The Snake on Malta

“The islanders showed us extraordinary kindness.” — Acts 28:2

Everyone from the shipwreck had reached land safely. They were soaking wet and freezing cold, and it was raining. They found out that the island they had landed on was called Malta.

The people who lived on Malta were wonderfully kind to them. They lit a big fire on the beach and welcomed everyone, because it was raining and cold.

Paul gathered a bundle of sticks to help keep the fire going. But as he put them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him and held on to his hand!

When the islanders saw the snake hanging from Paul’s hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer! He escaped from the sea, but justice won’t let him live.”

But Paul just shook the snake off into the fire. And he wasn’t hurt at all.

The islanders waited and watched. They expected Paul’s hand to swell up, or for him to suddenly fall down dead. But after waiting a long time, nothing happened to him.

So they changed their minds completely. “He must be a god!” they said.

First they thought Paul was a murderer. Then they thought he was a god. He was neither! He was a servant of the living God, and God was protecting him.

Near the beach was an estate belonging to a man called Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed Paul and his friends into his home, and looked after them kindly for three days.

Publius’s father was ill in bed, with a fever and a bad stomach illness. So Paul went in to see him. He prayed, put his hands on him, and healed him.

When this happened, everyone else on the island who was ill came to Paul, and they were healed too.

The people of Malta gave Paul and his friends many gifts to honour them. And when it was time to sail again, three months later, they gave them everything they needed for the journey.

The people of Malta had been kind to the shipwrecked strangers. And through Paul, God was kind to the people of Malta.

Read it in your Bible: Acts 28:1–10

Dear God, thank you that you protect your people. Thank you for kind people who help strangers. Help me to be kind to people who need help, like the people of Malta were. Amen.