The Acts Of The Apostles. Day 94, Sailing For Rome Against The Wind

Luke's account of the voyage to Rome is one of the most detailed sailing stories of the ancient world. It is an eyewitness account because Luke accompanies Paul on the journey as his personal physician.

"When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to set sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us." (Acts 27:1-2) As usual, Luke means Asia Minor when he simply says "Asia". It was the area between the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea as pictured in the map below.

Paul very well may be the only prisoner allowed to bring personal assistants along. The apostle has been found innocent by Governor Festus and King Agrippa, so it is likely that he is awarded special privileges which are not available to the convicted criminals on board.

Luke continues, "The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs." (Acts 27:3) The Lord gives Paul grace in the eyes of this centurion, so much so that Julius allows the apostle to disembark and visit with the believers at Sidon who provide him with extra supplies for the journey. In those days the authorities provided only the bare minimum to keep prisoners alive; the friends and family of prisoners were responsible for supplying most of their needs. This is why the Lord Jesus spoke of the importance of visiting prisoners, because He knew they would often do without warm clothes, blankets, medicine, and enough food to nourish their bodies if no one came to visit them. (Matthew 25:36)

"From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus becuase the winds were against us." (Acts 27:4) The ship is forced to veer off into a more northerly direction rather than the westerly direction it needs to go.

"When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus." (Acts 27:5-7a) Luke, who is usually so accurate, simply says they made slow headway for "many days". I think the time really dragged for Luke and those on board the ship. He doesn't even bother to count how many days it takes to travel from Myra to Cnidus. Each of those long days must have seemed exactly alike.

"When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement." (Acts 27:7b-9) This information means it is early October now in Luke's account of the voyage. Sailing on the Mediterranean was quite risky in autumn. The timing of Paul's voyage could have been better, but he is not in control...God is. A fierce storm is going to come up and the men are going to find themselves shipwrecked on the island of Malta. If Paul were in control he would have chosen better weather and a different time of year to make the journey, but there are people on the island of Malta who need to know about the Lord, and God is going to send the apostle there.