27:14But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.
27:15And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive.
27:16And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat:
27:17Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven.
27:18And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;
27:19And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship.
27:20And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
27:21But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.
27:22And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship.
27:23For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
27:24Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Cæsar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
27:25Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
27:26Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.
27:27But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country;
27:28And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms.
27:29Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day.
27:30And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship,
27:31Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.
27:32Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off.
27:33And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing.
27:34Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.
27:35And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.
27:36Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.
27:37And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls.
27:38And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.
27:39And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship.
27:40And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore.
27:41And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.
27:42And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.
27:43But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land:
27:44And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.
Luke does not begin by announcing that everyone else got it wrong. The little word also matters. Others have already undertaken the work, eyewitnesses have handed on what they saw, and this writer joins them with a carefully ordered account. The opening is confident without pretending to have appeared from nowhere.
Having had perfect understanding is not a claim to know everything about everything. The Greek describes close, accurate acquaintance with the matters being investigated. Nor does Luke quietly promote himself into the company that witnessed Jesus' ministry from its beginning. He distinguishes those witnesses from the people who received their testimony. That distinction is a strength, not an embarrassment.
Theophilus has already been instructed. The purpose is not merely to add information, but to give that instruction a firm footing: the certainty of those things. Before the angel appears and before the first extraordinary birth is announced, the Book of Luke puts its working method on the table. The wonders will not be offered as an excuse for carelessness.