
Why Acts 27 is the Most Missional Chapter in the Book
Paul’s journey is a new exodus as he crosses water from Jerusalem, the new Egypt, toward Rome, the great city of the empire. He moves from the land of Israel through the gentile sea. The ship is a fairly obvious symbol of the Roman ship of state. Paul sets sail in a Roman ship as a Roman prisoner, under custody to a centurion named Julius, who is from the Augustan battalion (Julius! Augustan!), who treats him with consideration (Acts 27:3).
Against Paul’s advice, Julius sets out from Fair Havens and immediately runs into a turbulent storm. The sky turns apocalyptic; darkness blots out sun and stars (27:20). It’s another Deluge. A world is coming to an end, and the Roman ship of state is sure to be wrecked. During the storm, Paul effectively becomes the ship’s captain. He assures the crew that no one will be lost (27:21-6) and orders the sailors to stay on the ship (27:30-2), while Julius prevents the soldiers from killing the prisoners because of his determination to bring Paul to Rome (27:42-3).
On the morning of the fourteenth day after Yom Kippur (27:9, 27, 33), Paul encourages the crew to eat. He takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and passes it out to the 276 on board (27:35-7). He turns the Roman ship into a church, the site of Eucharist. He’s another Jonah who leads a ship’s crew to worship the living God while travelling to preach in a city threatened with destruction.
A skilled workman in the company of the Carpenter of Nazareth, Paul measures not only the church but the world, in anticipation that both the land of Israel and the sea of Rome will be brought into the ark of Christendom, dry and safe. This is what Paul is after from the outset. He doesn’t intend merely to rescue a few from the shipwreck. He and the other apostles aim to save everyone and to pilot the Roman ship safely through the storms of coming judgment. He intends to overthrow the powers and replace the sacrifices to demons with the Eucharistic sacrifice. As an apostle of the Greater Noah, he pilots a new ark that will bring the voyagers to a new world.