After taking a brutal pounding by the raging sea, shipwrecked near the rocky shores of Malta, hours in the bitter coldness of the Ionian Sea, fighting off venomous snakes at body warming fires and then spending the next three months sharing the good news of Christ with the islanders, before resuming their journey to meet with Nero in Rome, Paul and Luke, yes Luke, who was with Paul, set sale from Malta heading to their next stop. Note all of the “we’s” in the passage.
“Now at the end of three months we set sail on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had the Twin Brothers for its figurehead. After we put into Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. From there we sailed around and arrived at Rhegium, and after a day when a south wind sprang up, on the second day we came to Puteoli. There we found some brothers, and were invited to stay with them for seven days; and thus we came to Rome.”
Acts 28:11-14 LSB
Every now and then you come across a pronoun the catches your attention.
A lot of times we may overlook the important pronouns when skillfully employed by writers of scripture. Here, in no uncertain terms and distinct clarity, Luke, under the illuminating influence of the Holy Spirit, points us to see this deep, powerful and enduring friendship between Paul and himself. These two faithful ministers of the gospel confidently proclaiming Christ crucified and risen from the grave.
With divine assurance that they would be spared a watery grave, of which included every soul on that broken and sinking vessel, pressed onward. What a blessing to share those memories when experienced together with someone you care for with deep bonds of connection with Christ. What extraordinary joy it is for those who share in close proximity a common purpose in life. Two lives tried and tested, genuine and with firm commitment in serving Jesus together.
On a personal note, I wouldn’t have wanted to share this lifelong journey with anyone else but Maryann, my companion, friend and fellow traveler. We sail together through the white capped waves of this mortal life. And, in glorious hope, finds their completion on the promise of glory on the eternal golden shores.
Today, (Valentines Day tomorrow by the way), after seeing a few of the sights of the city of Messina on the island of Sicily, we toured a Byzantine era church building, we sampled lemon and strawberry granita, we sipped some cappuccino’s at a local coffee shop then we re-boarded the Viking Saturn and we caught up on laundry duty, (the free laundry room directly across the hall from stateroom 3052, our temporary abode) then we set sail for Puteoli. Actually modern day Naples. Across the straits was the modern city named Reggio Calabria, Italy. Formerly known as Rhegium. (See Acts 28:11-14.)
After leaving the cool waters of the Ionian Sea and as we passed through the straits into the warmer Tyrrhenian Sea. Our guide had mentioned something about that temperature change phenomenon creating whirlpools. Sure enough, as we passed there they were! Then, as we were preparing to head down from the viewing deck, it was brought to our attention that Stromboli was erupting. Now as far as I recall, Stromboli is like a Calzone but filled with only pepperoni. So how could that be? Well we would soon learn that there’s an island north of Sicily of that name. And it was erupting. We could see the smoke rising from the top of the volcanic island off in the distance. Then we were informed that the ship would be passing by it at 8:00PM. We were not disappointed.
Well tomorrow is Naples and an excursion to Pompeii at the base of Vesuvius which we’re told had erupted in 79AD. What are those people thinking living at the base of an active volcano? More on that in the next post.