When Paul said his last good-byes to the churches he had planted on the three missionary journeys, he considered his work finished in that part of the world (Rom. 15:23). He would in the future continue to write letters to these churches, but his desire was to preach the gospel where Christ had never been preached (Rom. 15:20). He chose a course which would take him to Jerusalem, planning to go from there to Spain to begin a new work. On his way, he intended to stop over in Rome, where he had never been, to visit the believers there. However, his life did not happen as he had planned. He was arrested within days of his arrival in Jerusalem, and held in custody for two years. He eventually appealed to Caesar to escape his enemies, sailed for Rome as a prisoner, survived a storm, a shipwreck, and a poisonous snake bite – and finally arrived in Rome. The Book of Acts ends without telling the end of Paul’s life, but with the story of the spread of the gospel going onward – and continuing to this day.
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