Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Summertime, at least in America, is a time for travel, lots of travel! Roads, airports, train stations, bus stations, all filled to capacity, as are the campsites and hotels and all other accommodations for travelers. Will you be traveling this summer? Here’s a more important question… what will be your impact on the people you meet in your travels? What would it be like if you and I determined that we will be a source of great encouragement to every person we meet this summer, especially as we travel?
Yesterday Paul and Timothy concluded writing Paul’s second letter to the Christians in Thessalonica, Macedonia, in the year 51ad. I don’t know for sure who had the great privilege of taking that scroll from Paul, in the city of Corinth, all the way to Thessalonica, and then reading it to the people there to whom Paul had addressed this letter. But we can assume this letter was well received, probably copied carefully and sent on to other groups of Christians in Macedonia.
Meanwhile Acts 18 tells us what happened next in Paul’s life: “Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, Paul had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken.” (Acts 18:18) Now that’s very interesting isn’t it? Do you know what it means, my friends?
Do you remember Aquila and Priscilla were a Jewish couple Paul had met in Corinth? (Acts 18:1) They had fled the persecution in Rome. They were tent makers, a trade Paul had learned along the way, so Paul had joined them in their business, to provide financially for himself, during his long 18 month stay in Corinth. During their time together, of course, Paul led Aquila and Priscilla to understand that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, and they trusted Jesus to be their Savior. Over these many months as Paul, Aquila and Priscilla sat side by side mending tents, Paul had taught them a great deal about the Gospel of Jesus.
So, it’s very interesting to me that as Paul is led by the Holy Spirit to leave Corinth, Aquila and Priscilla join Paul’s traveling team. I presume that wasn’t primarily a business decision to expand their tent making business to another town. Oh no! They were being led by the Spirit of God to join Paul’s missionary team on this adventure of taking the Gospel to places where Jesus was not known!
Of course, you noticed Paul had a haircut! Now why would Dr. Luke, the author of Acts, give us that information? Paul had been a Pharisee, remember? He knew the Old Testament laws and traditions very well. He was a devout, very disciplined man. Numbers chapter 6, in the Old Testament, is probably a chapter in the Bible you haven’t read lately, but Paul knew it very well.
In this chapter are the instructions for those who will engage in the very serious “Nazarite Vow”. Among other things the instructions include this: “During the entire period of their Nazarite vow, no razor may be used on their head. They must be holy until the period of their dedication to the LORD is over; they must let their hair grow long… Throughout the period of their vow dedication, they are consecrated to the LORD… When the period of their vow dedication is over…the Nazarite must shave off the hair that symbolizes their dedication. They are to take the hair and put it in the fire that is under the sacrifice of the fellowship offering.” (Numbers 6:5,8,13,18)
Evidently, during the time Paul was in Corinth he engaged in a Nazarite Vow with God. This was a prolonged period of time when someone engaged in a very serious period of devout spiritual consecration to God, perhaps waiting upon God for an answer or some clear direction. Another version of this would be a prolonged period of fasting and prayer time.
There is no further explanation in Luke’s record about this particular event, so we don’t know why Paul entered into this Nazarite vow, but clearly the ending of the vow, and shaving of Paul’s head, gave Paul the opportunity to explain a deeper spiritual discipline to Aquila and Priscilla, Silas and Timothy.
Luke’s inclusion of this here is NOT a call to you and me to engage in the Nazarite Vow, but it is a challenge for us to consider what price we are willing to pay when pursuing a significant spiritual engagement with God.
Luke reports that Paul, Aquila and Priscilla sailed by ship across the Aegean Sea and landed at Ephesus. This journey from Corinth to Ephesus was perhaps the busiest shipping lane in the first century, connecting these two great provinces of the Roman Empire, Asia and Achaia (Greece & Macedonia). This was Paul’s first visit to this great city Ephesus, but it would not be his last.
Ephesus was considered one of the premier cities in the Roman empire in the first century, and its archeological ruins are a major tourist stop today, located about 60 miles south of modern Izmir, Turkey. If you like history, here’s a reliable website with good information about ancient Ephesus: https://www.history.
On this first visit to Ephesus, Paul didn’t stay long, but it was memorable. Here is Luke’s description: “They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Aquila and Priscilla. Paul went into the synagogue in Ephesus and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. But as he left, Paul promised, ‘I will come back if it is God’s will.’ Then Paul set sail from Ephesus. (Acts 18:19-21)
Let’s stand with Paul on the deck of this unnamed sailing ship, heading out into open water of the Mediterranean Sea, bound for Caesarea. It was only natural that Paul, the former Pharisee, would have sought an audience in the Jewish Synagogue in Ephesus. From the time of his boyhood, the familiar Synagogue was the place Paul felt most fully alive, most at home, most impassioned, most spiritual.
Paul loved the Hebrew scrolls, the reading and discussion, the learning, the sense of rich Jewish heritage, the traditions and rituals, the sacred privilege of prayer which took place in every Hebrew Synagogue. I believe Paul may have prayed, right there on the ship deck, asking God to bring him back to Ephesus one day. For now, Paul entrusted the evangelism of Ephesus to Aquila and Priscilla.
But now look, Paul is gazing across the open water back toward Corinth, reflecting on those wonderful 18 months he’d spent there. And then further up the coast, to Thessalonica and those memorable 3 weeks in that great city. Of course, distance obscured the city, but Paul’s memories of Philippi would forever be etched in his heart!
Oh my, what a second missionary journey this has been! Paul turns and looks now over the bow of the ship; only open water lies out ahead. The ship is turning into the wind, heading east… back to the homeland of Jerusalem. With many days of open water ahead, Paul has so much to reflect on and pray about, thanking God for all he has experienced in these nearly three years of this trip. So many lives changed, so many cities where there are now at least a few Christians. So, my friends, let’s stand on the deck with Paul reflecting on our life journey. What have been the results of the past few years for you and me? And we’ll rejoin Paul here on this ship tomorrow…
Today’s Scripture is Acts 18:18-21)
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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