A plot twist

Acts 27:1-12

¹ When the time came, we set sail for Italy. Paul and several other prisoners were placed in the custody of a Roman officer named Julius, a captain of the Imperial Regiment. ² Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was also with us. We left on a ship whose home port was Adramyttium on the northwest coast of the province of Asia; it was scheduled to make several stops at ports along the coast of the province.

³ The next day when we docked at Sidon, Julius was very kind to Paul and let him go ashore to visit with friends so they could provide for his needs. ⁴ Putting out to sea from there, we encountered strong headwinds that made it difficult to keep the ship on course, so we sailed north of Cyprus between the island and the mainland. ⁵ Keeping to the open sea, we passed along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, landing at Myra, in the province of Lycia. ⁶ There the commanding officer found an Egyptian ship from Alexandria that was bound for Italy, and he put us on board.

⁷ We had several days of slow sailing, and after great difficulty we finally neared Cnidus. But the wind was against us, so we sailed across to Crete and along the sheltered coast of the island, past the cape of Salmone. ⁸ We struggled along the coast with great difficulty and finally arrived at Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. ⁹ We had lost a lot of time. The weather was becoming dangerous for sea travel because it was so late in the fall, and Paul spoke to the ship’s officers about it.

¹⁰ “Men,” he said, “I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on—shipwreck, loss of cargo, and danger to our lives as well.” ¹¹ But the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship’s captain and the owner than to Paul. ¹² And since Fair Havens was an exposed harbor—a poor place to spend the winter—most of the crew wanted to go on to Phoenix, farther up the coast of Crete, and spend the winter there. Phoenix was a good harbor with only a southwest and northwest exposure.

These twelve verses introduce Paul’s dangerous journey, as a prisoner, from Palestine to Italy. This sea voyage is written in the fashion of popular stories of the time. However, in these ancient stories, the baddies, the prisoners like Paul in this story,  usually end up at the bottom of the sea.  But – spoiler alert- Paul does not! Furthermore, we see in verse 3 Julius the centurion treats Paul with kindness (not the normal way of treating a prisoner) and Paul, in verse 10, cares for the wellbeing of all on the ship and warns them (not normal prisoner behaviour). Luke, the writer of Acts, is making a point for the reader – Paul is no ordinary prisoner. He is not a criminal. He is a God-fearing man, full of God’s Spirit, on God’s mission. The fact that Paul survives this long perilous journey against the wind and waves in ice-cold conditions is miraculous. God made the way for Paul to get to Rome – the gentile capital of the world – where he, Paul, would affirm the Gentiles in their Christian faith!

Paul went a long way, risking his life, to be with his Christian brothers and sisters, to help them hold to the faith. God led Paul on this journey. This reminds me that the church is precious to Paul because it is precious to God. And it challenges me to consider and ask; “how far would I go to help a fellow believer? What is God asking me to do today, to encourage the church?”

Dear God, thank you for loving the church – local and global. Help me to love it like you do. Please lead and use me to bring encouragement to my brothers and sisters. Empower me by your Spirit, to go the extra mile. Amen.

Written by Ps. Zoe Stewart