John Kitto Evening Bible Devotions: December 28

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John Kitto Evening Bible Devotions: December 28


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The Shipwreck

Act_27:27 to Act_28:10

Persons upon a tempestuous sea in a vessel slowly sinking under them, are not wont to turn a deaf ear to the voice that gives assurance of hope. The voice that was disregarded in the calm safety of the Fair Havens, is heeded well amid the dreads of the stormy and dark day. The former utterance of that voice is now recalled with distinctness; and its exact fulfillment causes Paul to be looked to as a prophet whose words fall not to the ground. The influence of the confidence in him thus established may be traced in all that follows, and from this time the apostle becomes the virtual commander of the ship. The promise of land caused the mariners to keep a sharp look-out ahead; and on the midnight of the fourteenth day from their departure from Fair Havens, their practised senses discovered through the gloom the sound or the white surge of breakers, which apprized them that land was near. Awful at sea as is the cry of “Breakers ahead!” it afforded in this desperate case a chance at least of safety. They can now adopt the last resource for a sinking ship, and run her ashore; but to do this before daylight, upon an unknown shore, and in a dark and boisterous night, would have been certain destruction. They must bring the ship to anchor, and hold on, if possible, until the morning, when they may perhaps discover some creek with a beach, into which they may be able to “thrust the ship.” The breakers soon became distinctly visible; and as the soundings showed that the vessel was rapidly nearing the shore, no time was lost in casting out four anchors at the stern. Ancient vessels were usually supplied with several anchors, as they had none singly of so great weight as those we use in large vessels. They ordinarily anchored by the bow, as we do; but anchoring at the stern was best for this emergency. The ship’s course would be more easily arrested, and she would be in a better position for being run ashore in the morning. The anchors held fast; and the storm-sail having been lowered, and the two heavy paddles by which (one at each side) the ancients steered their vessels, being lifted up out of the water and made fast, nothing remained but to wait patiently for day. These were, however, anxious hours. The vessel might founder before dawn, the cables might part, and it was by no means certain that the morning light would show any beach where they could land with safety. Aware of these perils, the sailors determined to take to the boat; and they lowered it under the pretence of laying out anchors from the bow, and thereby of steadying the ship, which was pitching violently in the sea. Had this dastardly attempt been successful, the peril to the landsmen left on board would have been great; for how were they to work so large a vessel when the morning light appeared? Their design was, however, penetrated by Paul, on whose declaration to the centurion and the guard of soldiers, “Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved,” they at once cut the hawser, by which the boat was being lowered over the side of the ship, and let it drop into the sea. Considering that this boat might, under conceivable circumstances, become the only means of escape from a sinking vessel, the sacrifice of it is a remarkable instance of the wonderful ascendancy which the apostle had by this time acquired over the minds of his companions on board.

It now wanted but little to day-break, when every one would be called on for the best exercise of his mental and physical powers. Therefore Paul, who alone seems to have remained in a calmly collected slate of mind, pressed upon them the importance of recruiting their exhausted frames by some food, solacing his advice by the assurance that not a hair should fall from the head of any one of them. He then set the example himself; and, having given thanks to God, took a piece of bread, and breaking it before them began to eat. Encouraged by his example and his words, all of them partook together of the only approach to a full and regular meal they had enjoyed since the commencement of the gale. Thus strengthened, a final effort was made to lighten the ship, so as to be able to run her more easily on shore; and as the wheat with which she was laden could be of no further use, they cast as much of it as they could into the sea.

The earnestly-desired day at length dawned, and revealed to them a coast, of which none of them had any knowledge. But they perceived before them a bay, within which was a creek, with a practicable beach, which they judged suited to the object they had in view of running the vessel ashore. They, therefore, cut their cables, leaving the anchors in the sea; and having hoisted their fore-sail, and loosing the lashings of their rudders to let them drop is the sea, they steered for the creek. But a little in advance of the beach was a bank or bottom of tenacious clay (produced by the disintegration of a peculiar rock), and on this the fore part of the vessel stuck fast, while, from having fallen into a place “where two seas met,” the hind part began to breakup under the action of the waves. It was clear that the vessel must go to pieces in a few minutes. Under these circumstances, the soldiers in charge of the prisoners, were afraid that some of them might swim off and escape, to prevent which they, with true Roman disregard of human life or suffering, purposed to put them all to death. But the centurion, determined to save Paul, opposed the motion sternly for his sake, taking all the responsibility upon himself. He, at the same time, ordered such as could swim to cast themselves first into the sea. They did so, and reached the shore; and as the ship went to pieces, the rest, some on boards, and others on broken pieces of the ship, made their way through the surf, and all escaped safely to land.

They soon learned from the people that they had been cast on the island of Melita. This has been usually identified with Malta; and this identification, which we have never doubted, seems to us to have been conclusively established beyond all further question by Mr. Smith, in the valuable work which we have named. He has also sustained the local tradition which points to the western coast of St. Paul’s Bay, as the immediate scene of the transaction. All the local incidents of the coast, and the creek, and the two seas meeting, and the breakers—not to mention the distance and course of the drifting voyage, agree entirely with the narrative of Luke, and cast light upon it. We have, therefore, in digesting the narrative after Mr. Smith, with collateral aids, expressed these as established facts, without going into the evidence, having many years ago, in reading Acts 27 upon the spot, received this conviction, although the subject was one on which some doubts had been previously entertained.

We observed also that the bay, with the sea beyond, is, to the naked eye, visible from Citta Vecchia, which, at the distance of five miles inland, represents what was the metropolis of the island at the time of the wreck. It is likely, therefore, that many of the citizens hurried down to the shore when they observed a large vessel entering the bay under the circumstances described, which clearly indicated that she was in great distress. Certain it is that the people of the island received them with much kindness, and hastened to afford all possible relief to their wants. Relief was much needed; for the weather was cold, the rain fell heavily, and the clothing of such as had any was drenched by sea water. A large fire soon blazed in a sheltered nook, and comforted them until the governor of the island, named Publius, who had a marine villa near the place of the wreck, could arrange for the accommodation of the shipwrecked strangers. Paul, always helpful to any useful labor that might be in hand, employed himself in gathering a bundle of sticks; but when he had cast it upon the fire, a viper came forth, and fastened upon his hand. At this extraordinary incident, the islanders concluded in their minds, that this was some murderer whom, though he had escaped the danger of the sea, divine justice suffered not to live. Paul, however, quietly shook the venomous creature off; and when after observing him narrowly a long while for the usual symptoms of this mortal bite, his body did not swell, nor did he fall down suddenly dead, they changed their minds, and looked upon him as a descended god.

The island was inhabited by people mostly of Phoenician origin; hence Luke designates them as “barbarians,” a term then applied to all who were not of Greek or Roman descent, however civilized. It was at this time a dependency of Rome, and attached to the government of Sicily. It had, however, a local governor, in the person of Publius, bearing the title, as attested by subsisting inscriptions, of (protos) primate, or first, or chief, which Luke assigns to him. This title must have been official, and not derived from his rank or wealth in the island, for his father was living. But he lay ill of fever and dysentery, and by healing him miraculously, Paul had the satisfaction of recompensing the hospitable attentions of Publius, who for three days supplied the wants of the party, and seems to have received some of them (including Paul and his friends) into his own house. After this they went to the town, and local tradition, not unlikely, ascribes to him a residence in a grotto hewn in the soft rock under that city, in which we have seen a fine statue of him, and an altar dedicated to him. The fame of the miraculous cure having spread abroad, others who were afflicted with diseases repaired to the apostle, and were healed—the Lord thus enabling him, without silver or gold, to repay the abundant kindness these good islanders had shown to the shipwrecked strangers. They considered this as a new debt of gratitude, which they repaid by rendering to Paul and his party every possible honor; and when they embarked again; loaded them with everything they could be likely to want, or that might be agreeable to them, among which, if we may judge from our own experience, oranges would not at that time of the year be forgotten.