Paul was in an island called Melita

Act 28:6  Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god. 

Paul was in an island called Melita. A viper came and coiled up on his hands while he was gathering sticks for a fire. The local people saw the snake hanging from Paul's hand. They said to each other, "This man must be a murderer! Though he didn't get drown in the sea, but Justice will not let him live anyway." But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and wasn't harmed. The people watched and thought that Paul would either have a swollen hand or suddenly drop dead. They watched him for a long time, and when nothing happened to him, they changed their minds and said, "This man is a god."

The inhabitants of Melita were not alone in making judgment based on calamities or fortunes of a person. Job’s friends thought that Job’s sufferings must be due to some grievous sins he had committed. Most of the Jews had this same perception too (Luke 13:1-4). But they erred in imagining that calamities must always be interpreted as judgments. In the same way, rich men are blessed not because they are righteous. The rich man in one of the parables told by Jesus was in hell fire when he died while the poor man was in the paradise of God (Luke 16:19-31). We know that Job was righteous and yet he suffered. Paul was righteous but he suffered even as he was doing the work of God. Hence, let us guard against judging a person based on his fortunes or misfortunes.

Accidents are not punishments. A good man may meet an accident in the act of doing a good deed; that does not prove him to be a monster. Likewise, an evil man may be unhurt by what seems fatal; that does not prove him to be a saint. Yet, many make the mistake of equating accidents with punishments from God. When a man is struck dead by lightning on a clear sky, many will conclude it is God’s punishment. But if he survives, they will say God is on his side. The clinging of the viper to Paul’s hand was not an evidence of the anger of God. God was not angry with Paul. But through this incident, He was demonstrating His power to the simple-minded inhabitants of His existence.

We see how changeable human opinion is. One moment the inhabitants concluded Paul was a murderer and the next moment he was a god; all basing on outward circumstances! It proves to show us this one lesson: Let us not judge by outward appearance, but make righteous judgment (John 7:24).

It goes to show how fickle and wrong our judgments can be and how we are ever prone to rush from one extreme to another. Don’t make a judgment based on everything we see. Oftentimes, things are not what it seems to be. Different kinds of character can interpret a same action differently. There was an occasion I was playfully patting my wife on the cheek. A sister saw it and asked me in a serious tone: “Did you just beat your wife?” I was stung by the question. One moment I was a loving husband and the next minute I became a wife-beater.

Paul was a murderer and then a god within a very short span of time. And, both conclusions were wrong; he was neither. Let us find out the truth before we judge a brother’s action. Things are not always what they seemed to be. We should always think the best in others: “Doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself” (Philippians 2:3, ASV).

Let love reign in our hearts. Love thinks the best about others: “Love thinketh no evil” (1 Corinthians 13:5). If we harbour a bad attitude towards another brother, it is because we have no love in our hearts. Is he a brother or an enemy? Check our hearts: “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye” (Matthew 7:5).

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.