to me, about Paul and others’ reaction to him. The ship they are on wrecks itself on the island of Malta. The natives of the island are friendly to the passengers of the ship. This is what we read in verses 2-6: 2 And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. 3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4 So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.” 5 But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

Because Paul shows no ill effects from the bite of the viper, the people’s perception of him goes from him being a murderer to being a god. That’s a pretty big swing isn’t it? And in reality, Paul is neither a murderer or a god. The bible doesn’t go on to comment about this incident, the writer, Luke, just records it. But I find it to be very interesting because it illustrates how easy it is for us to make judgments about people based on an action or an event. We often use events or circumstances that happen on the “outside” to make a judgment about someone on the “inside”….and like the natives here in Malta, we are often wrong. Making quick judgments is easy for us…we don’t have to get to know the person…spend time with him/her…we just slap on a label and move on. I do this and you do this…though perhaps today will be a reminder to the danger of this practice. Finally, it is also instructive about how people judge God. People take a circumstance or event, usually a bad one, and use it to make a judgment about the nature and character of God. I hope you don’t do that either. I think we can learn a lesson from the people of Malta and a snake….Let’s not get “bit” by making quick, and often wrong, judgments.