Acts 27
A prisoner is being shipped to Rome, and the season is already too late to sail. Paul says so. No one listens. Then the Euroclydon hits, and for fourteen days there is no sun, no stars, no bottom under the keel. The crew throws the cargo over, then the tackle, then their hope. Luke counts it all - the days, the fathoms, the 276 souls aboard. He writes down everything, because everything is about to come apart.
One man on the deck is not afraid. An angel has told Paul he will stand before Caesar, and that God has given him every life on the ship. So he eats. With the timbers groaning around him, he takes bread, gives thanks, and breaks it where they can all watch. The ship will be lost. Not one passenger will be. Faith is what lets a man eat bread in a storm: he has heard God speak.
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Acts 27:1-2The Voyage Begins
1And 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. 2And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.
Paul is to be sent to Rome. The decision has been made, the centurion assigned, the prisoners delivered into his charge. Luke uses the word “we” - he is now traveling with Paul. Aristarchus, Paul's companion from Thessalonica, is also there. Paul is not traveling alone to his trial. The people who know and love him will see what God does.
Acts 27:3-5Touching at Sidon; Past Cyprus
3And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself. 4And when we had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. 5And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.
Acts 27:6-8A New Ship; Hardly to Fair Havens
6And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy; and he put us therein. 7And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone; 8And, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called The fair havens; nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea.
The voyage is slow. The wind is contrary. The ship is fighting the season - it is autumn now, and the Mediterranean turns deadly in autumn. They move from port to port, always struggling against the wind. The crew is experienced, but experience cannot command the weather. They are now near Crete, at a harbor called Fair Havens - a name that is about to turn bitter.
Acts 27:9-11Past Cnidus and Crete; Paul's Warning
9Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them, 10And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. 11Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.
Paul speaks up. He is a prisoner with no standing to advise anyone on this ship. But he can read the calendar. The fast is “already past” - the Day of Atonement has come and gone, and it marked the last safe window for Mediterranean sailing. After it lies the killing season. So he warns them plainly that this voyage will cost not only the cargo and the ship but their own lives. It is the unwelcome word, spoken by the wrong man, at the moment everyone wants to push on.
The centurion believes the ship's master and owner instead. A ship in harbor makes no money, and these men have profit riding on the voyage. The master has sailed these waters a hundred times. The ship is an Alexandrian grain vessel, one of the great merchantmen that carried Egypt's grain to Rome - valuable cargo, valuable hull. Paul is a prisoner. Why would anyone listen to him? Heeding the warning costs delay and lost profit now. Ignoring it will cost lives later. Only the first cost is visible yet, and the visible cost wins.
Acts 27:12-14The Euroclydon; The Storm Breaks
12And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west. 13And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete. 14But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.
Fair Havens is not a good place to winter. The decision is made: sail for Phenice, a better harbor on the southwestern coast of Crete. When the south wind blows gently, they think they have succeeded. They have their purpose. They loosen from Fair Havens and sail close by Crete. For a moment, it seems Paul is wrong. But the south wind is only the calm before the storm.
Acts 27:15-17Driven Before the Storm; Undergirding the Ship
15And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. 16And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat: 17Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven.
The ship cannot fight the wind. They let her drive - meaning they surrender to the storm and let it push them where it will. They run under the lee of an island to gain a moment of shelter. They undergird the ship - wrapping cables around it to hold it together under the strain. Still the storm rages.
Acts 27:18-20Neither Sun nor Stars in Many Days
18And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; 19And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. 20And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
The storm is so violent that the crew lightens the ship by throwing cargo overboard. Then they cast out the tackling - the ship's own equipment - with their own hands. Everything that can be spared is thrown into the sea. But even that is not enough. For many days, neither sun nor stars appear. The crew cannot navigate. They have no idea where they are, or where the storm is driving them. All hope that they should be saved is taken away.
In that darkness, when all hope is gone, Paul has something to say. Not yet. But he is coming.
Acts 27:21-22Paul Stands Forth: Be of Good Cheer
21But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. 22And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship.
Paul has not eaten for many days. The ship is in chaos. The crew has given up hope. Now Paul stands forth in the midst of them. He mentions that he told them so, then moves past it. He is here simply to speak. And what he says is this: “Be of good cheer.”
Acts 27:23-26“There Stood by Me This Night”
23For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, 24Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. 25Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. 26Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.
Paul promises deliverance because an angel of God has stood by him in the night. The angel has told him: “Fear not, Paul; thou shalt be brought before Caesar.” Paul's life is not in question - God has already settled it. And not just Paul's life. “God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.” Because Paul is going to live, everyone with Paul will live too.
Then comes the hinge of the whole chapter, four words wide: “I believe God.” Paul has heard a promise, and he is staking 276 lives on it. The storm is still raging. The ship is still breaking. He simply weighs the word of God against the wind and finds the word heavier. When your own night will not lift, that is the only scale that holds: whether God has spoken.
The God who settled Paul's case in the dark says the same word over you: courage. It is already decided.
God has promised. God will keep His word. Faith is the settled confidence that things will turn out as God has promised, and that is enough.
Acts 27:27-29The Soundings; Fearing the Rocks
27But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country; 28And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. 29Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day.
For fourteen nights the ship has been driven by the storm. Now they begin to feel bottom. Twenty fathoms. Fifteen fathoms. They are approaching land - they do not know what land, but land is near. They are moving through the Adriatic Sea, the waters between Italy and the Balkans. The crew throws out four anchors from the stern and waits for daybreak.
Acts 27:30-32Sailors Plot to Escape
30And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, 31Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. 32Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off.
But then the sailors see their chance. They lower a boat, pretending to cast out anchors from the foreship while actually trying to escape. In the confusion of the storm and the darkness, they can flee. Let the ship sink with the soldiers and prisoners. They will row to land themselves. It is the moment of ultimate cowardice from the very men trained to keep the ship safe.
Paul speaks again, as the one who carries God's word. “Except these” - the sailors - “abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.” The centurion believes him this time. The soldiers cut the ropes. The boat is gone. Now they are truly bound together - all 276 souls on one sinking ship, with no way out but forward.
Where are you tempted to cut the boat loose - to save yourself at the cost of those bound to you?
Acts 27:33-35Breaking Bread in the Storm
33And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. 34Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you. 35And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.
Paul does something stunning. He takes bread. He gives thanks to God in the presence of them all. He breaks it. He begins to eat. The ship is still being driven by the storm. The timbers are still groaning. But in that moment, a man stands up and eats bread with thanksgiving. And the whole ship watches.
Acts 27:36-38276 Souls Take Courage and Eat
36Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat. 37And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls. 38And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.
Luke counts them: two hundred and threescore and sixteen souls. 276 people on the ship. 276 people who have lost all hope. 276 people whose only chance of survival is a promise made to a prisoner by an angel in the night. And when they see Paul give thanks for bread, they all become of good cheer. They eat. They are still in danger. The storm is still raging. But somehow, bread broken and blessed has changed something in them.
The whole ship watches a prisoner say grace over a meal in a storm, and somehow the despair lifts. Bread broken and blessed in the dark has always been the gospel's plainest sermon.
We give thanks. We are still alive. Paul's act turns the ship from a place of despair into a place of communion. That is the power of bread offered and blessed in the darkness.
Acts 27:39-41The Ship Runs Aground
39And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship. 40And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore. 41And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.
When daylight comes, the crew does not recognize the coast. But they see a creek with a shore. They cut loose the anchors and commit themselves to the sea. They loose the rudder bands and hoist the mainsail. For the first time since the storm began, they are sailing toward something with purpose. And then the ship hits a rock. The forepart sticks fast. The hinder part breaks apart in the waves. The ship is being torn in two.
Acts 27:42-44All Escape Safe to Land
42And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape. 43But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land: 44And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.
The soldiers want to kill the prisoners. It is practical - fewer people in the water means more chance they themselves will survive. But the centurion will not allow it. He is willing to save Paul. He commands that those who can swim cast themselves first into the sea. The rest use boards and broken pieces of the ship. And so it comes to pass: they escaped all safe to land. All 276 souls. Not one life lost. Paul's word was true.
The promise made to one held for everyone tied to him. Not a single soul is lost.
The centurion let go of the boat. Everyone he was responsible for walked out of the sea alive.
Where this echoes in Scripture
“There Stood by Me This Night”
- John 16:33“In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”Jesus hands His disciples the same word Paul speaks in the storm - courage grounded in a victory already won.
- Matthew 14:27“Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”Jesus speaks it across the water in a different night storm; the word presumes His nearness even in rough seas.
- Isaiah 43:2“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.”The promise is God's presence inside the flood.
- Psalm 107:28-30He maketh the storm a calm … so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.The sailor's psalm: those who cry to the LORD in the tempest are brought to harbor.
276 Souls Take Courage and Eat
- Luke 22:19He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them.The same four verbs Luke records for Paul on the deck - took, gave thanks, broke, gave.
- Matthew 14:19He took the five loaves … and blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples.Bread blessed and broken to feed a frightened crowd in a deserted place.
- Luke 24:30-31He took bread, and blessed it, and brake … and their eyes were opened.At Emmaus the breaking of bread is the moment the risen Christ is recognized.
- 1 Timothy 4:4-5Every creature of God is good … if it be received with thanksgiving.Ordinary food becomes an act of faith when it is taken with thanks to God.
All Escape Safe to Land
- John 10:11“I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”The many are brought safe through the one who refuses to leave any behind.
- John 6:39“Of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing.”The same logic as the angel's word to Paul: of those entrusted to Him, none are lost.
- Genesis 18:32“I will not destroy it for ten's sake.”God repeatedly spares the many for the sake of the righteous few among them.
- Acts 28:1And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita.The promise lands literally on dry ground - Malta - exactly as Paul had said.