Once again, welcome back. Paul now was being sent off to Rome to stand trial before Caesar, and he was handed over to the control of Julius the Centurion. The centurion took Paul aboard a ship and sailed along the ports of the province of Asia. Paul’s companions, such as Aristarchus and Luke, continued to travel with Paul, even as he was under arrest. When they arrived a Sidon, Julius allowed Paul to go to some of his friends that they might care for his needs. From there they sailed to Myra in Lycia where they found an Alexandrian Ship that was on its way to Italy. The ships from Alexandria were responsible for bring grain to Rome from Egypt.
Sailing was difficult as they sailed to the lee of Crete. Because of lost time, it had reached the season where sailing became dangerous, and so Paul warned Julius that if they sailed, the trip would be disasterous. But Julius instead listened to the advice of the ship’s owner and the ship’s pilot and they decided to set sail. Now it seems obvious to us that he should have listened to Paul, but remember that from Julius’ perspective, who was he going to trust, some prisoner who he was taking to stand trial, or a ship owner and pilot who should clearly be more acquainted with sailing?
In any event, Paul was of course right, and a Northeaster storm came down and swept the ship away. The sailors were afraid that the ship would run aground when they passed an island, so they lowered the anchor. After days on these stormy seas, and the men had gone a long time without food, Paul addressed the men. Now Paul was never one to give up a great chance for an “I told you so,” said just that. But then he encouraged them, telling them that an angel had told him that they would all be spared.
A fortnight into their journey, the sailors noticed they were starting to reach more shallow water. Some of the sailors tried to escape, taking the lifeboat, but Paul told Julius, “hey, if these guys leave, we won’t be saved.” So Julius, now taking Paul’s advice after seeing how disastrous it was when he didn’t, ordered the lifeboat’s ropes be cut and they let it drift away. Paul again encouraged the men, and urged them to eat, after which they threw the grain overboard. The next morning the ship ran aground.
Now the soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners to prevent them from escaping, but by this point Julius wanted to protect Paul (you know, since he tried to prevent them this loss in the first place, and had been giving helpful advice to save them in the end), so he ordered the soldiers to spare the prisoners. From there those on the ship swam or floated on planks to shore on Malta.
And so today we will preview Julius.
And so for his Redemption card, Julius searches for the Alexandrian Ship (huh, we haven’t previewed that card, I wonder what it could be) that he secured for the transfer of Paul and other prisoners to Rome.
Check back once more tomorrow as we cover Paul’s time in Malta and finally his arrival in Rome.
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