And so we set sail, having said our goodbyes, and by a direct route we came to Cos, and then the next day to Rhodes, and then onto to Pat'ara. After locating a ship crossing to Phoeni'cia, we boarded it and set sail. When we were in sight of Cyprus, we passed it on our left as we sailed to Syria, and disembarked at Tyre; that was because there the ship unloaded its cargo. We sought out the local disciples and remained with them for seven days. They advised Paul with spiritual discernment not to go on to Jerusalem. And when our time there was up we left and continued on our journey; and all of them, with wives and children, sent us on our way from outside the city. We knelt on the beach as we prayed together and bade one another farewell. Then we went on board ship, and they returned to their homes.
In a Nutshell
Paul's party makes the trip east.
Questions
Imagine you could discuss this with Luke. What would he say if you asked him: "Why tell us all this? Why not skip this and leave further room for the details of Paul's arrival in Jerusalem?"
What's Luke getting at? Why does he bother with all this stuff? Isn't it more important to get on with the main story? Why fill up pages and waste ink on what seems to be only a copy of the itinerary, a mere diary entry?
Hang on. Even if it is a diary entry we still have to think about the diary's purpose. Yes, the passage is in the first person and Luke tells us what "we" did. I hazard the guess that this was a very important time for him; by putting it in this way he reminds us of important things easily forgotten. Why do we forget? The answer is simple: we forget those things which we too easily assume to be unimportant. When we live through important events we often forget how we experienced them at the time. And the Holy Spirit is well aware of our tendency to miss what is right there in front of our eyes. He knows that we can hurt ourselves by our impatience.
So what is important here? What is it that the Holy Spirit prompted Luke to tell us? I think Luke was reminding himself, and therefore he was happy to tell Theophilus and us, that that journey had deep spiritual significance for him. The path we take in life is so very important. Our walk along it is not to be devalued in any of its moments. Our journey has its own purpose and meaning. Any trip will have a destination but the journey itself is to be enjoyed. It is part of God's revelation of Himself to us. We do not discover the meaning of a journey simply by grinning and bearing it. We do not discover our purpose in travel by grizzling that we haven't arrived. The incessant question: "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" has an answer: "No, we are here!" We are always "here", and we do well to remember that this is the day the Lord has made and so we rejoice and are glad. Jesus has made our life journey possible. On it we enjoy God's bounty.
Luke formulated his aide memoire of a journey full of meaning. The Holy Spirit was with them. It was He who prompted Tyre's disciples to persuade Paul from going on to Jerusalem. We get a deeper sense that those Tyre Christians knew the dangers they had to live with; this reminds us again that the breeze of the Holy Spirit "blows where He wills". He doesn't work on a "one size fits all" basis. These Christians had a prophetic duty to tell Paul what the Spirit had revealed. Luke was impressed. Luke wrote this part of his story to describe his steep learning curve.