As soon as arrangements were complete for our sailing to Italy, Paul and a few other prisoners were placed under the supervision of a centurion named Julius, a member of an elite guard. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium that was bound for Ephesus and ports west. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, went with us.

3 The next day we put in at Sidon. Julius treated Paul most decently—let him get off the ship and enjoy the hospitality of his friends there. (The Message)

Jilly and I heard a man preach recently about encountering Jesus in the ordinary, in the everyday. He made the point that although the Lord wants to meet with us, to show us His presence, this is regularly experienced in and through others. Occasionally, people will have a dramatic, personal encounter with Christ (as Saul did), but more often than not His presence is ‘mediated’ through other people. Quoting a theologian, he called it ‘Mediated Immediacy’.

Reading today’s passage, and reflecting on it, I thought of that sermon. Paul, on his difficult journey to Rome, met with times of unexpected kindness. Here, Julius was, perhaps, the surprising instrument, and, of course, his friends in Sidon were also. Again and again the Lord comes near to us in the love and kindness of others. May we always have eyes to see Him. Surely, we live in the goodness of God.

‘The we indicates that the good physician, Luke, had rejoined the party. Separated from Paul by the Apostle’s imprisonment, he now accompanied him on the ship to Rome. The centurion was indulgently disposed toward Paul. He may have been one of the brilliant crowd who had listened to Paul’s last address. It was a most merciful Providence that placed the Apostle with such a man. He showed exceptional kindness in releasing Paul on parole at Sidon, that he might visit his friends, and, no doubt, provide himself with necessaries against the stormy and hazardous winter voyage.’ F.B.Meyer