Book 8: The Third Missionary Journey

Chapter 39 – Macedonia and Greece

Narration

Acts 20:1-6

Leaving Ephesus, Paul went on to Macedonia, going though all the districts he had visited before and encouraging any believers he met.

Continuing on to Greece, he spent three months there, but a plot against him forced him to abandon his plan to sail for Syria, and instead he went back through Macedonia.  Luke was with him, but his other travelling companions had already travelled to Troas to wait for him there.

After the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Paul and Luke left Philippi for Troas, making a much slower trip than the speedy crossing made after Paul had seen the vision of a man from Macedonia, begging for help.

Chapter 40 – Troas

Narration

Acts 20:6-13

Arriving at Troas, Paul caught up with his travelling companions: Sopater, and the son of Pyrrhus from Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus the Thessalonians; Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; as well as Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia.  Paul often had several people travelling with him and frequently sent them to do things he could not spare the time to attend to himself.

After seven days in Troas, it was the first day of the week and Paul was to leave the following morning.  Everyone was eager to hear as much as they could from him, so whenever he started to slow down, they encouraged him to continue.  It was stuffy in the upper room and a young man named Eutychus fell asleep.  It must have been an embarrassing memory for the rest of his life, but for a while it was tragic.  He fell out of the window, and by the time anyone could get down to him, he was dead.  It was a great blessing that Paul was there, for he bent over the lad and embraced him, then reassured the crowd that he was not dead.  Not any longer.  The believers were so happy that they asked Paul to continue and he did, talking until daybreak.

No-one else fell out of a window!

Sketch 40.1

Paul needed to be alone, and now at last he could be.

He would have two days by himself on the road to Assos before rejoining his travelling companions and proceeding to Jerusalem.

Two days of meditation and thought.

Troas was well behind him now and Paul was enjoying a brisk walk in the spring morning – although he had to admit that he was tired after a night without sleep!

Yet the night had been profoundly uplifting, revealing again Jesus’ amazing work among the believers to spread the faith like wildfire across the empire.

Paul thought over his years of missionary travel.  What an amazing encourager Barnabas was!  And how much that subtle gift had changed Paul’s life.  It was Barnabas who had travelled to Tarsus to encourage him to travel south again and join the believers in Antioch.  Wonderful Barnabas!  Then there was the sudden and radical change in his life when Barnabas and he had been sent by the Holy Spirit to preach.

That first journey with Barnabas had taken them around Cyprus, through Pamphylia and up into Galatia.  How were the believers in those places progressing now?

Paul mentally revisited the towns where they had preached on that first journey.  From time to time they had met believers – people who had been baptised in the name of Jesus many years before on the Day of Pentecost.  Peter and the other eleven had presented the truth about Jesus with great power to Jews from all over the empire.  That one day of preaching had been astonishingly successful in making the name of Jesus known by one person here, another there, all over the empire.  Most of the audience were not gifted preachers able to return home and fill their home towns and provinces with the gospel of Jesus, but their altered lives meant that their neighbours knew the name of Jesus.  Not only so, but they had improved their local society along the way.

The congregations Barnabas and he had helped form in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe – towns in the southern areas of Galatia – were still thriving communities of believers and he received messages and reports from them often.  Nevertheless, he couldn’t help worrying about them!  They weren’t new believers anymore, but sometimes he still felt that they needed guides to hold their hands.  Thankfully, they hadn’t been losing their way recently as they had done early on, when he had been forced to write them a stern letter reminding them to hold fast to truth.  Paul still remembered the shock he had felt at receiving reports that some visiting preachers had taught them false doctrines, misleading many believers in Galatia.

Why were false doctrines so attractive to so many?  That letter had been written and dispatched in haste, reminding them that the good news of Jesus didn’t change just because some new preacher had come along!  Not only so, but truth doesn’t change.  Ever.  However well a preacher may speak, however smoothly he may present himself, however beautiful his voice may be, it is his message that matters.  And if that message contradicted the truth Barnabas and Paul had presented to them, the believers should reject it.

Truth is truth; anything else is lies.  Truth saves; everything else kills.  Paul had reminded them that Gentiles did not have to become Jews – after all, had not God himself called Abram ‘Abraham’, the father of many nations?  And it was not the law of Moses that had saved Abraham – no, Abraham came before the law of Moses and was saved by his faith.

And now, Jesus had saved both Jews and Gentiles from their sins through his own sacrifice, a much better sacrifice than that of animals under the law.

Of course, it wasn’t that everyone in the congregations had been led astray, but it was enough to be worrying.  Thankfully, his letter had been enough to damp down the fires of heresy and encourage the believers to revel in the joy of truth once more.

Nevertheless, one letter couldn’t solve all the problems of the congregations, and Paul kept wishing that he had more time to visit them all again.

But it just wasn’t possible.

There were only so many days in a year, and short visits could do little to help.

It was hard enough to know how best to preach in new areas, but when it came to pastoral care and offering support and guidance to young congregations, that was even harder.

Paul had met many thousands of people while preaching.  Many of these had progressed from an initial interest in the gospel to being convinced and converted.  Paul had spent countless hours with many of them discussing the Way, and his mind was full of their faces as he walked along the road.  Sometimes, individual names escaped him, but most were recovered with a few minutes’ thought.  He added each of them to his prayers for God’s guidance and care and wished he could meet them all again.  Fellowship, he thought, was wonderful, and the shared hope of resurrection tied them all together in love.

How astonished he had been when he heard that some believers in Corinth had abandoned their belief in the resurrection.  He smiled a wry smile.  Another letter he’d had to write, addressing that vital subject and criticising the ignorance of scripture that had allowed them to make such a mistake!  The same ignorance had also been shown in various other subjects which he had been forced to include in the letter.  How could he convince believers everywhere to spend more time learning scripture and becoming familiar with God’s principles?

Paul shook his head as he walked, thinking of the other serious criticisms he had been compelled to include in that letter and praying for those who were meant to be leaders but lacked the knowledge to lead well.  Still, following ‘the Way’ did require a massive change of theology from the religious beliefs most had previously held, so perhaps it wasn’t too surprising that some took a wrong turn or two!  And at least they had been willing to listen and learn.  He mused over the believers who had strayed, including their names in his ongoing prayer for them all.  How would they fare when he and other preachers could no longer visit them?

After all, the congregation hadn’t only had problems with complex matters of doctrine!  That horrible case of a man taking his father’s wife would not have been acceptable in the ordinary society of godless Corinth, so how could it ever have been thought acceptable among followers of Jesus?  It was as if they thought following Jesus Christ absolved them from obeying any laws of the land or meeting societal expectations of morality.  Perhaps some thought God’s grace and forgiveness allowed them to do anything.

Nevertheless, they had listened to his instruction in that matter also, and after a bit of heartfelt communication back and forth, the situation had been straightened out.  He loved the Corinthians for their eager faith, but sometimes guiding the believers was like looking after little children and trying to help them grow up!

Paul continued his prayer for the brothers and sisters in Corinth, listing them each by name and rejoicing in the growth each had shown and was showing.  True, there were still some matters to straighten out after his latest visit; perhaps he should write them another letter.

Paul found this sort of time spent alone in contemplation and prayer invaluable – essential, really – and he made the most of it in those two days on the road.  When he arrived in Assos he found his companions waiting for him, and they sailed on together.