Meet the Starting Lineup
After God used Paul for three years of amazing ministry in Ephesus, the apostle scooted across the Aegean Sea to a fairly brief visit to the churches in Macedonia and Greece. He encouraged them to stay strong in their walk with Jesus (Acts 20:1-2) as well as the collection of the famine relief offering for their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem (2Cor 8-9).
Luke tells us that Paul stayed in Greece for three months (v3). Most likely he spent nearly all of his time with his friends in Corinth. He wrote 2 Corinthians to let them know he was on the way.
We also read that the Jews once again had something up their sleeve to stop Paul. Again, this is probably during his three month visit to Corinth. "A plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria." The Corinthian Jews caused him a ton of trouble on his last visit. They not only rejected the Gospel he preached in the synagogue (Acts 18:5-6) but were no doubt furious that one of their leaders became a follower of Jesus (Acts 18:8). These unbelieving Jews eventually dragged Paul into court to shut him up but Gallio ruled in the apostle's favor (Acts 18:12-16).
Once these Jews heard the man from Tarsus is back in town, they conspired to take him out once and for all. The Greek word for plot is epboule. It means to lay in wait for just the right time to attack. They put a contract out on Paul. The long voyage home would provide the perfect opportunity. A hit man would travel on the same ship back to Syria. Most likely, Jewish pilgrims would pack the ship as they headed home for Pentecost (Acts 20:16).
Paul gets word of the contract and changes his plans. As a result, "he decided to return through Macedonia" (v3). We read later that he set sail from the port of Philippi (Acts 20:6). This detour would make it much more difficult for the apostle to make it to Jerusalem for the Pentecost holy days.
At this point, Luke takes a moment to introduce the starting lineup of Paul's team (v4). Counting Paul and Luke (the pronouns change back to FIRST person plural in Acts 20:5), there are nine men on this travel team. "Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus."
While there is some other biblical information about these nine, let's focus on a couple of important reasons for assembling such a team. No doubt, the biggest reason is accountability. Remember, Paul is collecting a famine relief offering from the various churches in Asia, Macedonia and Greece. These men joined the journey to insure the security of each church's gift. Each of them most likely reveal most of the churches that are participating in giving money to the Jerusalem church: Berea, Thessalonica, Derbe, Lystra and Ephesus. We do know that the Philippians and Corinthians also gave to the cause (2Cor 8-9).
The fact that Paul added so many men to his travel team would also indicate they collected a very large amount of money. They would have provided security for the apostle and the generous offering on its way to Jerusalem.
I have a favorite on the roster. I love me some Tychicus. He really doesn't get the press of guys like Timothy, Titus, Silas and Barnabas. But he clearly plays a HUGE role in Paul's ministry. He's the "Mail Man." The apostle uses Tychicus to carry some of his most important correspondence: Ephesians (Eph 6:21), Colossians (Col 4:7) and Philemon (this letter was delivered the same time as Colossians). He may have been the messenger that brought Paul's letter to Titus (Tit 3:12). And at the end of the apostle's life, he sends Tychicus to help out in Ephesus (2Tim 4:12). Paul trusted Tychicus with some VERY important assignments.
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