Acts 27:21-44
Dear RTB’ers,
Paul shipwrecked on his way to Rome. I’m not a sailor, but Luke’s detail on the sails, the anchors, and the rudders is intriguing. He was there and he wrote down specifically what he was seeing. In some sense that all makes it come alive more than other passages that I read.
And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. (v. 35) I’m sure we are all touched by this verse. Look at the verbs: …he took bread, and giving thanks … he broke it and began to eat. So reminiscent of the Last Supper, with shades of the Road to Emmaus and the Feeding of the 5,000. There is something about “breaking bread” that is special to us!
Blessings!
An aside… My Study Bible guided me a bit on ships and sailing. Presumably there were two rudders on these ancient ships, positioned on either side of the stern (the rear of the vessel). During the storm they had been hoisted up and tied so they would not get destroyed in the storm. Also, with no rudders in the water, the ship would go wherever the storm drove it and the rudders being out of the way would not hinder the ship’s free float in the sea. So now the ropes that held the rudders were being loosened (v. 40) so that the sailors could direct the ship to the bay where they wanted to land. Unfortunately they did not foresee the reef and the ship ran aground and was destroyed.