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Paul’s 2^nd Missionary Journey (Part 3)/3^rd Missionary Journey (Part 1)

Last week we talked about Paul’s visits to Thessalonica, Berea, and, Athens. The first two followed a pattern we have seen over and over: Paul’s powerful arguments in the synagogues inspired spirited debate and strong reaction to his claim Jesus is Messiah. God-fearing Gentiles responded well. Many Jews became believers, but most rejected what Paul said—some so vigorously that he was run out of town.

Then in Athens, Paul confronted a new and different enemy: intellectual smugness. Paul may have welcomed a chance to debate this intellectual elite, but like so many college professors today, their claims of objectivity masked a closed-minded intolerance. No matter how much evidence and logic and reason Paul applied, they would not hear of a creator-God who will judge mankind, and they ridiculed the idea of Jesus’ resurrection.

Discouraged, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth; 1 Corinthians 1-2 shows how he felt.

Why—in Paul’s opinion—are most people rejecting Jesus? The Jews understand Paul’s arguments from scripture, but they demand a sign from God as proof. But as we know, Jesus says: "(no sign) will be given except the sign of Jonah" (Luke 11:29-30)—His resurrection—and Jesus says most Jews "will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead" (Luke 16:31).

Greek philosophers, on the other hand, claimed to seek wisdom through logic and reason. Yet logical analysis is built from premises . . . unless we start with the same premises, we rarely reach the same conclusion from logic. And there is always a faith component to premises involving God and eternity. The best "proof" of a creator-God is the one Paul used on Mars Hill in Athens and later in Romans 1. Yet since the Athenian intellectuals accept Epicurean and Stoic premises on faith, they can’t accept Paul’s logic; that’s why they say Paul is speaking "foolishness." Like the evolution-creation debate. The mathematical basis for evolution is so illogical that more faith is required to believe in evolution than to believe in a creator-God. But the concept of a creator-God is politically incorrect and belittled as "foolishness" by those unable accept this logic.

Paul vows he will not do intellectual battle with either adversary on their terms in Corinth; he will preach a simple gospel to those whose hearts God has prepared. What a lesson that is for us in the 21^st century: preach Jesus simply, and let God do the work!

The distance from Athens to Corinth is only 50 miles—yet culturally it’s the other end of the world. 1^st century Athens is an intellectual mecca, but not a center of either commerce or government. But Corinth is a major commercial center, situated on a narrow isthmus across mainland Greece. Ships going between the Aegean and the Adriatic Seas had two choices: to sail about 185 miles around Greece, or to cross the isthmus at Corinth, about 4 miles overland. Efforts to build a canal were unsuccessful until the 19^th century . . . but the Greeks were very clever. About 600 BC, they built a paved road across the isthmus . . . and invented a wheeled vehicle which carried ships from one side to the other.

The economy of Corinth revolves around shipping . . . and moving ships across the isthmus. The city had lots of transients and grunt labor; it was a big, brawling den of iniquity. In the 1^st century, VD was called the "Corinthian disease": no surprise, with 1000 prostitutes on duty round the clock in the temple of Aphrodite and countless others in the streets. Yet just as God chose Israel for the Jewish homeland because it was a commercial crossroads from which Jews could witness to the world, Corinth offers Paul this same opportunity to witness for Jesus—even though it’s a cesspool.

Paul has resolved to change his approach; so what does he do? He takes up his trade of tentmaking; a boomtown like Corinth had lots of work. Is Paul broke? . . . or does he only seek to stay busy while he contemplates—and prays about—how to reconfigure his ministry? Since Paul has a trade like this, does it mean his family was from of moderate means? No, it was Jewish custom to make sure everyone had a useful trade—perhaps due to centuries of persecution—and since Paul studied with Gamaliel in Jerusalem, it’s more likely his family was wealthy. Whatever . . . while plying his trade, Paul hooks up with a husband-wife team of fellow tentmakers, Pricilla and Aquila.

Aquila is an example of Dispersion Jews being everywhere. He comes from an area along the Black Sea in modern northern Turkey, but He and Pricilla lived and worked in Rome. Then in 49 AD the Jews in Rome rioted over someone called "Chrestus" (or so writes Seneca, Roman historian and Nero’s tutor). Some believe this referred to Jesus . . . and we know there was a Christian church in Rome long before Paul arrived—perhaps founded by Jews who witnessed the Holy Spirit come upon believers in Jerusalem at Pentecost. Nevertheless, the emperor Claudius expelled Jews from Rome because of the riot, and Pricilla and Aquila moved to Corinth. Are they already Christian? The bible doesn’t say; but they ultimately became two strong assistants for Paul’s ministry.

"One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid; keep on speaking. . . . For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city’" (Acts 18:9-10). We have learned by now that Paul’s success or failure depends—above all—on how God prepares the hearts of those to whom he preaches; God’s promise of success in Corinth must be very encouraging.

Indeed, for Paul to meet Pricilla and Aquila shows God is guiding his destiny . . . to bring him in touch with the right people at the right time. God does this with us, too. Another lesson from Paul’s meeting with Pricilla and Aquila is that our evangelism is most effective where we have credibility . . . often that occurs among people we work with.

Gradually—while he continues to work as a tentmaker—Paul resumes his evangelism: he goes into the synagogue and preaches Jesus as Messiah to Jews and God-fearing Gentiles. After Silas and Timothy arrive—their ministry in Berea completed—Paul goes into full time ministry . . . and things really begin to happen! It’s "deja vu all over again": "the Jews opposed (to) Paul . . . became abusive" (Acts 18:6). Paul told them—as he had in Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13)—that God sent the message to Jews first, and if they reject it, it’s their problem. "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles" (Acts 18:6). So "Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus," a God-fearing Gentile (Acts 18:7). There he is sets up a separate home church for Christians . . . he probably holds competing services there every Sabbath . . . perhaps much like the services at the synagogue next door (but with greater emphasis on Messianic prophesy).

This is another milestone in Christianity’s separation from Judaism . . . the first recorded instance of Christians walking out of a synagogue, refusing to attend services there, and setting up a competing congregation. Maybe it was happening elsewhere, but my impression is Jewish Christians continued to be practicing Jews . . . at least at first.

Another thing is different in Corinth: Paul and his team are not run out of town. Why not? Perhaps because one of those who came to believe is Crispus the "synagogue ruler"—the chief rabbi—whose "entire household believed in the Lord," along with "many (other) Corinthians who . . . believed and were baptized" (Acts 18:8). Crispus is Paul’s highest-ranking Jewish convert to date. He lost his job as synagogue ruler when he became a Christian; but it’s probably harder for the other the synagogue leaders to start a riot against him than it was for the Jews in other cities to riot against Paul: an "outsider" with "heretical doctrines."

One more difference. When the Jews appealed to Roman authorities in other cities, they came down on Paul. But in Corinth, the Roman authorities refuse to get involved in a religious dispute . . . as we see played out in verses 13-16. The Jews go right to the "Supreme Court": the Roman proconsul Gallio, governor of a large province, and brother of Nero’s tutor. Gallio was proconsul of Achaia only two years—51-52 AD—so we can date this episode with some accuracy.

Gallio is holding court in Corinth. The Jews—led by Sosthenes, Crispus’ successor as synagogue ruler—bring in Paul. "This man," they charge, "is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law" (Acts 18:13). We may tend to breeze by that as "deja vu all over again" . . . but it’s not. The official religion of the Roman Empire—such as it is—is paganism augmented by the beginnings of emperor-worship. But Jews are special. Over a hundred plus years of Roman rule, Jews have been willing to die for their faith . . . and I don’t mean just dying in rebellion with a sword in their hands; I mean "passive resistance." Jews submitted willingly to death—unarmed—rather than allow the Romans to bring pagan symbols into the temple in Jerusalem. The Romans didn’t know how to handle that . . . so ultimately—I’m oversimplifying—they allowed the Jews freedom of religion as long as they did not take up arms against Rome.

But here in Corinth, Paul walked out of the synagogue, and proclaimed Christians will meet elsewhere. Some of the Jews in the synagogue see this as an opportunity to "get" Paul—and bring back their "errant" flock. They claim Paul’s new congregation is a separate religion . . . not eligible for the unique religious tolerance given to Jews. That’s what they mean when they say Paul "is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to (Roman) law" (Acts 18:13). (Jewish friends tell me this is wrong . . . that splits occur in Judaism just at they occur with Christians, and Paul’s "walkout" to form a competing congregation does not necessarily mean rejection of Judaism.)

Gallio the proconsul knows little about Judaism, but he doesn’t want to hear cases involving religious disputes unless they involve commission of a crime. Goodness knows . . . in a place like Corinth, he must have enough cases of robbery and murder to hear! He throws out the case before Paul even enters a defense. Maybe the Jews should have accused Paul of sedition, as they did in Thessalonica. Perhaps Sosthenes is just too honest . . . which may be true, because he later becomes a Christian (ref 1Cor 1:1)!

Poor Sosthenes. Right after Gallio dismisses the case, he is set upon and beaten. If you’ve seen the photo on the web site . . . the Judgement Seat is right in the agora (marketplace); Gallio sees the beating, but ignores it. Perhaps in light of Claudius’ expulsion of Jews from Rome, he thinks beating a Jew is a non-issue. But who beat Sosthenes and why? Was it Gentiles who didn’t like Jews . . . annoyed he had taken up the court’s time? Or was it fellow Jews, angry that this ingenious argument had been dismissed so perfunctorily? Commentators differ; I believe it was his fellow Jews.

Paul stays in Corinth for a year and a half (Acts 18: 11): a long time by his standards . . . and he was able to leave voluntarily. In addition to his Corinthian ministry, he is concerned about the believers in Thessalonica after his hasty, forced departure; so he sends Timothy to visit (1 Thes 3:2) and writes his two letters to that church.

Also while in Corinth Paul takes a Nazarite vow: a promise of special dedication to God which involved drinking no alcoholic beverages and no hair cuts during the period of the vow (Num 6:1-21). Acts gives no details—perhaps it was part of Paul’s vision from God—but it ends when he has his hair cut as he leaves Corinth (Acts 18:18).

Paul sails across the Aegean Sea to Ephesus with Priscilla and Aquila. He stays a very short time, leaves Priscilla and Aquila to carry on the ministry, sails to Caesarea—probably goes to Jerusalem to meet with the church there—then to Antioch (Acts 18:22).

This ends his 2^nd Missionary Journey. It’s logical to stop here; but we followed the outline of other studies of Acts, which cover chapter 18 in one lesson. The balance of the chapter is confusing: Acts 18:23 and 19:1a is the beginning of Paul’s 3^rd Missionary Journey, and Acts 18:24-28 discusses the ministry of Apollos in Ephesus after Paul left.

We’ll talk about Paul first. Acts reads: "After spending some time in Antioch, Paul . . . traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples . . . Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus" (Acts 18:23, 19:1a). This is everything Acts says about the trip . . . but there must have been so much more to say! Paul’s letter to the Galatians—probably written after Paul’s 2^nd visit to Galatia—implies Pharisee-Christian legalists slipped in while Paul was away. He writes: "You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? . . . Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? . . . Are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" (Gal 3:1-3). Despite the Council of Jerusalem, the legalists won’t quit! In fact, some speculate the reason for Paul’s hasty return to Jerusalem and Antioch was the resurgence of legalism, and he had to spend time doing re-education.

Then, as he went from Pisidian Antioch to Ephesus, Paul passed close to Colossae and Laodicea and Hierapolis. Christian churches there were founded later by Paul’s associate Epaphras (Col 4:13), and Paul’s letter to the Colossians implies he did not know the people in that church (Col 2:1) . . . but I wonder if he stopped in any of these cities?

Last is the story of Apollos, a Hellenized Jewish Christian from Alexandria. He reminds me of Paul or Stephen, because he was an expert in scripture who debated the Jews vigorously that Jesus fulfilled Messianic prophesy (Acts 18:28). He came to Ephesus after Paul left for Antioch. He already knew about Jesus—no doubt Alexandrian Jews who visited Jerusalem for Jewish feasts had learned of Him and the Christian church. Pricilla and Aquila gave him additional instruction. Then he left to minister in Corinth and other parts of the province of Achaia; he was gone when Paul reached Ephesus. We’ll talk about his baptism next week, because it ties in to the first part of chapter 19.

Next week we’ll also talk about Paul’s ministry in Ephesus . . . a very successful 2-year affair—so successful that Paul threatened the livelihood of silversmiths who made shrines to the goddess Artemis (or Diana) . . . and they caused a riot which forced Paul to leave. And we’ll talk about Artemis and her magnificent temple—one of the 7 wonders of the world. The web site will have some photos of Ephesus and a remnant of the temple of Artemis from the British Museum.