My old Malta pics & Acts 28

In all of my travels, the ones that have made the biggest impression on me are always the ancient places I've toured. It's especially exciting to me when I find archaeological proof that backs up history in the Bible. Forget the modern stuff. I'm much more enthusiastic about ruins. 

This week we're at the end of Acts in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), where the Apostle Paul is en route to Rome in chains. This recounting of their trip by Luke is an historical nail biter with the terrible storm, their shipwreck on Malta and the viper bite. My middle-aged brain remembered that we visited Malta as a port of call with the girls way back in 2011 when they were on fall break and I booked us on a Mediterranean cruise out of Venice.

Intrigued by what I might recall, I snooped back through my pics from the cruise and found several taken in Malta. So then I read back over Acts 28 to see what I could match up with the pics I had from Malta. This is Acts 28:7-8... There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.

Located inside the old walled capital city of Mdina (pic above) is St Paul's Cathedral (pic below). The red dome you see in the top two pics is the cathedral. 

According to archaeological excavations, there were several earlier churches built on this site before the current cathedral in the early 1700s. The location is significant to Paul's shipwreck visit in Acts 28 because it's believed that this is the site of the house of Publius, the Roman's chief official on the island. It is Maltese tradition that Publius was converted to Christianity by Paul in 60 AD and became the first bishop of Malta. Roman Catholic church history recounts that Publius became the first saint of Malta and suffered martyrdom during persecution of the church under Emperor Hadrian. 

Below is a pic of the church's interior I snapped.

Though Acts doesn't mention that Publius was converted to Christianity, it's easy to grasp how that would have happened, given the miracle of his father's healing coupled with Paul's simple and loving message about God the Father and Jesus the Son. Paul was a devout believer who persevered through all suffering in order to spread the good news of Jesus' death on the cross and subsequent resurrection so that all believers can have life everlasting. Paul strived to imitate the life of Jesus Christ, and discipled these earliest believers to imitate him. Over the remainder of his life after his conversion on the road to Damascus, thought to be approximately 32 years, Paul accomplished God's eternal purpose to bring others to this same faith. And as an ambassador in chains (Ephesians 6:20), under threat of death by Jewish religious leaders, Paul refused to be silenced in his ongoing appeals to both Jews and Gentiles alike. Praise God for these earliest missionaries!