Light  ~ Acts 15:22-17:15

HighLights  ~  Letter sent by the Jerusalem Council to Antioch area; Paul’s second missionary journey. The time of this second journey was about AD 50-52.

InSights  ~  The Jerusalem Council makes its deliberations official: they set them down in a letter for the distant non-Jewish believers in Antioch and the regions around it. The letter is carried not only by Paul and Barnabas but by two other “delegates” selected by the whole Jerusalem church, not just its leaders. Again, the only “requirements” laid on these new  believers have to do with dietary issues and with sexual immorality (which I failed to mention yesterday). To strengthen the report of Paul and Barnabas, who were already well-known members of the Antioch community, two other leaders from Jerusalem were sent, prophets named Silas and Judas, who “stayed for a while” before heading back to Jerusalem. But Silas, as we soon discover, will return to Antioch before long.

“After some time” Paul feels the urge to return to the places he and Barnabas had been during their earlier mission trip. Barnabas agrees and suggests they give John Mark another try as a companion. Paul refuses, still skeptical because John Mark had deserted them so early in the previous trip. The two men cannot reach agreement on this, so they decide to separate into two teams. Barnabas will take John Mark, while Paul will send for Silas, in whom he must have developed confidence when they traveled together with the message from the Jerusalem Council.
We read that Barnabas and John Mark head to Cyprus, copying the itinerary of the First Journey, but Paul and Silas go overland, perhaps visiting Paul’s hometown of Tarsus along the way (as Barnabas will also be in his homeland of Cyprus). We have no records of the missionary journey of Barnabas and John Mark. But it is believed that John Mark grew in stature, and that he later wrote the Gospel of Mark, based on Peter’s teaching. Also, Paul mentions him in Colossians, not unfavorably, so there is the hope that Mark regained Paul’s confidence as the years went by; perhaps he proved himself on this trip with Barnabas.

For me, the highlights of the Second Journey in this reading are:

  • Paul invites the young disciple from Lystra, Timothy, to join the group.
    Despite the fact that circumcision is now officially not mandated, Paul suggests that Timothy go through the procedure. Timothy is half Jewish, on his mother’s side, and Paul obviously thinks it will be expedient if Timothy gets this out of the way. Acts 16:1-5.
  • Paul receives a vision from the Holy Spirit, guiding him over to Greece. Though the original purpose of this trip was to follow-up with previously planted churches, God wants Paul to break new ground. Acts 16:6-10.
  • In Philippi, the first recorded European converts are recorded: the businesswoman Lydia and her household are baptized in the Gangites River.
  • Also in Philippi, Paul and Silas are imprisoned. By delivering a young woman from demons, they spoil the business of her owner, who exploited her as a fortune-teller. The ensuing conflict lands them in jail, after a beating.
    But in the middle of the night, while Paul and Silas are praising God in song, an earthquake ruins the prison and loosens their bonds. The behavior of Paul and Silas here wins the confidence of their jailer, who comes to faith. He and his household are the next recorded new believers.
    We learn here that Paul and Silas are Roman citizens.
  • Driven out of town in Thessalonica. Everywhere he goes, Paul seems to get into trouble! In Thessalonica, it is the same old story: the local Jewish leaders are offended by the Gospel and threatened by Paul’s effective sharing of it. Local believers  take Paul and his compatriots away by night, and move them to a town called Berea, somewhat off the beaten track.
  • A time of refreshment in Berea. The Berean Jews are more grounded in Scripture and recognize that Paul and Silas are, too. Consequently they are not threatened by the Gospel; they simply want to examine it under the lens of the prophecies of Hebrew Scripture. Day after day they search the Scriptures and discuss it with Paul and Silas. It must have been a pleasant break from persecution, but all too brief.
    For enemies from Thessalonica find out that Paul and Silas are in Berea, and arrive to plague them once again. Paul is the primary target, so the Bereans ensure his safety by guiding him away to the coast, where he probably got on a boat and headed toward Athens. Silas and Timothy were to join him as soon as they were able.

And so the Gospel continued to spread!

ReSight  ~  Then the jailer brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be save?”  (Acts 16:30 NLT)

PrayerWrite  ~  Lord, for the faithful witnesses who shared the Gospel in various times and places so that the Word even reached my family, I am eternally grateful.

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