THE EXPANSION OF THE CHURCH (ACTS 13:1–20:2)
The preceding section recounted how the church began to face the challenge of its own prejudice and to move into Samaria and beyond. The apostle Peter had personally seen the Holy Spirit fill Gentile Christians, and the Antioch church was readily sharing the gospel with Gentiles as well. It was evident that even uncircumcised Gentiles could enter the kingdom of God through faith in the Messiah (11:3, 18).
During this period, Saul of Tarsus had been confronted by the resurrected Messiah; he was rebuked for persecuting Jewish Christians and commissioned to evangelize the Gentiles. But it was only after the church’s change of attitude toward the idea of Gentile conversions that the ministry of Paul could begin in earnest. Barnabas had come alongside Paul and brought him to the Antioch church. There, the Holy Spirit called the church to send these two men out on a missionary journey, further still from Jerusalem. Other similar journeys followed for Paul, and this section of Acts tells of the remarkably quick expansion of the church through Paul’s ministry.
When we study the journeys of Paul in the book of Acts, we’re not just reading the travel log of a man; we’re observing the redemptive plan of God unfolding as He promised. Through the ministry of Saul of Tarsus, God’s mission to reclaim His creation from the death grip of evil would move to its next stage. The plan of this mission was outlined in the Lord’s promise at His ascension, where He said,
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses . . . in
Jerusalem [stage 1: Acts 2–7],
and in all Judea and Samaria [stage 2: Acts 8–12],
and even to the remotest part of the earth [stage 3: Acts 13–28].” (1:8)
God has neither forgotten nor forsaken His covenant people, the Hebrews, and He would carry His plan forward through the ministry of a Jew set aside by unmerited mercy and prepared by sovereign design. A “Hebrew of Hebrews” (Phil. 3:5), Paul carried the gospel to the Gentiles who, in turn, became the stone and mortar of the kingdom for two thousand years and counting. Although the Lord used Paul’s ministry to transform a localized sect of Judaism into a worldwide phenomenon, success didn’t come easily or cheaply. Indeed, God had promised the newly converted persecutor that he would endure suffering himself (Acts 9:16). And the apostle indeed suffered every form of discomfort imaginable over the next ten to fifteen years as he pushed the boundaries of the kingdom across the eastern half of the Roman Empire from Jerusalem to Rome. This next phase of expansion occurred in three successive journeys, consequently called by scholars “the missionary journeys of Paul,” each carrying the apostle farther from home for longer periods of time. Notably, Luke first begins to call Saul of Tarsus “Paul” with the first of these voyages into the Gentile world (13:9).
The major events of this section are the first missionary journey (13:1–14:28), the Jerusalem Council (15:1-35), the second missionary journey (15:36–18:22), and the third missionary journey (18:23–20:2). An overview of each is provided below.
Paul’s First Missionary Journey (13:1–14:28)
Agrippa I died sometime after Passover in AD 44 (see 12:20-24). After this, Paul and Barnabas returned from Jerusalem to Antioch (12:25; cf. 11:28-30), then spent some time ministering there. After some time, the Holy Spirit selected Paul and Barnabas for special missionary work, so the pair departed Syrian Antioch for Cyprus (13:2-4), Barnabas’s homeland, and crossed over to the Roman province of Pamphylia and then north to Pisidian Antioch (13:13-14; see map on page 256). They might have continued the circuit by traveling to Paul’s hometown of Tarsus and then back home to Syrian Antioch, except for two considerations. First, the onset of winter would have made crossing the Taurus Mountains difficult. Second, spending the winter in Derbe would not have been the best use of their time. So they reversed course to shore up the communities they had already visited. They caught a ship in Attalia and sailed straight for Seleucia, the harbor town nearest Antioch (14:25-26).
The complete first missionary journey probably took the team eighteen months to complete —between the spring of AD 47 and fall of AD 48.
The Jerusalem Council (15:1-35)
As the church in Syrian Antioch flourished and the gospel continued to spread among Gentiles, a controversy arose over the question of circumcision. A group of Jewish Christians from the Jerusalem church again pressed the question of whether one could become a Christian without first converting to Judaism (15:1, 5; cf. 11:2-3). After all, Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and eventually will rule the world as a theocracy. This had been God’s vision for Israel from the beginning. How could one embrace Jesus as the Messiah without first knowing the God of the Hebrews, His Old Testament Scriptures, and at least some Jewish theology? Unlike today, in which nearly two-thirds of the world’s people —Jews, Christians, and Muslims —know “God” as the God of Abraham, first-century Gentiles were virtually ignorant of anything but their pagan pantheon of mythical caricatures.
On the other side of the issue stood Peter, James, Barnabas, Paul, and —of course —every Gentile believer. In their minds, Peter’s experience in Caesarea settled the issue. God had given His Spirit to the uncircumcised Gentiles in the home of Cornelius, which the apostles and elders took as a divine declaration that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Even so, the controversy drove the Jerusalem church to distraction. A decision was made to call all of the church leaders —apostles and elders —to meet, debate, and then issue a declaration of the official church position. Most scholars place the date around AD 49 or 50.
Paul’s Second Missionary Journey (15:36–18:22)
Luke sets the time for Paul’s second journey as “after some days” following the Jerusalem Council (15:36). This could represent weeks or months, but not likely more than a year. Barnabas and Paul originally determined to revisit the cities of the first journey. They could not agree, however, on whether to take John Mark, who had left them midway through that first expedition. So, after a strong disagreement, Barnabas took John Mark with him to Cyprus and undoubtedly other destinations, and Paul chose Silas as a partner and headed north to Tarsus in Cilicia (15:40-41), through a pass in the Taurus Mountains, and into southern Galatia (16:1-2; see map on page 312). They would have continued west into Asia Minor, but the Holy Spirit prevented them (16:6). Instead, they turned north toward Bithynia but again were blocked by the Spirit (16:7). Turning west again, they found no entrance into Mysia, so they continued to the harbor city of Troas on the shore of the Aegean Sea (16:8).
With the whole of present-day Turkey closed off, they remained in Troas until Paul received a night vision of a man calling them to the vast province of Macedonia (16:9), which bordered the northwestern and western rim of the Aegean Sea. Paul’s team visited each of the major cities along the coastline around the sea (16:10–17:14) and down toward Athens, where the apostle preached to the leading minds in Greek philosophy (17:15-34). From there, Paul traveled west to Corinth, where he ministered for at least eighteen months (18:1-11). There the Jews rose up against him and brought him before Gallio for trial, but Gallio objected that this was a Jewish argument and not a Roman concern (18:12-17). The mention of Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia, places the latter part of Paul’s ministry there in AD 51, with his trial most likely taking place in the spring or summer.
When the time came for him to leave, his new friends Aquila and Priscilla traveled with him (18:2-3, 18). Landing in Ephesus, the principal city in Asia Minor, he preached in the synagogue to such a warm reception the leaders asked him to stay on. Instead, he left the Jewish couple he met in Corinth to minister in his place, expressing his desire to return soon (18:19-21). From there, he sailed to Caesarea and then returned home to Syrian Antioch (18:22).
Paul’s Third Missionary Journey (18:23–20:2)
Luke’s narrative suggests that Paul didn’t remain in Antioch very long before he set out again to revisit the churches he had helped establish (see map on page 369). The narrative mentions “the Galatian region and Phrygia” (18:23), which would include cities along the route traveled in the second journey —Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium —and the northern part of Asia, perhaps with visits to Pisidian Antioch and Philadelphia along the way. “Upper country” (19:1) translates a Greek expression meaning “highlands,” probably referring to a route over the Tmolus Mountains and then down into the Cayster valley leading to Ephesus. Paul undoubtedly selected this route to maximize the number of cities from his second journey he could visit while getting to Ephesus as soon as possible.
Paul spent two years using Ephesus as a base of operations in Asia (see 19:1-41, especially 19:10). His plan was to revisit the Macedonian cities —Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea —and then Corinth before sailing directly back to visit Jerusalem. After one last time of worship in the temple, he would set out for Rome (19:21), where he planned to launch an expedition westward toward Spain (Rom. 15:24, 28).
He did visit Macedonia and then Greece, where he spent three months (Acts 20:1-3). This effectively ended his third missionary journey as he had planned it. Unfortunately, enemies among the Jewish leaders plotted to kill Paul, so his return home took a less direct route. Perhaps to throw off the assassins, he instructed his traveling companions to sail from Greece as planned while he retraced his steps back through Macedonia to Philippi. He rendezvoused with the team in Troas shortly after Passover, and they sailed back to Caesarea, stopping at ports all along the way (20:1-8).
Saul’s (Paul’s) Early Travels. In a zealous quest to persecute Christians, Saul journeyed from Jerusalem to Damascus. Once he converted to Christianity, his early travels included Arabia, Jerusalem, Caesarea Maritima, and Tarsus.
Peter’s Ministry. Peter expanded his ministry beyond the church in Jerusalem by traveling throughout Judea, making stops in Lydda, Joppa, and Caesarea Maritima. When he returned, he brought the news that the Holy Spirit had fallen upon the Gentiles.
KEY TERMS IN ACTS 13:1–20:2
dialegomai (διαλέγομαι) [1256] “to dispute,” “to reason,” “to discuss”
Greek philosophers used this term in a technical sense, believing the use of logic and reason to be the means by which one may connect with the logos, the divine mind, the realm of pure idea. For example, “in Socrates, Plato and Aristotle there is developed the art of persuasion and demonstration either in the form of question and answer (Socrates), the establishment of the idea by pure thought (Plato), or the investigation of the ultimate foundations of demonstration and knowledge (Aristotle).”[114] Ancient Jews didn’t “reason” in this technical sense, but they recognized disputation as a time-honored theological method. In the first century, however, Greek influence undoubtedly found its way into synagogues within predominantly Gentile cities. Acts uses the term dialegomai for Paul’s practice of engaging unbelievers in apologetic and evangelistic encounters.[115]
katangellō (καταγγέλλω) [2605] “to proclaim,” “to announce,” “to make known widely”
The root word of this verb means simply “to announce.” The prefix kata- [2596] usually functions as an intensifier, adding an emphasis of some kind. Outside the New Testament, writers used the term in reference to broadcasting official reports and announcing athletic games or religious festivals. The writings of Luke and Paul use the word with special theological meaning, describing the kind of “proclaiming” that eliminates excuses and produces a transformation. If there is widespread preaching and teaching, no one may claim ignorance as the reason for unbelief.
parakaleō (παρακαλέω) [3870] “to exhort,” “to urge,” “to encourage,” “to comfort”
The primary idea of this verb is “to comfort,” usually in reference to those grieving or dying. In the New Testament, the term takes on a specialized meaning, especially in the writings of Luke and Paul, for whom it’s a multifaceted word that carries the idea of standing alongside someone in order to provide counsel, courage, comfort, hope, and positive perspective. The role of an athletic coach illustrates this expanded meaning well. A good coach challenges, instructs, inspires, and helps another toward excellence in reaching a specific goal.
parachrēma (παραχρῆμα) [3916] “suddenly,” “immediately,” “at once”
Except for one notable exception (Matt. 21:19-20), this adverb appears only in Luke (ten times) and Acts (six times). Luke uses the term to establish a clear cause-and-effect connection between one event and the next, usually in the context of a supernatural event. Jesus, the apostles, or God the Father acted, and “immediately” the results were seen (cf. Acts 3:7; 12:23).
pistis (πίστις) [4102] “faith,” “trust,” “confidence,” “reliance”
This word denotes confidence in the reliability of a person or thing and can describe one’s trust in a person’s word, a compact or treaty, or a deity (or deities). The term implies both knowledge and action. One may receive knowledge of a certain truth and may even offer verbal agreement, but “trust” or “confidence” is not said to be present until one’s behavior reflects that truth. In the Hellenistic period, this word came to connote the conviction that gods do exist and are active. The Greeks worshiped and feared their gods, but they did not have a relationship with them. Luke’s readers, however, would also have known the word from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), where it —and related words, like pisteuō [4100], “to believe,” “to accept as truth,” “to commit one’s trust” —is linked to the relationship with Israel’s covenant-keeping God. For the Jew, and therefore the Christian, pistis became a description of the means by which someone relates to God —so much so that the participial form came to designate members of the church as “believers” (e.g., 2:44; 4:32; 5:14).