Day 295: Acts 28:11–14

There we found believers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome (v. 14).

In the early spring of AD 61, God fulfilled His promise to Paul. The apostle arrived in Rome. Our text in Acts is very brief and may leave some of us yearning for details. Although Luke wrote about the shipwreck in detail, he did not include Paul’s reaction when he reached Rome. Surely he was overwhelmed by the imposing sight, yet more so by his faithful God.

Paul had never seen anything like Rome. At the time of his arrival, Rome was inhabited by one million citizens and approximately the same number of slaves. By even today’s standards, the city was gigantic. Rome shared a number of characteristics with many current overcrowded inner cities. Although magnificent buildings and luxurious villas begged to steal the onlooker’s attention, he would have to tear his focus from the seas of tenements on the verge of collapse. These four- to five-story insulae, with no running water or sanitary restrictions, housed most of the city’s population.

As Paul approached the gargantuan city, I believe God knew he would be overwhelmed by a great sea of strangers and the certainty of enemies. Not coincidentally, God met him at each stepping stone to Rome with brothers. Keep in mind that brotherhood in Christ is not a term related to masculinity. It refers to the unique fellowship shared by brothers and sisters in Christ.

Scripture refers to a natural sibling of Paul’s only once, yet I counted ninety-nine times in his epistles when the apostle referred to other Christians as brothers. The Greek word for “brothers” is adelphos. In reference to fellow believers in Christ, the term “came to designate a fellowship of love equivalent to or bringing with it a community of life.” As Paul approached Rome, God knew he needed “a fellowship of love” or “a community of life.”

Paul’s need was not unique. People are desperate for a sense of community today. We all want to feel like we belong somewhere. God recognizes our need for community and desires to meet the need through His church—the body of believers God organized to offer a community of life.