The Pain of Paul

Paul was arrested for violations of Jewish Law in the Temple at Jerusalem (Acts 22:34) and later transferred, as a prisoner, to Caesarea (Acts 23:31-32). After two years in prison there he was asked if he was willing to go back to Jerusalem to be tried before the Jewish court. Knowing the Jews in Jerusalem wanted to kill him, he appealed to Caesar's court in Rome, saying "I have committed no crime against the Jews ... if there is no substance to the charges they are bringing against me, then no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar" (Acts 25:10-11). To this, the Roman procurator Festus replied, "You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go" (Acts 25:12). Paul soon boarded a ship bound for Italy. The ship never made it.

In his Second Letter to the Corinthians, Paul claims he was shipwrecked no less than three times. Luke, Paul's traveling companion, chronicled one of these shipwrecks in detail within Acts, chapters 27 and 28. This particular incident occurred during Paul's fourth and last missionary journey. It was late autumn and sailing was dangerous. The ship stopped at the city of Sidon, where Paul was allowed to "visit his friends who took care of him" (Acts 27:3). After departing from Sidon, they ran into headwinds and bad weather. In hopes of finding better sailing, they went around the Island of Cyprus toward Myra, in what is today Turkey. In Myra, the centurion in charge of Paul transferred him to an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy. When they departed from Myra, the wind and stormy weather would not allow them to continue on their intended course. They instead sailed on the southern side of Crete, pulling into port at Fair Havens.

 

Paul realized it would be foolish to continue on their voyage and warned the men: "Men, I can see that this voyage will result in severe damage and heavy loss not only to the cargo and the ship, but also to our lives" (Acts 27:10). The centurion ignored him. The ship's owner and pilot chose to sail to Phoenix, a port on the southwestern side of the same island, to spend the winter there. This was because the port at Phoenix was better suited for the winter. The voyage from Fair Havens to Phoenix would have been a very short one.

 

Unfortunately, stormy weather hit before they arrived in Phoenix. An "offshore wind of hurricane force called a 'Northeaster' struck," and the ship was blown away from Crete and out into the Adriatic or Ionian Seas between Italy and Greece. For two weeks, they were driven by wind and stormy weather:

"We were being pounded by the storm so violently that the next day they jettisoned some cargo, and on the third day with their own hands they threw even the tackle overboard. Neither the sun nor the stars were visible for many days, and no small storm raged. Finally all our hope of surviving was taken away" (Acts 27:18-20). They even lightened the ship by throwing the valuable cargo of wheat into the sea.

Eventually they spotted land, though it was unfamiliar territory: When day came they did not recognize the land, but made out a bay with a beach. They planned to run the ship ashore on it, if they could. So they cast off the anchors and abandoned them to the sea, and at the same time they unfastened the lines of the rudders, and hoisting the foresail into the wind, they made for the beach. But they struck a sandbar and ran the ship aground. The bow was wedged in and could not be moved, but the stern began to break up under the pounding (of the waves). The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners so that none might swim away and escape, but the centurion wanted to save Paul and so kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to the shore, and then the rest, some on planks, others on debris from the ship. In this way, all reached shore safely. Once we had reached safety we learned that the island was called Malta. (Acts 27:39-28:1)

Pictured here is "St Paul's Island," in St Paul's Bay on the Island of Malta. This tiny island is very close to the shore of Malta and was probably once connected to it. Tradition holds that this is where St Paul's ship ran aground.

Throughout this entire ordeal, Paul urged his fellow travelers not to lose hope. He trusted that God would save them: "Paul stood among them and said, 'Men, you should have taken my advice and not have set sail from Crete and you would have avoided this disastrous loss. I urge you now to keep up your courage; not one of you will be lost, only the ship. For last night an angel of the God to whom [I] belong and whom I serve stood by me and said, 'do not be afraid, Paul. You are destined to stand before Caesar; and behold, for your sake, God has granted safety to all who are sailing with you.' Therefore, keep up your courage, men; I trust in God that it will turn out as I have told you" (Acts 27:21-25). The angel's message came true. All made it safely to the island of Malta. Eventually, through further travels, Paul eventually made it to Rome.

 

To continue and read about the hardship of Paul's travel, particularly the hunger, cold, and exposure he endured, click here.