Today we continue our Journeys of Paul tour by visiting the Island of Crete.
Crete is the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean. It is about 150 miles long and anywhere from 6 to 35 miles wide. It has 630 miles of coastline.
Not only did it have a couple of good harbors, but it was also the halfway point for ships coming from Palestine, and Egypt to Rome. This partially explains why the ship Paul was in on his way to Rome for his first imprisonment stopped at Crete (Acts 27:7–8)
This may have been Paul’s first exposure to the island and created a burden for the people there and may have been led him and Titus to return in his free time between imprisonments.
In any case, Paul eventually left Titus in Crete to “set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee” (Titus 1:5). He then, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, penned the epistle of Titus, sending it to him in Crete. From this epistle, we learn much about the leadership and polity of the local New Testament church.
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This post was the second stop in our tour. If you missed the first stop of Ostia, you can visit it with us here.
