Looking over Paul’s interesting history, we can see the grace of God in His ways toward His servant. Paul might question himself, and be cast down at the knowledge of his failure to walk in the power of the Spirit. The Lord comes to him to cheer him, and tells him that, as at Jerusalem he had witnessed for Him, so would he do at Rome. (Acts 23:1111And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. (Acts 23:11)).
So that all along the way he might be assured that the Lord was taking him there. All the enemy’s efforts, through men, to destroy him, were unavailing. God was making the, wrath of man to praise Him, and to fulfill His purposes, and Paul had to succumb to all the discipline His divine Master and Lord put on him by the way, His grace at the same time fully restoring him to communion with Himself, and making all his sufferings, sufferings for Christ, and clearly showing that the Apostle was like his Master in suffering rejection for the truth’s sake.
In this part of his history, we find grace makes him superior to all around him in the sense of the Lord’s goodness, protecting him and others with him, and truly wonderful to see how like Joseph in the prison all his words come true.
Verse 1. With other prisoners, Paul is given in charge of Julius, a centurion of Augustus’ band. Luke is there, but it is not said as a prisoner. The Lord makes Julius favorable to Paul, so that when the ship touched at Sidon, he allowed Paul the liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself. No doubt, his companions, Aristarchus and Luke, would share this joy of Christian fellowship with him. Another refreshment by the way from the Good Shepherd of the sheep.
Luke gives us a vivid picture of the voyage, and Paul is seen in it, not as a prisoner, but in reality directing and encouraging the whole company. They did not at the start take his advice (Vers. 9-11), but as the storm rages, and all despair of their lives, Paul stood forth, and said, “Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of life of any of you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, saying ‘Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar; and lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.’ Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer; for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. How be it we must be cast on a certain island.”
In verse 31 he prevents the sailors from fleeing out of the ship, and then encourages all to take food (they had had no regular meals for fourteen days), with the promise that their lives would be spared, and it was necessary for their health. Then he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all; and when he had broken it, he began to eat. Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some food.
But the ship was doomed, and their lives were spared as Paul had declared. The soldiers, soldier-like, wanted to kill the prisoners to hinder any of them from escaping; but Julius, the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should first get to land, and the rest, some on boards, and some on anything of the ship that would hold them up. And so it came to pass that they all escaped safe to land.