27 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across
the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were
approaching land. 28 They took soundings and found
that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they
took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep. 29 Fearing
that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the
stern and prayed for daylight. 30 In an attempt to
escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea,
pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. 31 Then
Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the
ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 So the soldiers cut
the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.
14 days in a violent storm!
Wow. That is frightening. No wonder these men were hopeless. Now we have an attempted mutiny by way of
just leaving the ship to its own destruction.
Yet Paul intervenes saying they have to all stay together or God won’t
save any of them. The centurion and
soldiers believe Paul. They are now all
following God through the man of God.
There are no atheist in a foxhole and these men are becoming believers
now that their lives are in jeopardy and they see no hope in any other place.
33 Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the
last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone
without food—you haven’t eaten anything. 34 Now I
urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a
single hair from his head.” 35 After he said this,
he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke
it and began to eat. 36 They were all
encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 Altogether
there were 276 of us on board. 38 When they had
eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain
into the sea.
Paul urges them to eat so they will live. He reassures them that none of them will
die. Everyone witnesses Paul thanking
God for the meal. They have been in a
violent storm for two weeks; they have lost all their cargo; they have lost
hope of staying alive; they have even attempted a mutiny; they haven’t eaten
much at all in two weeks just trying to survive; and now they witness Paul
thanking God for the food. They must
have marveled at Paul’s worship!
39 When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but
they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship
aground if they could. 40 Cutting loose the
anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes
that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for
the beach. 41 But the ship struck a sandbar and ran
aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to
pieces by the pounding of the surf.
42 The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any
of them from swimming away and escaping. 43 But the
centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out
their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to
land. 44 The rest were to get there on planks or on
other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.
The ship is wrecked and all make it to shore. I imagine there was a lot of arguments and
disagreements over killing the prisoners, yet the centurion won the conversation. I also imagine that everyone was really,
really happy to get off that ship and stand on land. That must have been a very welcome experience
no matter how it happened.
When you’re on a boat and something happens, mechanical
problems or you get sick, the single greatest thing is the first step on
land. Your mind rests because it knows
that you’re safe. So much can go wrong
on the water. Getting to land is a sense
of salvation in the physical world. You
gain some hope. We are all wrecked in a sea of sin and in danger of being lost. It is
only through Jesus that we are saved and brought onto dry land. He alone is our only hope.
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