Julius

Yes sir! Captain Julius, Third Company, Augustan Regiment, reporting for debriefing as ordered sir. As you have heard, sir, the events of my recent assignment are most unusual.

Sir: I was stationed in Caesarea in Galilee province. I was summoned by King Agrippa of Judea and Galilee, and Governor Festus, and ordered to convey a group of prisoners who are to appear before the Emperor. Among the company commanders available, I believe I was selected because I and my company were due to cycle back to Rome. Among the prisoners was a Jew named Paulus, who is also sometimes known by his Jewish name Saul.

Sir, are you familiar with this fairly new sect of the Jews called Christians? There were quite a few of them in Galilee where I was stationed. I believe there is a group of them here in the capital. . . . You’ve heard of them? This Paulus is one of them, and he seems to be active in convincing even non-Jews to join them. My understanding is that the more traditional Jews made serious accusations against him, and being a citizen, he appealed to the Emperor. . .

Yes sir, to get to the events. When I was ordered to sail with the prisoners, it was getting late in the season to make the voyage. We could not locate a ship undertaking the full voyage from Caesarea to anywhere in Italy, so we made short trips, changing vessels. The full details are in my written report, sir. Having to locate and change vessels multiple times cost us time, and the season was getting to its end—the risk of serious storms was growing. We ended up on the south shore of Crete at a place called Fair Havens, and it was no easy trip getting there. Unfortunately, this place isn’t a great port, and it was really unsuitable to spend the whole winter in—we would have to house and feed the entire group of prisoners as well as my company. The prisoners’ supporters who were traveling with us would have to fend for themselves, of course, but it was doubtful they would find accommodation.

At this point the prisoner Paulus asked to meet with me and the ship’s captain. He voiced a warning, that if we tried to go on, the ship would go down and we would all perish. . . . No sir, as far as I know, he had no background as a sailor. He was, however, a very experienced sea traveler. The ship’s captain and I didn’t just brush him off. We consulted with the owner of the ship, who was one of the passengers, and with the local pilot the captain had hired. The pilot said he was confident he could get us down the coast the short distance to Phoenix—a far better harbor. The owner wanted to try for it if a little decent weather showed up—and I figured he was betting his own life on it. The captain deferred to the local pilot. I really couldn’t see how the Fair Havens place could work, so I went along with them. And in a couple days, the weather did turn nice. It was just a short trip, and the wind was perfect, so we all got on board and sailed with the tide. . . .

Yes sir, you’ve heard correctly. The weather didn’t hold for more than a few hours. A huge northeaster blew down off the shore. It was the worst tempest I’d ever seen. It was the worst any of us had ever seen. The sailors did everything anyone could do, but the ship started to broach. . . . Sir, that means to get turned sideways to rough seas. If it happens the seas will roll you right over. It almost happened! There was no choice but to let the ship run before the wind. Even so the ship was leaking really badly. The sailors had to pass ropes under the ship and winch them tight. It’s a dangerous procedure, but I’m convinced we would have sunk without it. Sir, we didn’t know a storm could go on so long, but instead of tapering off it got even worse! We were taking on so much water, the sailors threw everything overboard. The cargo, then the ship’s own tackle. The storm just went on, and on, and on. It was two weeks, sir. We…well we thought we were doomed.

Then, this prisoner Paulus came out on deck, and started shouting. He was saying, “You should have listened to me! We could have avoided this! But listen to me now! The God I belong to has sent me His messenger tonight. He told me we’re all going to live! He said I must appear before Caesar. Men, I’ve been praying for you all, and the messenger said God will also grant all of you your lives. We’ll lose the ship though. We’re going to have to run aground on an island.” . . . .

Yes sir, the man had known what he was talking about. I’m responsible for the decision not to heed him. But sir, now comes the truly amazing part. During the night, the sailors could sense we were nearing land. By the sound, I guess. They took soundings and it was true, we were getting into shallow water. They laid out anchors from the stern, and they were getting ready to lower the ship’s boat to lay anchors from the bow. Then Paulus rushes up to me and shouts that these men are deserting us, and without them we would all die. Well, sir, I wasn’t going to ignore this man again. I immediately ordered my men to cut the boat loose. The sailors hated me enough to kill me, but they weren’t going to fight a company of armed legionaries!

Before long it started to get light, and then here comes Paulus again, and he’s got a basket of bread with him! He shouts out, “It’s been two weeks since you ate! You need to eat something! None of us are going to die!” And then he got on his knees and prayed, and got up and started eating. Well when we saw him we realized how hungry we were, and we all ate too. Then we jettisoned everything that was left.

When it got light enough to see, there was an island all right, but the sailors said they had no idea where we were. They could see a cove with a beach and said they thought we could get there, and run aground on the beach. They cut us loose and hoisted a sail, and we were headed straight for it, moving fast! But then, we slammed into a shoal or a sandbar or something, and we were really stuck. There was huge surf left over from the storm, and it was pounding us to pieces. We were going to have to swim for it. Some of my men came to me wanting to kill the prisoners so they wouldn’t escape. . . .

Yes sir, I could have made that call, but I didn’t. For one thing, it was a little island. Where could they go? We would certainly track them down—we would have all winter to do it. But sir, by this time I did not think I should, or could bring myself to lift a sword against Paulus. I ordered everyone who could swim to get to shore, and all the others to grab anything they could from the ship for floatation. We all made it to shore, sir. Not one was lost, just like Paulus said. No prisoners even tried to escape.

Sir, you may not believe what happened next. The island turned out to be Malta, and the islanders were amazing. They made us so welcome. As soon as they saw us swimming in, they came out and met us on the beach. We were soaked and freezing, so they made a fire. Here’s what you may not believe. Paulus was pitching in to collect firewood, and when he threw some on the fire a viper came out and bit him on the hand! The islanders said it was deadly. But nothing happened! The man shook off the snake—right into the fire!—and that was it. There wasn’t even any swelling.

Well then the islanders started trying to worship Paulus as a god, but he wouldn’t have any of it, said he was just a man, but the God he served took care of him. Anyway the head man of the area, called Publius, heard about it, and he put us up at his place and fed us. This man’s son was really sick. I’ve seen that kind of fever and dysentery sir. I know you have too. You either die, or you take weeks to recover. You may not believe this sir, but I saw it with my own eyes. This Paulus went in to the son, and prayed, and put his hands on him, and I swear, he healed him! Right then and there, the son was perfectly healthy! Well after that the islanders started bringing sick people to him left and right. A lot of them—it wasn’t some fluke with Publius’s son. Paulus healed them. I witnessed it!

Well, those folks took care of all of us, all winter. And when a ship came in the spring, Publius completely provisioned the ship for us! It didn’t take long after that for us to get here. There was nothing more out of the ordinary. The prisoners have all been delivered. It’s my understanding that Paulus has been granted liberty to live in a rented house, under guard.

Sir, I know there are some irregular aspects to my completion of this assignment. Do you have questions? . . . .

Thank you sir. With your permission, sir, I would like to take some of my accumulated leave. . . . As you say, sir, I will remain in Rome. My family can join me here. To be frank, sir, I intend to locate where Paulus is housed. It may sound strange, but it sure seems that there is something to this “Christian” religion of his. I didn’t give it much thought before but, well sir, I saw miracles! I think I’d like to learn more about it. Did you know? They claim this Christ, their leader, rose from the dead!

An imagining based on Acts 27 and into chapter 28 – from another perspective. A life perhaps changed forever. —Paul