Lives of Scripture

Julius, a centurion of the Augustan cohort, was assigned to escort Paul and other prisoners from Caesarea to Rome for Paul's appeal to Caesar (Acts 27:1). From the outset Luke notes his character: at Sidon, "Julius treated Paul with consideration and allowed him to go to his friends and receive care" (27:3) -- an unusual kindness from a guard to a prisoner. The voyage turned dangerous when a violent northeaster struck the ship, and after two weeks adrift the vessel ran aground near Malta and began to break apart (27:14-44). As the ship broke up, the soldiers planned to kill all the prisoners to prevent any from escaping by swimming, since a guard who let a prisoner escape could himself be executed. But Julius, "wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from their intention," ordering instead that all aboard -- prisoners included -- make for shore on planks and debris, and every one of the 276 people on board reached land safely (27:42-44). Julius's two brief but decisive acts of kindness -- granting Paul liberty at Sidon and overriding his own soldiers to spare the prisoners' lives at Malta -- place a Roman officer, without any stated faith of his own, in the role of an instrument preserving God's promise that Paul would stand before Caesar and reach Rome (27:24).