ACC ~ Acts 27 v9 - 12

OVERVIEW:

Paul’s first prophetic message is set aside under pressure from those who have most to gain financially from a continued voyage. Chrysostom’s remarks begin to focus on three things. First he is attentive to the circumstances, that Paul being a prisoner will not be trusted immediately and that he must little by little earn their trust. Second, he pays attention to the course of events as laying a foundation for the trust of Julius the centurion. Third, he sees God working through the authorities in control, namely, Julius, who must be won over to Paul in order for the events to fall out properly. Here, Ammonius enters with a matter that was of no small concern to early Christian teachers by countering the idea that our lives are determined by fate and that there is no such thing as free will.

27:10 | A Voyage with Injury

THEY WOULD NOT HAVE BELIEVED A PRISONER. CHRYSOSTOM: See [Paul’s] modesty: in order that he may not appear to prophesy but to speak as if from supposition, he says “I see.” They would have not received his words if he had pronounced them at once. In the first place he prophesies and says, “God, whom I worship,” thus leading them. How would have it happened without a loss of lives? There surely would be such a loss if God did not save them. CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 27.10.

27:12 | The Majority Advised to Put to Sea

NOT FATE BUT FREE WILL LED THEM. AMMONIUS: Since Paul was a prophet, he announced the danger, which would have threatened them on the ship. But he was not able to convince them to spend the winter in Crete, so that it was not fate that dragged them into danger but their will. CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 27.10.