CANCELLED THEN VIRAL: PEOPLE JUST DON'T KNOW
Acts 28:3-6 NKJV
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.
Long before social media exposed the fact that, as people, we make assessments without knowing the truth, we have the story of Paul on the island of Malta.
We left Paul yesterday on a ship in a storm. God's Word to him came to pass, and he and the entire ship's population wound up on the island of Malta. They were all cold and wet but alive. Paul was helping to gather sticks for a fire when a viper, a particularly nasty snake, came out from his bundle of sticks and bit him on the hand. Not only did this snake bite Paul, but it was hanging on his hand.
When the natives of Malta saw the snake, they made a snap judgment. They surmised that Paul was a murderer. That he had survived the shipwreck, but "justice" was not going to allow him to live. Maybe in their minds, they bought into the idea that bad things do not happen to good people. Or they were believers in "karma," thinking the universe was repaying Paul for his wrong actions. Either way, they were wrong.
I love what happens next. Paul shakes the snake off into the fire, and it's business as usual. Once again, my admiration for Paul levels up seeing how he handled a viper hanging onto his hand. Paul was not screaming, crying, and frantically praying. He simply shook the snake off. A better man than I. Now the crowd who had condemned Paul to death as being a murderer were watching and waiting for him to swell up or fall down dead. This must have been one bad snake with a reputation for killing people fast. It does not appear that anyone was offering to help Paul. They were just watching and waiting, knowing Paul deserved to die.
But Paul did not die. He did not swell up, stumble, or have to lay down. And, after careful observation, the brilliance of the crowd determined that Paul was a god. Quite a switch from being a murderer that justice would not allow to live. So Paul went from canceled to viral in a very short amount of time.
Paul would later be used of God to bring healing to many of the people of Malta. I am certain that his reputation as the guy who the viper could not kill played a role in reaching the island. The scriptures do not indicate if the natives of Malta received Christ, but I am confident that Paul did not let the moment get away.
APPLICATION
Here is a prime example of the crowd not getting it right. They did not know the facts or the backstory of Paul, yet they made a snap judgment and condemned him to be the worst of criminals. But Paul was anything but a criminal. And He would later be used to bless the people of the island.
As people, we need to be quick to hear and slow to judge. We often do not know the whole story or even half the story. And we are simply not qualified to judge what is in someone's heart. Believe the best and leave the rest to the Lord.