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Paul: Shipwrecked on Malta
Finally, Paul was put on a ship and sent to Rome. Luke writes “And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius.” (Acts 27:1)
Paul didn’t travel alone; Luke and Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica went with him. They sailed along the coast of Asia and the journey was comfortable thanks in large part to Julius who treated Paul with kindness and gave him permission to visit with friends when they docked in Sidon. The voyage was slow and tedious with multiple stops at various ports. The seas grew progressively rougher raising concerns in Paul’s mind about the safety of the ship and those on board. When they had docked in a port named Fair Havens and were contemplating the next leg of the journey Paul approached the men in charge and cautioned; “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship but also of our lives” (Acts 27:10)
The pilot and the owner of the ship disagreed with Paul’s assessment. Fair Havens didn’t provide the best conditions for wintering in port and setting off as quickly as possible meant they could get to their destination before winter, perhaps securing their financial gain in the process. Julius agreed with the pilot and the owner regardless of how their vented interests may have colored their assessment of the situation. Paul said nothing more probably because as a prisoner his options were limited and his voice didn’t matter. Confident that they had made the right choice the men put out to sea and soon faced a nightmare.
A gentle southern wind kicked up, alleviating any nervousness they might have had after Paul’s ominous warning. The ship glided along at a good clip along the coast of Crete and all was well. Then without warning a northeaster bore down on them; unrelenting in its fury and unrivaled in its force. The wind caught the ship in its fingers and tossed it against the ocean like a plaything, foaming and frothing the waves around it until it seemed on the brink of being swallowed whole.
Heavy with cargo the ship lumbered against the waves, awkward and unwieldy, juddering into the blackened peaks of water before plunging into the yawning troughs at breakneck speed. Terrified the captain ordered that the cargo be jettisoned and this helped relieve the stress on the ship but the inky darkness that surrounded them day and night made navigation impossible. They were lost at sea, tossed about in the waves until everyone on board gave up hope of making it out of the tempest alive. Everyone except Paul, who had someone foreseen the calamity and now weather it with far more courage than the men who had recklessly dived into it.
Paul turned his eyes to God for deliverance and God gave him a message of hope. After fourteen days at sea passengers and crew were hungry, cold, and exhausted. Standing up to face the group Paul shared the message that God gave him; “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. Yet now I urge you to take heart for there will be no loss of life among you but only of the ship. For this very night, there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship and he said “Do not be afraid Paul, you must stand before Caesar and behold God has granted you all those who sail with you. So take heart men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have told you (Acts 27:21-25)
Why does Paul begin his message of hope with a rebuke? It seems like an inappropriate and even insensitive move to preface a message of encouragement with an I-told-you-so but sometimes, like it or not, we need to hear hard things. Especially if they help us avert potential disasters in the future.
Despite Paul’s opening remarks what the men latched onto was the message of hope. Regardless of the loss of cargo and even the ship, none of them would lose their lives. God gave them that gift because of one faithful man in their midst. Paul’s faithfulness to God was the means of saving all the lives on board that ship. Our faithfulness to God can be the means of saving lives battered by the storms of life.
After two interminable weeks of being tossed about the ship was driven across the Adriatic sea and the sailors sensed that they were nearing land. They measured the depth of the water twice and found that they were drifting closer to shore. Terrified that they would be dashed on a reef everyone began to pray. Then at daybreak on day fifteen they made out the coastline of an unfamiliar island. At this point, some of the men on board decided to make a break for it rather than risk the possibility of being dashed to pieces. Discreetly under the pretense of checking on the lifeboat, these men began to lower it. Paul understood what they were doing and immediately went to Julius with the words “Unless these men stay in the ship you cannot be saved.”
This time Julius didn’t stop to question Paul’s warning. He ordered the soldiers to cut away the rope on the lifeboat so that it hit the frothy surf and drifted away, empty. As the sailors watched their last hope of escape being swallowed by the weaves they realized that their only hope of salvation was to trust the words the angel had spoken to Paul. They were all in this together to the bitter end trusting Paul’s God to save them.
When daylight broke the sailors could see enough of the coast to spy a bay with a beach and they decided to run the ship aground if possible. They cut loose the anchors and hoisted the mainsail, hoping the wind and the waves would drive them to shore. They didn’t get very far before the prow stuck possibly in a sandbank and the stern was ripped apart by the battering waves.
In a moment of panic, the soldiers decided to kill the prisoners, reasoning that it would be impossible to keep them close while trying to make it to shore themselves but the centurion put a halt to their plans, unwilling to see Paul harmed. He ordered every man to save themselves and make a break for land. As God had promised not one life was lost and everyone made it safely to shore.
“And when we were brought safely through we then learned that the island was called Malta. The native people showed us unusual kindness for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all because it had begun to rain and was cold” (Acts 28:1-2)
Being shipwrecked off an unknown island after nearly two weeks of being tossed about in a violent storm would have worn down even the most hardened sailors but the hospitality of the natives seemed to make up for their tough times. As they all congregated around the fire to warm themselves, Paul picked up a bundle of wood to toss into the fire. A viper slithered out of the wood because of the heat and latched itself onto Paul’s hand venomous fangs first. Paul’s reaction was curiously nonchalant; “He…shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm” (Acts 28:5)
Native lore claimed that a man who was bitten by a venomous snake was a criminal and the Maltese who saw what happened whispered that Paul was perhaps a murderer on the run who had escaped the sea only to have justice catch up with him. They watched closely waiting for him to swell up as a result of the venom or simply keel over and die. When neither happened they changed their minds and swung to the other extreme calling him a god.
Part of being human is being fickle on occasion. There are times when as quickly as we condemn someone we are willing to fall down and worship them. Or as quickly as we worship someone we are willing to tear them apart. Our judgments of others are often skin deep, based on nothing more than superstition or collective bias that has nothing to do with God’s Word. The Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
Our hearts are not an accurate compass. On its own, the human heart can never point true north let alone find it. We are confused and tainted by sin and need an external source to point us toward true north. That external source is the Word of God coupled with the Holy Spirit.
The Maltese based their assessment of Paul on bias, tradition, and superstition. They were sincere in their beliefs but sincerity doesn’t equate to truth. The safest compass available to humanity is the word of God. It cuts through social and cultural biases and presents us with the unvarnished truth. The Holy Spirit brings that truth home to our hearts and minds. The question is are we open to being led by it?
Paul’s time on Malta came to a close in the house of Publius, the chief of the island who entertained the survivors for three days. At the end of this Publius’ father fell ill with dysentery and was very sick. Paul healed him and this miraculous act led the other islanders to bring their sick to Paul for healing as well. We can well imagine that Paul used this opportunity to preach the gospel to them and offer them hope. After three months on Malta Paul and the rest of the crew found passage on a ship that had wintered on the island and set sail for Rome.
