9 Since much time had been lost and sailing was now dangerous, because even the Fast had already gone by, Paul advised them,¹⁰saying, ‘Sirs, I can see that the voyage will be with danger and much heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.’¹¹But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.¹²Since the harbour was not suitable for spending the winter, the majority was in favour of putting to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, where they could spend the winter. It was a harbour of Crete, facing south-west and north-west.

The Storm at Sea

13 When a moderate south wind began to blow, they thought they could achieve their purpose; so they weighed anchor and began to sail past Crete, close to the shore.¹⁴But soon a violent wind, called the northeaster, rushed down from Crete.^*15Since the ship was caught and could not be turned with its head to the wind, we gave way to it and were driven.¹⁶By running under the lee of a small island called Cauda^* we were scarcely able to get the ship’s boat under control.¹⁷After hoisting it up they took measures^* to undergird the ship; then, fearing that they would run on the Syrtis, they lowered the sea-anchor and so were driven.¹⁸We were being pounded by the storm so violently that on the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard,¹⁹and on the third day with their own hands they threw the ship’s tackle overboard.²⁰When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul then stood up among them and said, ‘Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and thereby avoided this damage and loss.²²I urge you now to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.²³For last night there stood by me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship,²⁴and he said, “Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before the emperor; and indeed, God has granted safety to all those who are sailing with you.”²⁵So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.²⁶But we will have to run aground on some island.’

The Christian “exodus”

Doubtless Paul’s voyages somtimes brought him into danger. Luke uses this likelihood to give his readers a vivid incident which illustrates the will of God that his messenger should reach Rome in one piece. But to be truthful, Luke’s repeated insistence on the wisdom, courage and rightness of Paul begins to bore the reader. This reader anyway. Why on earth should the sailors have listened to the prisoner rather than the pilot? Can Paul always have been right? Did he really have such a hot-line to God as is depicted here? And if God really manipulates the elements to achieve his purpose, why does he bother with a storm in the first place? I’m not saying that all this didn’t actually happen -although I think it didn’t- but rather that the author’s desire to give us a meaningful image of Paul’s greatness fails to convince at this point.

It’s an issue we don’t consider very often: given that the chroniclers of Jesus and the first Christians had a  mere bundle of stories, sayings and isolated memories to work with, their capacity as authors, that is, their imagination, presentation of character, construction of plot and verbal skills, were integral to their production of holy scripture. They often do their job so well, that they allow us to see where they fall short of their best standards, and even then their difficulties may let us see their underlying purpose, as here. Why does Luke spend so much ingenuity in getting Paul to Rome? Because he is recounting a new exodus. When Luke tells the story of the transfiguration he says Moses and Elijah were discussing Jesus’ exodus, meaning not only his death, but the extension of his ministry to all the world. In the Acts of the Aposles, Luke shows the reader how this is achieved by the risen Lord working through his Apostles and the communities of believers. Paul’s wanderings are a bit like the wanderings of Israel in the desert, but Paul, unlike Moses, gets to the promised land, in this case to Rome, where he will die. In this exodus, God’s people, led by Jesus, break out of the confines of Israel to make their gospel available at the centre and to the ends, of the earth.

Luke 9:1-17

The Mission of the Twelve

9Then Jesus^* called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,²and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.³He said to them, ‘Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money—not even an extra tunic.⁴Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there.⁵Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.’⁶They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere.<!– 7 –>

Herod’s Perplexity

7 Now Herod the ruler^* heard about all that had taken place, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead,⁸by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had arisen.⁹Herod said, ‘John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?’ And he tried to see him.

Feeding the Five Thousand

10 On their return the apostles told Jesus^* all they had done. He took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida.¹¹When the crowds found out about it, they followed him; and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured.

12 The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, ‘Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.’¹³But he said to them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.’¹⁴For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, ‘Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.’¹⁵They did so and made them all sit down.¹⁶And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.¹⁷And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

the desert meal

We can examine this narrative in terms of Luke’s underlying purpose as I’ve analysed it above.

Here the great exodus begins: Jesus sends out his messengers to share good news of God’s gracious rule, in word and action. We are not told where they went butwe assume it was within Israel. They are depictced as having nothing other than their good news: it is their sole resource. They succeed in showing God’s goodness to the people. The local ruler, Herod, is disturbed by this “invasion” of God’s rule in his territory. Luke then gives us an “exodus” scene: people are gathered in a desert place and need food. Jesus takes what his followers have, “blesses and breaks it” that is, he unites it with his own sacrificial giving ( “this is my body, broken for you”), and feeds the people, as the Israelites were fed with manna and quails in the desert. The feast is sufficent not only for this crowd but for the twelve tribes of Israel-the twelve baskets left over.

What is Luke saying? He wants to show the new exodus beginning in Israel, at Jesus initiative, through the news of God’s goodness carried by his messengers. This demonstration of God’s rule shakes the power of the local ruler, Herod. The desert meal is a sign that God’s new people are being gathered and are beginning a new journey, on which they will be nourished by the sacrificial ministry of Jesus, working through his apostles. This people is the new Israel who will be God’s witnesses to the world.

Reading Luke’s story in the light of the Old Testament stories he brings into play, allows us to see the richness of his art and the boldness of his message.