March 6th, 2022

Ash Wednesday was the beginning of the Lenten season, and this Sunday is the First Sunday in Lent. For many weeks we have been looking at how Christianity was spoken about, both for and against, in the book of Acts. And I hope that it has been helpful for you.
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Last week was a look at St. Paul, the one who was arrested, and we heard him speaking quite positively regarding Christianity. This was the last, extensive speech of the entire book. And he was essentially defending Jesus more than himself. And St. Paul was saying that this Jesus is the One about whom Moses and the Prophets were writing.

At the end of St. Paul’s speech and the ensuing discussion, there is a striking statement that often gets the reader’s or listener’s attention. Agrippa says to Festus: ‘This man was able to be released if he had not appealed to Caesar (Acts 26:32b; a somewhat-literal translation).’ So, if you feel badly for St. Paul at this point in time, that is normal, but that is also not necessary. First of all, with those words, his release was only stated as a POSSIBILITY. On the other hand, St. Paul’s trip to Rome MUST happen, at least from his perspective, and that will become more obvious as the trip is described.

The following trip to Rome should therefore be read with a positive perspective. And since the Lenten season is also like a trip, and a very positive one as well (although sometimes that may not be so obvious), that will be the emphasis for the next forty days or so. And the rest of the writing for this week will be a starting point to help us get a proper perspective of this important trip.

First of all, it may be helpful at this point to incorporate a small quotation from a huge commentary on the book of Acts. Here is how Craig S. Keener sums up this journey to Rome in a recent writing:

The message of this voyage narrative, then, is of a piece with the message of the rest of Acts: “Nothing can stop the gospel.” Also, it reiterates that the gospel is for all peoples; through God’s providence and his servants’ obedience and sacrifice, it will penetrate even the heart of the empire. This mission will require suffering, but the suffering itself becomes an opportunity to show what God’s servants are made of (a pattern also recognized by ancient philosophers) and hence to glorify God all the more [Acts: An Exegetical Commentary, Volume 4. Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA: Baker Academic, 2015; page 3569.].

Perhaps you are already somewhat familiar with St. Paul’s trip to Rome. If not, that is certainly okay. There are a lot of details about that trip within the book of Acts that you might consider boring or unimportant. In the text we will have many details about the boat ride to Rome and how the people tried to get there at a time of the year when it was not very easy to do.

Was the writer of Acts a man who liked to show off his knowledge of seafaring vocabulary? Was meteorology a favorite hobby of his? Probably 'no' to both questions.
As the speech given last week was historical, this way of travel is also historical, and it actually happened. But with such great detail, there may be something more in this account that is not so obvious, but it is still most certainly true.

Next week’s writing will have a somewhat-literal translation of that first part of the trip by boat, and it will contain all those small details within the text. And there are a LOT of them. And eventually there will be a not-too-positive event—spoiler alert—there will eventually be a shipwreck. (But St. Paul also predicted that as well.)

As was mentioned above, we will leave for next week a translation of Acts 27:1-20. And the translation given will try to point out the complexity of some of those details, but in ways that focus on something more important than the weather or the waves. We should never forget the One who is working ‘behind the scenes’.

Last week’s emphasis within the speech of St. Paul may give a hint as to what is important within this historical retelling. If there truly is an importance within the speech of St. Paul regarding FIRST the day and THEN the light, this is the completely OPPOSITE order as to what happens in the creation account. To give a reminder of those verses, here is Genesis 1:1-5, also in a somewhat-literal translation:

In beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and empty. And darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering on the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let it be light.’ And it was light. And God saw the light, that it was good. And God separated between the light and between the darkness. And God called to the light ‘day’, and to the darkness he called ‘night’. And it was evening, and it was morning, day one.

If there is a progression from day to light in the speech of St. Paul, and if this is meant to be a backward progression that connects in a way to the creation account, then the next thing in reverse order is the Spirit—literally ‘breath’ or ‘wind’ of God—on the face of the waters. With that in mind, perhaps the winds that are described in the following text are not completely evil, and their details may be helpful to gain a more positive perspective. This is a good reminder of a bigger picture, one that especially includes God, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Even more important than connecting the winds to the Spirit, if you continue in the opposite direction as they appear in Genesis, you are led back to the One who started it all. And that is not a bad place to end.