Acts 28:17-31: Happy New Year? (10:30)

Hope is not an outcome of favorable circumstances but the fruit of a re-ordered imagination shaped by Scripture. Acts 28 finds Paul chained, overlooked, and legally sidelined, yet proclaiming the kingdom “with all boldness and without hindrance.” That closing word reframes the data. The situation on the ground—unimpressive reputationally, institutionally powerless, met with mixed responses—doesn’t control the horizon of hope. Scripture expects honest assessment of reality, but it refuses to let circumstances dictate the conclusion. The text insists that hope lives where Jesus reigns, not where worldly leverage is within reach.

This is why Psalm 1’s promise and Psalm 73’s protest must be held together. Faithfulness is not a transactional formula, and a year of best efforts can still feel like a “hellscape.” Resolutions fail, public projects expire, and the cultural scripts keep swinging between triumphalism and despair. Yet Paul’s dataset—beatings, imprisonments, shipwrecks, rejection—does not nullify his calling or his joy. The risen Christ reinterprets the ledger. The church is invited to say “He is risen” every Sunday because it is always, right now, true. Hope is first a reality about Jesus before it is a change in our conditions.

Paul reads his moment through Isaiah 6, the same lens Jesus used. Hard-heartedness is real. Perfect words and faithful obedience will not always yield visible success; Jesus did everything right and was crucified. Still, God’s plan is not stalled by resistance. The gospel moves “unhindered” precisely in the places where human leverage is thin. That reorients posture: from belligerent combativeness to faithful presence.

Faithful presence asks four steady questions: What is good that needs encouragement? What is broken that needs repair? What is missing that needs creation? What is evil that needs opposition? The aim is not to win the culture war but to offer foretastes of the kingdom—like pink-spoon samples that make people hungry for more. Misusing the “spoon” to jab opponents only confirms the suspicion that Christians are irrelevant or extreme. Fixing imagination on Christ’s promise—He is making all things new—frees God’s people from the whiplash of political hope and the exhaustion of outrage. In chains or in influence, the task holds: welcome all, proclaim the kingdom, and teach Jesus with boldness, without hindrance.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Assess reality without illusions Honest faith does not hide from hard data—whether failed resolutions, cultural headwinds, or personal suffering. Scripture gives language for disorientation (Psalm 73) alongside the call to delight (Psalm 1). Naming what is painful is not unbelief; it is the doorway to the hope God actually promises, not the fantasy we prefer. [33:47]
• 2. Reject triumphalism and despair Without a biblical imagination, we ping between euphoria and fatalism, tethered to how the week went. The gospel breaks this cycle by relocating hope from results to resurrection. Where leverage is absent, faithfulness remains possible, meaningful, and fruitful—often in hidden ways. [37:56]
• 3. Suffering doesn’t nullify faithfulness Isaiah’s hard word and Jesus’ use of it show that resistance is anticipated, not exceptional. Jesus did Psalm 1 perfectly and was rejected; therefore, suffering cannot be a verdict against obedience. Faith endures because the risen Christ interprets the story, not the crowd’s response. [53:13]
• 4. Acts ends “unhindered” in chains The final word of Acts reframes what success looks like: gospel advance is not hostage to public favor or institutional power. Paul’s circumstances were constrained, but the kingdom was not. This perspective recovers courage to welcome, teach, and proclaim—boldly and without panic. [55:34]
• 5. Practice faithful presence, offer foretastes The “pink spoon” of faithful witness gives real samples of the coming kingdom: encouragement, repair, creation, and principled opposition to evil. Foretastes awaken desire better than outrage ever can. Misuse of the “spoon” as a weapon only confirms cynicism; generous previews of grace undermine it. [60:42]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [27:55] - Setting the scene in Acts
• [28:28] - Reading Acts 28 in Rome
• [30:14] - All-day teaching about Jesus
• [30:57] - Isaiah’s hard word quoted
• [31:19] - Salvation sent to the Gentiles
• [32:40] - Psalm 1 meets Psalm 73
• [35:39] - Resolutions, expectations, and Quitter’s Day
• [37:56] - Between triumphalism and despair
• [39:39] - Paul’s legal ordeal assessed
• [45:43] - Paul’s brutal dataset of suffering
• [50:36] - Risen Christ and real hope
• [55:09] - “Unhindered” ends the book of Acts
• [59:05] - Pink spoon: foretaste of the kingdom
• [62:06] - Christ-centered imagination, faithful presence

Bible reading

- Acts 28:17–31

Three days later he called together the local Jewish leaders. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: “My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. The Jews objected, so I was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not intend to bring any charge against my own people. For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.” They replied, “We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of our people who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you. But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.” They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus. Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet: ‘Go to this people and say, You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!” For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!

Observation questions

1. In Acts 28:20, Paul says he wears a chain “because of the hope of Israel.” What does that phrase reveal about how Paul understands his situation?
2. In Acts 28:23–24, what Scriptures does Paul use to explain Jesus, and what are the two different responses people have?
3. In Acts 28:25–27, who is speaking through Isaiah according to Paul, and how is the people’s spiritual condition described?
4. What public perception of Christians was mentioned, and how does that mirror Paul’s lack of reputation in Rome (“Who are you?” — Acts 28:21–22)? [42:39]

Interpretation questions

1. Acts closes by saying the message goes out “with all boldness and without hindrance” while Paul is still chained. What does this teach about where hope really lives—in changing circumstances or in the reign of Jesus? [55:34]
2. Psalm 1 promises flourishing; Psalm 73 protests confusion and pain. Taken together, what do they teach about faithfulness not being a transaction—and how might that reshape expectations for a new year? [33:47]
3. Paul and Jesus both read their moment through Isaiah 6. What does that do to expectations about visible success when people resist—even when we said and did the right thing? [52:53]
4. Why does a Christ-centered imagination move God’s people from belligerent combativeness to faithful presence, even when political leverage is thin? [58:40]

Application questions

1. Take honest stock. Where does life feel like “I did what I could…and it’s still a mess” (health scares, addiction in the family, job insecurity)? What would it look like to bring that straight to God without pretending? [36:32]
2. Over the last year, where did you experience the whiplash between triumphalism (“we’re winning”) and despair (“we’re losing”)? What triggers it for you, and how could you notice it earlier next time? [37:56]
3. “He is risen” is always true—every Sunday, right now. What daily or weekly practice could help you relocate hope from results to resurrection (e.g., speaking the Easter greeting at your table, journaling answered prayers, setting a weekly fast from outrage media)? [50:36]
4. When have you obeyed—spoke truth, served faithfully, did Psalm 1 things—and still met rejection or silence? How might Jesus’ own path (doing everything right yet being crucified) reinterpret that experience? [53:13]
5. Pick one circle (home, work, school, neighborhood). Answer the four faithful presence questions for that circle this week: What is good that needs encouragement? What is broken that needs repair? What is missing that needs creation? What is evil that needs opposition? Choose one small step to take. [55:54]
6. The “pink spoon” is a foretaste, not a weapon. Where could you offer a small, concrete preview of the kingdom this week (a meal, a listening ear, mending something broken, a principled but calm “no”)? Where have you been tempted to “jab with the spoon” (sarcastic posts, sharp words, scoring points), and what’s a better way? [01:01:26]
7. “Making all things new” is guaranteed. Where has your imagination been more tethered to Make America Great Again or Build Back Better than to Christ’s promise? What one habit could help you “fix your imagination” on Jesus’ ongoing renewal (Scripture reading plan, media limits, praying for leaders you disagree with)? [01:02:06]