Good Monday to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I wonder if some of you remember a song from several years ago, ‘On the Road Again’? That’s what summertime is for many people. Perhaps that will be your experience, and if so, I hope your travels are safe and filled with adventure and wonderful memories. That phrase seems to fit with our friend Paul, doesn’t it?
Yesterday we spent a short while in Jerusalem with Paul, but it appears he was anxious to get “on the road again”, heading ‘home’ to the place and people who had sent him out more than 2 years before, on this remarkable missionary adventure! The road going north from Jerusalem to Syrian Antioch was well traveled, and with 300 miles to cover till Antioch, I imagine Paul did all he could to cover as many miles as possible each day.
Luke is very short with his description of this final leg of the journey: “…Paul went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.” (Acts 18:22) You may remember my friends; Antioch was a remarkable city in Syria. It was to this city Paul had been invited and brought by Barnabas, perhaps 10 years earlier. Barnabas had gone to Paul’s hometown Tarsus to find him, and Barnabas urged Paul to come and help them in Antioch. Help them do what?
Well, the Gospel of Jesus Christ was gaining momentum in Antioch, among both Jews and Gentiles who lived there, many who had moved there from other parts of the Roman empire. Antioch was a major city of commerce, a crossroads of overland caravans, who traversed there going in all four directions, North, South, East and West.
Many languages were spoken in Antioch and Paul fell in love with this city as soon as he arrived with Barnabas. They’d spent a full year there teaching the followers of Jesus, and it was in this city, during that year, the people of Antioch coined a new name for Jesus followers… “Christians“. (Acts 11:26)
From that dynamic Antioch ‘ekklesia’ of Jesus followers, Paul and Barnabas had been commissioned out to take the Gospel west, to places the name of Jesus was unknown. (Acts 13:1-4) That first adventurous trip lasted about two years (47-49ad) and they took the Gospel into the provinces of Cilicia, Pisidia and Galatia. You may remember some of the towns Barnabas and Paul proclaimed the Gospel first, starting on Cyprus Island, then north to Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, where Paul was nearly stoned to death, and Derbe. Upon their return to Antioch, Paul and Barnabas had given a wonderful report of all the Holy Spirit had done in those cities during this first missionary journey. (Acts 14:27,28)
You may recall an official meeting was held in Jerusalem, soon thereafter. This “Jerusalem Council” brought together Paul and Barnabas, the apostles who had been with Jesus, and other leaders of the ‘ekklesia’ in Jerusalem. The big debate was whether Gentiles could be saved by God’s grace and their faith in Jesus alone, or did they need to become followers of Jewish law first?
Luke records that meeting in Acts 15, and their historic conclusion of ‘salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, plus nothing’. Soon thereafter Paul was anxious to be ‘on the road again’ and this time he selected Silas to accompany him, while Barnabas selected John Mark for their trip. Barnabas and Mark returned to Cyprus, home for Barnabas, and beyond. We have no record of the details of that trip. Paul and Silas went north and then west, all the way to Macedonia and Greece, and we’ve been traveling with them on this trip over the past several weeks.
Now finally today, Paul arrives back in Antioch, but as far as we know, Paul arrives alone. (Acts 18:22) As I mentioned yesterday, we assume Silas remained in Corinth. I see no reason to imagine the response in Antioch, to Paul’s arrival, was any different this time than the last time he returned from an adventurous missionary trip.
So, let’s assume the very same description from Luke is what Paul experienced this time: “On arriving in Antioch, the church gathered together, and Paul reported all that God had done through them [Paul, Silas, Timothy, Luke] and how God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.” (Acts 14:27) This time, however, Paul had the great privilege of telling the story of Timothy, a young disciple of Jesus, who had joined Paul in Lystra, (Acts 16:1-5) the very same town which nearly stoned Paul to death on Paul’s first visit there! (Acts 14:19,20)
Can you see Paul’s excitement as he described Timothy and the wonderful relationship they had developed? I’m sure you’ve had the joy of telling some of your friends about a new friend you’ve made, whom they don’t know, but you are confident they’d quickly become friends if they could someday meet! Can you hear Paul’s enthusiasm describing Timothy?
Then of course Paul had so many stories to tell about this Greek physician named Dr. Luke, who had joined him as he went into Macedonia for the first time! (Acts 16:6-10) Look at the people with their eyes wide and maybe even their mouths hanging open!
Macedonia? A Greek Physician? Macedonia was nearly 1000 miles away from Antioch! So many questions about the people there, the food, the customs, the similarities and differences between Antioch and Philippi! Or course they were shocked to hear about how Paul and Silas had been beaten, imprisoned, and then God’s intervention with a midnight earthquake which opened the jail! (Acts 16:16-40)
And then, of course, stories about Lydia, the businesswoman, who was the first convert in Philippi, and how she opened her home as a place where the believers in Jesus could meet together in that city. (Acts 16:11-15,40)
Can you see the crowds growing larger each night as Paul continued telling the stories, in Antioch? How did Paul describe his brief, three weeks in Thessalonica? (Acts 17:1-9) How do you think Paul explained his remarkable time in Athens, actually meeting with the scholars at the Areopagus, and finding the monument to “an unknown god”? (Acts 17:16-34)
Then of course Paul’s 18 months in the great city of Corinth, and his working with Aquila and Priscilla. (Acts 18:1-18) And finally Paul’s journey home with stops in Ephesus, Caesarea and Jerusalem, before finally arriving back in Antioch. (Acts 18:19-22) How often was Paul interrupted with questions?
Now here’s something for us to consider… how much more did Paul tell his friends in Antioch, about this remarkable journey, that Luke does not record? Places, people and events we’ve never heard anything about!
Oh, my what a privilege it would have been to sit in that group with Paul, night after night, listening to his report of the amazing things God accomplished during the more than two years of this remarkable second missionary journey. I imagine Paul ended each evening of stories with a call for a time of prayer, specifically for the people and places he had described that evening. And so, night after night, Christians in Antioch were praying for their spiritual ‘brothers and sisters’ in faraway cities like Philippi, Thessalonica, Lystra, Derbe, Athens, Corinth and Ephesus.
May I ask, my friends, how often do you seek reports of what God is doing in faraway places? And when you receive the news, is it a great privilege for you to pray for those places and people? Here’s a resource you might not be aware of: Mission Network News, and here’s their online link: https://www.mnnonline.
So, this season, of Paul reporting to the ‘ekklesia’ in Antioch, brings to an end his second missionary journey. Dr. Luke is very brief, giving us no details of these weeks Paul was back home in Antioch, only these few words: “After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.” (Acts 18:23) If you like to mark your Bible, may I suggest you put a line between Acts 18:22 & 23. That line represents the end of Paul’s second missionary journey, his reports in Antioch, and the beginning of Paul’s famous THIRD missionary journey! Unlike the previous two trips, this one begins with no fanfare, no selection of traveling teammates. Simply the statement: “Paul set out from there …”. Can you see why I selected the title “On the Road Again” for today?
So, let’s pause here my friends, and I urge you to take some time to reflect on what you remember Luke reports to us from Acts 15:40 through Acts 18:22, Paul’s second missionary journey. And consider what the journey is that you’ve been living over the past few years, and what a summary description of your journey would include…
Today’s Scripture is Acts 18:22-23.
Choose below to read or listen.
 |  |
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.