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"And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against
Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salome"
(Acts 27: 7).
Let us be sure that we know the geography of this verse. Cnidus is the last point of
land that would afford protection from the prevailing wind, and will be found on the
extreme corner of Asia Minor, before the coast turns north. Seeing that the ship could
neither enter Cnidus, nor hold on its way along the north shore of Crete, the course was
changed, so that she passed round Salome, to the lee of the island. "Hardly passing it"
shows that the winds were still contrary, and the navigator was therefore forced to begin
to think of finding a harbour commodious enough to winter in. Fair Havens was reached,
and for some time the ship waited for a change in the weather.
It was now nearly the end of September and the close of the sailing season. After "the
fast", which was the Day of Atonement, "sailing was dangerous". The Greeks dated the
opening of the sailing weather as "after Dionysia". We must not misjudge these ancient
navigators. They had neither chart nor compass, but steered by the stars, consequently in
that part of the year, when for lengthy periods "neither sun nor stars might appear", the
seamen naturally hesitated to try the open sea. Discussions evidently took place as to
whether they should winter where they were, or take the next favourable chance of
sailing along the coast another thirty-four miles, and wintering in Phenice (27: 12).
Prisoner though he was, the Apostle was permitted a voice in these proceedings, and said:
"Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the
lading and the ship, but also for our lives" (27: 10).
However, the centurion and the owner of the vessel were of the opposite opinion.
Fair Havens had little to offer as a winter resort, whereas Phenice (the modern Lutro), but
a few hours' sail away, was the only real harbour in Crete, safe in all weathers, and much
used by Alexandrian corn-ships.
At this point we pause to draw attention to the phrase, "If by any means they might
attain to" (27: 12). The language here is unambiguous, and the facts of the case prove
that the element of doubt rightly adheres in these words. When, during the next year or
more, the Apostle, who had passed through this terrible experience, came to write the
Epistle to the Philippians, he uses the same expression saying, "If by any means I might
attain unto the out-resurrection from among the dead" (Phil. 3: 11). To remove from
these words the same element of uncertainty that must be allowed them in Acts 27:,
has the appearance of handling the word of God deceitfully. If in Phil. 3: 11 Paul
meant only that resurrection which is the common hope of the church, uncertainty of
attainment would have been foreign to the subject, but if he was speaking of a prize
which will be awarded at "that day" by the Lord in His capacity of "the righteous Judge",
then the element of uncertainty is rightly an integral part of the passage, for a prize to be
won, and that could not be lost, is a contradiction in terms. If the prize of Philippians be
kept distinct from the common calling, or the blessed hope of the church, truth will be
seen both in Ephesians and Philippians, but if we confound Hope and Prize, a greater
shipwreck than was Paul's experience awaits us.