100 Paul is Shipwrecked [Acts 27:1—28:15]
The Bible passage: [Acts 27:1—28:15]
The Story:
Paul had been arrested and tried in a Roman court. He appealed his case to Caesar, which was his right as a Roman citizen.
Paul and some other prisoners were assigned to a Roman centurion and were put on a ship headed to Rome.
Their journey had a number of difficulties with things like unfavorable winds, and it was taking a long time. They had come to a place called Fair Havens near the city of Lasea and had stopped in the harbor there.
Because of the time of year, the voyage had become dangerous.
Paul offered his advice, “I can see that this voyage is headed toward damage and heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”
But the centurion paid attention to the captain and the owner of the ship rather than to what Paul said.
Since the harbor was unsuitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to set sail from there, hoping to reach Phoenix, a harbor on Crete.
When a gentle south wind sprang up, they thought their chance had come. They weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. Not long afterwards, winds rushed down from the island. Since the ship was caught and was unable to head into the wind, they decided to let the wind drive the ship along.
They used ropes to reinforce the ship. Then, fearing they would run aground, they lowered the drift-anchor, and in this way they were driven along.
Because they were being severely battered by the storm, they began to jettison the cargo the next day. On the third day, they threw the ship’s gear overboard.
For many days they couldn’t see the sun or the stars, and the severe storm kept raging. They began to lose all hope that they would be saved.
Since many were going without food, Paul stood and said, “You men should have followed my advice not to leave from Crete. Now I urge you to take courage, because there will be no loss of life, but only of the ship. Last night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood by me, saying, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. You will stand before Caesar. And God has graciously given you all those who are sailing with you.’ Therefore, take courage, because I believe God that it will be just the way it was told to me. However, we will run aground on an island.”
When the fourteenth night came, they were drifting in the Adriatic Sea, and in the middle of the night the sailors thought they were approaching land. They took a sounding and found it to be 120 feet deep. They sailed a little farther and sounded again, they found it to be 90 feet deep. Then, fearing they might run aground on some rocky place, they dropped four anchors and prayed for daylight to come.
Some sailors tried to escape from the ship. They had let down the skiff into the sea, pretending that they were going to put out more anchors.
Paul said to the centurion, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”
The soldiers cut the ropes holding the skiff and let it drop away.
When it was just about daylight, Paul urged them all to eat, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been waiting and going without food. Therefore, I urge you to eat something. This has to do with your survival, since none of you will be lost.”
After he said this and had taken some bread, he gave thanks to God in front of them all, and when he had broken it, he began to eat. They all became encouraged and took food themselves. In all there were 276 on the ship. After eating enough food, they began to lighten the ship by throwing the grain overboard into the sea.
When daylight came, they sighted a bay with a beach, but they did not recognize the land. They planned to run the ship ashore if they could.
After casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach. But they struck a sandbar and ran the ship aground. The bow jammed fast and wouldn’t move, but the stern began to break up with the pounding of the waves.
The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners so that no one could swim off and escape, but the centurion kept them from carrying out their plan because he wanted to save Paul. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. The rest were to follow, some on planks and some on debris from the ship. In this way, all got safely to land.
Safely ashore, they learned that the island was called Malta. The local people were extraordinarily kind. They lit a fire and took everyone in, since rain was falling and it was cold.
As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a snake came out because of the heat and fastened itself to his hand. When the local people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man is probably a murderer, and though he has escaped the sea, Justice won’t allow him to live!”
However, he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. They expected that he would swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after they waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
In the area around that place was an estate belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius. He welcomed and entertained them hospitably for three days. It happened that Publius’ father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him. After this, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.
They heaped many honors on them, and when they sailed, they gave them everything they needed.
After three months they set sail in an Egyptian ship that had wintered at the island.
Eventually, they came to Rome. The believers from there had heard the news about them and had come out to meet them. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and was encouraged.
The Lessons:
- There is popular modern teaching that if you believe in Jesus, everything about your life will be happy and wonderful and prosperous. Paul would definitely argue with this bad teaching. I have shared other stories where people were doing what God wanted them to do, but they still had struggles and problems. [Psalm 34:19] says, “Many adversities come to the one who is righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all.” (CSB) In [John 16:33], Jesus Himself said, “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” (CSB)
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