Acts 27:1-20 And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners to one named Julius… I. THE NARRATIVE. "Thrice I suffered shipwreck: a night and a day I have been in the deep." Thus St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians more than two years before. Of those earlier shipwrecks we have no record. But here we have a detailed account of a fourth shipwreck. 1. St. Paul's long detention is now ended. One of those merchant vessels, on which even generals and princes had to depend for transit, was now in the harbour of Caesarea, bound for Adramyttium, where it was expected that an opportunity would be found of exchanging for a vessel directly bound for Italy. One day brought them to Sidon, and the courtesy of the centurion, interested thus early in his prisoner, allowed Paul the opportunity of visiting the place and the Church. What these glimpses of Christian friends were to him we might guess from his character, and we know from his letters. 2. Contrary winds began early to retard progress. It was necessary to change the usual direction, sailing along the east and north of Cyprus, and coasting along the shores of Cilicia and Pamphylia, until they reached the Myra. There they lighted upon an Alexandrian corn ship — driven, perhaps, by the same stress of weather out of its straighter course to Italy — and to this the passengers were transferred. 3. It was increasingly a tedious passage. The wind, west or northwest, compelled them, after leaving Cnidus, to take the less desirable eastern side of Crete and then along its southern shore as far as an anchorage which is still called Fair Havens. For the moment they were in safety; and now that season had set in which sailors knew to involve, in those seas, especial danger. "The fast was now already past," i.e., the Day of Atonement, occurring (like our Michaelmas) at the end of September, and used, like it, as a common date of time. To advance further was an act of imprudence against which Paul ventured earnestly to remonstrate. The warning was unheeded. "The harbour was not so commodious to winter in," and there was a better within forty miles, sheltered from those dreaded winds. 4. The decision to proceed was taken, and for the moment all seemed to favour it. Instead of the troublesome westerly and northwesterly winds, there blew from the south a gentle breeze, which enabled them to start with every advantage for the desired haven of Phoenix. Triumphant, no doubt, over the cowardly prudence of the apostle, they advanced a few miles, in good hope and high spirits, along the sheltering shore of Crete. But a sudden change came. A tempestuous wind (Euroclydon) from the northeast came down upon the ship, and there was nothing for it but to let her drive. It was with difficulty that they took up the boat which might become necessary for the safety of the crew. Then they passed cordage round, and other precautions were taken to avoid their being carried upon the quicksands of Syrtis. The next day they lightened the ship of a portion of its cargo; the day following of all its spare tackling. 5. And now it is impossible to imagine a more dreary and dispiriting scene than that which Luke presents. "No one," writes Dr. Howson, "who has never been in a leaking ship in a long-continued gale can know what is suffered under such circumstances. The strain both of mind and body, the incessant demand for the labour of all the crew, the terror of the passengers, the hopeless working at the pumps, the labouring of the ship's frame and cordage, the driving of the storm, the benumbing effect of the cold and wet, make up a scene of no ordinary confusion, anxiety, and fatigue. But in the present case these evils were much aggravated by the continued over clouding of the sky, which prevented the navigators from taking the necessary observations of the heavenly bodies." To the gloom and despair was added the exhaustion of long abstinence. There was among them but one person now capable of command — the Christian prisoner, unheeded till danger pressed, but now the one leading and animating spirit. He reminds them of their disregard of his warning. The remembrance might make them listen now. And then be gives the solemn assurance, in the name of his God, that there shall be no loss of life. 6. For the time there was no respite. The fourteenth night of that tossing was now come, when some sounds, indicative of approaching land, struck upon the practised ear of the sailors. The first notice was soon confirmed; and now an imminent danger arose of being wrecked upon the rocks of some unknown shore. Nothing could be done save to throw a number of anchors from the stern of the vessel and then to wish for the day. Oh, how many a weary watcher through a long night of sickness of body or anguish of soul has had to do that, and could do nothing more — just to wish for the day! 7. Before dawn a new peril had shown itself. The selfish sailors had formed the project of seizing the boat and leaving the passengers to their fate. It was again the Christian apostle whose ready discernment and calm promptitude averted the danger (ver. 31). As if he had said, "There is work before us which will need a mariner's skill as well as a soldier's courage." The hint was enough. The soldiers cut the ropes of the boat before the sailors could enter it. Yet once more is St. Paul's voice heard; and it is in the same calm and constant tone which has made him the commander of all who sail with him. He foresees that the last struggle will be trying, and that exhausted frames can ill meet it. He therefore prays them to take some food, in the assurance that, however imminent the peril, life is secure. By precept first, and then by example, he summons them to this humble duty. After this, in the prospect of a speedy end of their suffering, they threw overboard the remaining wheat, that the vessel might be lightened for its last grounding. Morning dawned upon an unknown shore, upon which the vessel was so driven that, while "the forepart stuck fast and remained immovable, the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves." 8. At this last moment a formidable danger threatened the life of St. Paul. It was the counsel of the soldiers to kill the prisoners, lest in the confusion any of them should escape from custody; and the suggestion was only frustrated by the care of Julius for that one Christian prisoner who from the first appears to have awakened his interest, and who by his conduct during these trying scenes must have gained a firm hold upon his confidence and esteem. As it was, a more humane order prevailed. II. THE LESSONS. We have seen St. Paul in many positions, and noticed his activity, boldness, wisdom, faith, charity, devotion, skill, patience. But the point before us is a combination of them all. 1. Danger is always a test of character. One man is daunted, another bewildered, another irritated, another rendered selfish by it. Read the history of a sudden alarm of fire in a crowded building. The impulse of self-preservation is so strong as to defeat itself; and a heap of crushed or burnt corpses will attest both the predominance and the infatuation of a spirit of selfishness in the heart of man in a time of great and sudden jeopardy. There are three influences which may under given circumstances counteract it. (1) A sense of honour. The captain of a burning or sinking ship will count it his duty to be the last to quit her. A regiment of soldiers will keep guard on deck over order and life, and count death itself but the just forfeit of a profession which is the soul of honour. (2) And humanity alone has sufficed to make martyrs. A man worthy of the name will fling himself into deep water, in cold winter, to rescue a drowning woman. (3) How much more will love counteract the force of selfishness, and make timidity for the moment brave! 2. But how different are these things, at their highest point, from the sustained calmness and commanding wisdom of Paul! None but a Christian could have thus done and thus spoken! Notice — (1) The tranquillity. This man belongs to God: "Whose I am, and whom I serve." Nothing can come amiss to him. He is the property of one to whom to belong is to be immortal. (2) The elevation. This man is in communication with God: "This night the angel of God stood by me." A man like this is just the converse of Jonah. To have him in the ship is a safeguard. See how a child in a thunderstorm will feel himself safe with a pious parent! Nay, more than children have known the comfort of having a righteous man under their roof in days of popular excitement or raging pestilence. (3) The faith. This man "believes God that it shall be even as it was told him." What? "As thou hast testified of Me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome," and the one faithful shall guarantee the faithless (ver. 24). (4) The judgment. This despised Christian is at once pilot, shipmaster, and centurion. Yes, there are times when men who have scoffed at the Christian as a visionary come to recognise his value. It is something in this selfish world to be convinced of a man's disinterestedness. And at least in the hour of death — then, if never before — we send for him, assured that he will speak to us the words of God and guide us into the haven where we would be. (5) The authority. Who is this man? He is a prisoner, of a despised race, of an outlawed sect. What is he that he should speak with authority? Yet no sooner does danger threaten than he is a man of authority. And strange to say, they listen. There is now no high priest to say to them that stand by, "Smite him on the mouth." Euroclydon and Boreas have stopped that. He stands forth now, before sailors and soldiers, face to face with Nature and with Nature's God. The day of God's judgment is the day also (even in this life) of the manifestation and the recognition of the sons of God. (6) The love. This man, if he were a natural man only, would have been simply depressed and self-contained. Yet Paul makes common cause in everything with the heathen soldiers. He cares for their cheerfulness as well as for their safety. He prescribes for their health, and he counsels for their hopefulness. Surely the love of Christ constrains him! (Dean Vaughan.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band. |
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