In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days. And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him. So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed. They also honored us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary.
Acts 28:7-10

We are not told why the leading person of Malta extended hospitality to these visitors to his island. I won’t speculate regarding that. Neither are we told precisely who Luke was referring to with the word “us” (v.7). It is highly unlikely that the Publius opened his doors to the entire 276 people who were aboard the wrecked sailing vessel. Had that been the case, how large was Publius’ house?! Therefore I can only assume the word “us” refers to Paul and Luke and any others in their immediate circle, though the text does not say. What is important, however, is that the Lord providentially saw that at least Paul and his companions were cared for quite nicely.

The more important point is that the Lord placed Paul in a situation in which the Lord could use Paul to heal Publius’ father from a serious (and likely lethal) bout with illness (v.8). Let us remember that in addition to healings revealing God’s kindness, more importantly, miracles were a means of validating the gospel message that the Apostle was most certainly preaching.

The Lord also used this single healing to bring others needing healing (v.9)—resulting not only in more healings but in more hearings of the gospel message. How many times has God providentially dropped us in situations in which we could share the gospel? How many times are we mindful to seize those opportunities? Conversely, how many times have we remained oblivious to open doors? Granted, we may never find ourselves in situations as dramatic as Paul’s shipwreck, but may we pray to be aware of open doors.

On a practical note, as a result of all of this, the people of Malta were all the more hospitable in caring for their unplanned visitors (v.10).