Acts 28:15
And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage. And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.
On the eighth day after landing Paul set out for Rome still a prisoner under the centurion Julius, who granted every favor in his power but could not change his prisoner condition or free him from the chain binding him to his soldier guard. He went forward with a heavy heart to his long-expected visit to the world's metropolis, because the circumstances were different from what he had anticipated. Fettered and stigmatized, he wondered how he could proclaim the gospel, and he feared his hopes of winning many souls to the truth in Rome would be disappointed, which made the courage he afterward received necessary.
The Christians in Rome had already received his letter to the Romans and were eagerly looking forward to his visit. They had not expected him to come as a prisoner, but his sufferings only made him dearer to them. Because Puteoli was only a hundred and forty miles from Rome and in constant communication with the city, news of his approach reached them and some of them went out to meet and welcome him. Christian brethren from Rome thus came out to meet Paul as he approached the city, meeting him at Appii Forum and the Three Taverns.
They welcomed him with love, deep affection, sympathy, gratitude for the gospel he had preached, and steadfast support, showing no shame over his chains despite his condition as a prisoner. When Paul saw them he thanked God and took courage. Their welcome lifted the sadness from his heart and strengthened him to continue toward Rome with renewed strength and joy and a joyful heart, despite his chains and the trials ahead.
Their presence assured him that his work and labor had borne fruit and repaid his trials, for people once without hope had received the light of eternal life and peace. Though he knew that imprisonment, bonds and afflictions awaited him, he did not regret the past or fear the future but faced it with joyful hope, rejoicing that he had helped free people from a far worse spiritual bondage and that he suffered for Christ. The verse shows a pattern for workers in God's cause: when God brings them safely through deep danger as they press forward, they give thanks to God and gain fresh courage to go on.