On the Road Again, Again!
Paul is headed home after a long trip. This second missionary journey was no three-hour tour. He's been gone for some 3 years (AD 49-AD 52). Remember, he spent 18 months in Corinth alone.
It's been an incredible journey. Paul left with Silas (Acts 15:40) and recruited Timothy to join them in Lystra (Acts 16:1). He also met Aquila and his wife Priscilla along the way (Acts 18:2). They would all be lifelong friends and partners in ministry. The apostle would also meet numerous other brothers and sisters on his trip that God would use to share the grace of Jesus to a lost and dying world.
Paul and Silas began this journey by going "through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches" (Acts 15:41). From there, they went through modern day Turkey, visiting the cities of Derbe, Lystra and Iconium (Acts 16:1-5). After traveling through Phrygia and Galatia, the Holy Spirit blocked their attempts to go to Asia and Bithynia (Acts 16:6-7). Somewhere around Troas, Luke joins the team ("we" and "us" in Acts 16:10). At this point, Paul had a vision that led them to cross the Aegean Sea to Macedonia (Acts 16:9-11). Taking the Gospel to Europe for the first time, the Fab Four visit Philippi where Paul and Timothy spend the night in jail (Acts 16:11-40). Then it was off to Thessalonica and Berea for rather volatile visits (Acts 17:1-15). Traveling solo, Paul went to Athens and debated the philosophers on Mars Hill (Acts 17:16-34). He moved down the road to Corinth where he stayed for a year and a half (Acts 18:1-18).
Two consistent things happened along the way. People came to know Jesus. Other people violently rejected the Gospel. And that's been going on ever since! Why should we expect anything different?
Luke tells us, "When he had landed in Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church" (v22). Paul was traveling from Ephesus by sea (Acts 18:19-21). He landed in the port city of Caesarea Maritima. This shouldn't be confused with Caesarea Philippi, a Roman city at the foot of Mt. Hermon. Maritima was a new seaport constructed by Herod the Great. It included a manmade harbor covering 40 acres that could handle 300 ships.
The way the author tells us that "he went up and greeted the church" indicates Paul traveled from the port city to Jerusalem. Throughout both Old and New Testament, people go "up to Jerusalem." Remember, God commanded that the temple be constructed on Mt. Moriah. The city sits on what geologists call the Transjordan Tableland at approximately 2500 feet above sea level. Anyone traveling to Jerusalem "goes up" to the city.
Paul would have had at least two reasons to travel to Jerusalem. Luke gives us the most obvious one. The apostle would report the exciting details of his trip to Peter, James and the other leaders of the church. No doubt they would be ecstatic at to hear how God had opened the doors to the message of Jesus into Europe. After his previous meeting with church leaders over the "Gentile issue," the apostle's report to them after this trip makes perfect sense.
The second reason Paul would have traveled to Jerusalem was to fulfill the final portions of his Nazirite vow (Acts 18:18). The OT describes several specific sacrifices that anyone taking the vow must peform (Num 6). Those must be done at the temple.
From here, Paul headed back to Antioch. Remember, this was his sending church (Acts 13:1-3; 15:35-40). These were the people that backed the apostle on his two expeditions. He would tell them the amazing story of what God had done on his most recent adventure. The Lord was using this multi-cultural congregation to change the eternal destinies of people in both Asia and Europe!
"After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia" (v23). Paul didn't stay long in Antioch. He probably arrived in the summer of AD 52 and hit the road in the spring of AD 53. He returned home, reported in and recharged his batteries. He couldn't stay in one place long. God had put an urgency for the Gospel in his heart. He had places to go and people to see.
Paul was on the road again...AGAIN!
Luke gives us a bit of the apostle's itinerary for the first part of his third missionary expedition. He traveled to Galatia and Phrygia. This was in south central Asia Minor. He was traveling overland, visiting familiar cities such as Derbe, Lystra, Iconium and Pisidian Antioch. Paul had planted churches in these places on his first trip (stopping by a second time on his way home). He dropped in to encourage them on his second journey.
Paul had great love and concern for these people. His care for them caused him to write his emergency letter to the churches of Galatia after his first trip when certain Jews tried to corrupt the message of Christ.
Dr. Luke tells us that the apostle was "strengthening all the disciples" (v23). The Greek verb here is episterizo. It means to cause something to rest upon something strong, to build a firm foundation. Paul reminded them that their faith is in Christ and Christ alone. We need to always keep in mind that there is NOTHING we can add to what Jesus has done on our behalf. He lived the perfect life that we should have lived. He died the death that we should have died. He rose to a heaven that we don't deserve. Jesus' obedience in life and death are what we must lean on. That's what Paul means when he constantly refers to being "in Christ." No doubt this was his message as he was "strengthening all the disciples."
Paul was on the road again...AGAIN!
This is a great reminder to us that discipleship is a lifelong process. We need to be strengthened. We need to be strengthening. Just as God uses others to encourage us and correct us in our walk, He does the same through us. Are you being strengthened? Are you strengthening?
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