THE TRAVELING GOSPEL

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken.

They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.”

Then he set sail from Ephesus. When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.

Acts 18:18-22

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Paul got around. There’s no questioning this, especially when we look closely at the four missionary journeys he went on, journeys committed to the sharing of the good news of Jesus Christ. Indeed, all through the Book of Acts we see first-hand how the Gospel travels thanks to the evangelists who answer the call of Jesus to make disciples.  

As we continue to look at the 18th chapter of Acts and the conclusion of Paul’s second missionary journey, look at how far the Gospel goes in just six short verses.

We begin with Paul finishing up his time in Corinth before heading to Syria but before he sailed the scriptures tell us that he “had his hair cut off in Cenchreae, the eastern seaport of Corinth. He did so because he took a Nazarite vow to do so. It was a completely voluntary act by a believer who wanted to publicly display their full devotion to God. The specifics of how the vow was to be carried out are found in the Book of Numbers:

“If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of dedication to the Lord as a Nazirite, they must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or other fermented drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. As long as they remain under their Nazirite vow, they must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.”

"During the entire period of their Nazirite 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.” Numbers 6:2-5

So Paul took the Nazarite vow and was ready to continue on. He sailed first to Syria before traveling to Ephesus, accompanied by his Corinthian hosts, the tent makers Priscilla and Aquila. While in Ephesus, we read where Paul did what he so often did on his Gospel-sharing travels, going to the synagogue to reason with the Jews. And while Paul often found resistance from his Jewish counterparts in other places he had been, note that the Jews in Ephesus actually wanted him to stay with them, an offer he declined.

Why?

Because the Lord had other things for him to do but Paul didn’t rule out returning because he knew that it could be God’s will in the future. You see, the Gospel travels where the Lord wants it to travel, when He wants it to travel, and to who He sends it to. God’s purpose and instigation are always connected to the message of salvation delivered to the unsaved.

And so Paul departed Ephesus, sailing solo to Caesarea before heading south and then up in elevation to the city of Jerusalem where he greeted the church there and no doubt reported on all that had gone on during his second missionary trip. He then went down from Jerusalem and back north to Antioch where he had began the journey.

All and all, Paul had embarked on quite a sojourn on his second stint traveling for the cause of the Gospel, an excursion that covered over 3,000 miles, much of it on foot. One might have considered a Gospel expedition like that to be enough, especially when coupled with the first one that totaled more than 1,500 miles. But as we’ll see starting with tomorrow’s message, Paul still had a lot of gas left in the tank and the Lord still had much for him to do.

The traveling Gospel would soon be on the road again.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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