D. The extension of the church to Rome 19:21-28:31

"The panel is introduced by the programmatic statement of 19:21-22 and concludes with the summary statement of 28:31. Three features immediately strike the reader in this sixth panel: (1) the disproportionate length of the panel, including one-third of the total material of Acts; (2) the prominence given the speeches of Paul in his defense; and (3) the dominance of the we' sections in the narrative portions (cf. 20:5-15; 21:1-18; 27:1-28:16). It cannot be said that the length is related to the theological significance of the material presented. It seems rather to be related to the apologetic purpose of Luke, particularly in the five defenses, and to the eyewitness character of the narrative with its inevitable elaboration of details (cf. the Philippian anecdotes of 16:11-40). The events narrated here span the time from approximately 56 through 62."⁷⁸⁷

"This ending of the Acts forms a striking parallel to the ending of the [third] Gospel. There the passion of the Lord with all its immediate preparation is related in great detail; so here the passion' of Paul is on a scale altogether disproportionate to the rest of the book. The Acts however does not end in fact with S. Paul's death, but with a condition of renewed life; similarly at the end of Part I the passion' of S. Peter had ended with a deliverance. Thus in each case there is a parallel to the resurrection in the Gospel."⁷⁸⁸

 1. Ministry on the way to Jerusalem 19:21-21:16

At this point in his ministry Paul began to focus his attention on taking the gospel to Rome. Luke recorded the events that led up to his arrival there to show how Jesus Christ extended His church to the center of the Roman (Gentile) world.

 2. Ministry in Jerusalem 21:17-23:32

The events that transpired in Jerusalem when Paul visited the city on this occasion proved crucial in spreading the gospel to Rome. Luke wrote these events to reveal God's methods to his readers.

 3. Ministry in Caesarea 23:33-26:32

Paul's ministry in Caesarea was from prison. Luke devoted about three chapters to Paul's ministry in Caesarea primarily to reemphasize the legality of Christianity as various Roman officials scrutinized it and to repeat major themes in Paul's addresses.

 4. Ministry on the way to Rome 27:1-28:15

For a number of reasons Luke seems to have described this stage of the gospel expansion in detail. He evidently wanted to demonstrate God's protection of Paul, to illustrate the increasingly Gentile nature of gospel expansion, and to document the sovereign Lord's building of His church.

"Ever since the purpose of going to Rome had been planted in Paul's mind by the Holy Spirit, his plans had been formulated with that goal in view (19:21). No warnings of dangers to come could make him deviate from that ultimate aim, nor from the intermediate stages (Macedonia, Achaia, Jerusalem). The intervening weeks had stretched into months and then into years, and Paul had been confronted with one crisis after another, but he had divine assurance that Rome would yet be reached (23:11). The means were not what Paul could have foreseen nor what he might have chosen, but God was in control and the apostle was fully willing to leave the details in His hands."⁹⁴⁰

God led Luke to record Paul's journey to Rome in a way that is very similar to the biblical record of Jonah's journey. He may have done this so Luke's readers would note these similarities and connect the purposes for both journeys, namely God's concern for lost Gentiles.

The amount of detail in this section also raises the possibility that Luke, as a good storyteller, was building to his climax by emphasizing the improbability of Paul ever reaching Rome. He probably did this to produce a feeling of great relief and satisfaction in the reader when Paul finally did get there. Ancient Greek novelists often used this literary device for this purpose. Storms and shipwrecks were favorite obstacles heroes had to overcome to win their prizes, as in Homer's Odyssey, for example. Luke purposely built to his climax in this section as he did in his Gospel. There he described in detail Jesus' final trip to Jerusalem and His last days there, a feature peculiar to the third Gospel.⁹⁴¹

"The story is told with such a wealth of detail that in all classical literature there is no passage which gives us so much information about the working of an ancient ship."⁹⁴²

This story also throws more light on the personality and character of Paul. Though he was a prisoner, he became the leader and savior of all those who travelled with him. Though he was weak, God made him strong. He was God's man, the Holy Spirit working in and through him, for the blessing of everyone he touched. Paul is the main subject. Some people on the trip even concluded that he was a god (28:6; cf. Luke 8:25; 23:47).

Toward the end of the nineteenth century a group of Scottish unbelievers decided to expose errors in the Bible. They designated one of their number to visit all the places Luke mentioned that Paul visited with a view to proving the record in Acts inaccurate. The man chosen was Sir William Ramsay who, after thorough study of the matter, concluded that Luke was accurate in every detail. Ramsay became a Christian and wrote several books on Acts and Paul in defense of God's Word, some of which appear in the bibliography of these notes.⁹⁴³

 5. Ministry in Rome 28:16-31

Luke's purpose in recording Paul's ministry in Rome included vindicating God's promises to Paul that he would bear witness there (23:11; 27:24). Even though a church already existed there, Paul's ministry in Rome was significant in Luke's purpose because he was the apostle to the Gentiles. The apostle to the Gentiles was now able to minister in the heart of the Gentile world.