Saturday 23 May 2026
Acts 28:16-20, 30-31. The just will gaze on your face, O Lord – Ps 10(11):4-5, 7. John 21:20-25.
The hope of Israel
The book of Acts closes with Paul in Rome, preaching while effectively under a permissive house arrest. By this point Paul has in many ways reached the culmination of his life. His conversion is long behind him along with the travails of his missionary journeys. He has spent much of his life proclaiming the gospel, defending it against those who would corrupt it and pastoring to numerous churches. There is something profound about God’s providence in this end to Acts, which is the second work of Luke following on from his Gospel. The narrative of that Gospel begins with John the Baptist who proclaims the immanent revelation of ‘the hope of Israel’ to that small, oppressed nation on the fringes of empire. Acts ends with that proclamation again, now past tense, with Paul declaring Jesus as the saviour of the world in the heart of that same empire.
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