Acts 18:12-23

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
Series: Acts

Rusty's Notes

• We left off last week with Paul finishing his 2nd letter to the Church at Thessalonica.
• 2nd Missionary Journey Map
• The money that Silas brought to Paul from Philippi has run out.
• So Paul resumes his work as a tentmaker along with Priscilla and Aquila.
• Paul refuses to take money from the Corinthian believers, lest he be a burden on them.
• He stands by his conviction to offer his gospel free of charge.
• 1 Corinthians 9:12 - If others have this right to receive benefits from you, don’t we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right; instead, we endure everything so that we will not hinder the gospel of Christ. [1]

 
Acts 18
Summer 53
12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack against Paul and brought him to the tribunal.

• Lucius Junius Gallio, the governor (or proconsul) of Southern Greece
• Gallio was the older brother of Annaeus Seneca, the famous stoic philosopher and playwright who tutored Emperor Nero.
• Achaia, is one of the regional units of Greece.
• It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula.
• The capital is Patras which is the third largest city in Greece.

13 “This man,” they said, “is persuading people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”

• The arrival of a new proconsul gave the unbelieving Jews hope that Rome might declare this new “Christian sect” illegal.
• They broke the law by attacking Paul and forcing him to go to court.
• This was not the first time that fanatical Jews had tried to prove that Paul was breaking the Roman law (Acts 16:19–24; 17:6–7).

14 As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or of a serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you Jews. 15 But if these are questions about words, names, and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of such things.”

• Being a Roman citizen, Paul was prepared to defend himself; but this turned out to be unnecessary because Gallio defended Paul!
• The proconsul immediately saw that the real issue was not the application of the Roman law but the interpretation of the Jewish religion, so he refused to try the case![2]
• Political division and distraction tactics.

16 So he drove them from the tribunal. 17 And they all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal, but none of these things mattered to Gallio.

• The Greeks who were witnessing the scene got hold of Sosthenes, the man who replaced Crispus as ruler of the synagogue, and beat him right before the eyes of the proconsul!
• It was certainly a flagrant display of anti-Semitism, but Gallio looked the other way.
• If this is the same Sosthenes mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:1, then he too got converted; and the Jews had to find another ruler for their synagogue!
• It would be interesting to know exactly how it happened.
• Did Paul and some of the believers visit Sosthenes and minister to him?
• Perhaps his predecessor Crispus helped “wash the wounds” (Acts 16:33) and used this as an opportunity to share the love of Christ.
• How strange and wonderful are the providences of God!
• The Jews tried to force the Roman proconsul to declare the Christian faith illegal, but Gallio ended up doing just the opposite.
• By refusing to try the case, Gallio made it clear that Rome would not get involved in cases involving Jewish religious disputes.
• As far as he was concerned, Paul and his disciples had as much right as the Jews to practice their religion and share it with others.[3]

 
THE RETURN TRIP TO ANTIOCH
18 After staying for some time, Paul said farewell to the brothers and sisters and sailed away to Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken.

• After spending some more time in Corinth, Paul leaves and sets sail across the Aegean Sea to the city of Ephesus.
• He takes Priscilla and Aquila with him. On their way, they stop at a little town seven miles east of Corinth called Cenchrea.
• Cenchraea was the seaport for Corinth, and there was a Christian congregation there (Rom. 16:1 - I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church in Cenchreae.[4] ).
• Here Paul had his head shaved, “for he had a vow.”
• This probably refers to the Nazarite vow described in Numbers 6 – (1The Lord instructed Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When a man or woman makes a special vow, a Nazirite vow, to consecrate himself to the Lord, 3 he is to abstain from wine and beer. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or from beer. He must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins. 4 He is not to eat anything produced by the grapevine, from seeds to skin, during the period of his consecration.
• “You must not cut his hair throughout the time of his vow of consecration. He may be holy until the time is completed during which he consecrates himself to the Lord; he is to let the hair of his head grow long. 6 He must not go near a dead body during the time he consecrates himself to the Lord. 7 He is not to defile himself for his father or mother, or his brother or sister, when they die, while the mark of consecration to his God is on his head. 8 He is holy to the Lord during the time of consecration.[5]).
• Since the Nazarite vow was purely voluntary, Paul was not abandoning grace for law when he undertook it.
• The vow was not a matter of salvation but of personal devotion to the Lord.
• He allowed his hair to grow for a specific length of time and then cut it when the vow was completed.
• He also abstained from using the fruit of the vine in any form.
• We are not told why Paul took this vow.
• Perhaps it was a part of his special dedication to God during the difficult days of the early ministry in Corinth.
• Or perhaps the vow was an expression of gratitude to God for all that He had done for him and his associates.
• According to Jewish law, the Nazarite vow had to be completed in Jerusalem with the offering of the proper sacrifices.
• The hair was shorn at the completion of the vow, not at the beginning; and it was not necessary for one to be in Jerusalem to make the vow.[6]

19 When they reached Ephesus he left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and debated with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined, 21 but he said farewell and added, “I’ll come back to you again, if God wills.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.

• Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila set sail to the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor.
• Priscilla and Aquila settle there and set up their tentmaking business.
• Paul goes to the synagogue briefly and preaches to the Jews.
• The Jews ask him to stay longer, but he cannot. He tells them that he plans to return, God willing.

22 On landing at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, then went down to Antioch.

• Paul sails to Caesarea and from there he visits the church in Jerusalem.
• He greets the Jerusalem church and returns to his home base in Antioch of Syria where he rests.
• Silas heads back to Jerusalem and Timothy returns to Lystra.
• 2nd Missionary Journey Map
• 2nd Missionary Journey Map – From Corinth to Ephesus
• 2nd Missionary Journey Map

 
Spring 54
23 After spending some time there, he set out, traveling through one place after another in the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

• 3rd Missionary Journey Map - Beginning
• 3rd Missionary Journey Map
• While in Antioch, Syria, Paul plots three things.
• They will set the course for the rest of his ministry until his death:
• 1) He decides to begin the Jerusalem relief fund. This is a collection campaign taken from among all of the Gentile churches that Paul planted to relieve the chronic poverty of the Jerusalem Christians.
• Paul does this to mend the rift between the Hebrew and Gentile believers.
• He sends a letter to the churches in Galatia, telling them about the relief fund and gives them specific instructions on how to begin collecting for it.
• 1 Corinthians 16:1 - Now about the collection for the saints: Do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches.[7]
• We do not have this letter, nor do we know exactly when Paul told the Galatians about the relief fund.
• 2) Paul is approximately 50 years old. He is an old man according to first-century standards.
• So he decides to train apostolic workers in Ephesus in the same way that Jesus Christ trained the twelve apostles in Galilee.
• The men Paul trains are Gentiles and will represent the Gentile churches when they deliver the relief fund to Jerusalem.
• 3) Paul has a desire to take the gospel to Rome and then to Spain. He plans to accomplish this on his fourth journey, after he plants the church in Ephesus and brings the relief fund to Jerusalem.

Romans 15:23-24 - I have strongly desired for many years to come to you 24 whenever I travel to Spain. For I hope to see you when I pass through and to be assisted by you for my journey there, once I have first enjoyed your company for a while.[8]

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 9:12). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 477). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, pp. 477–478). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 16:1). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Nu 6:1–8). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 478). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 16:1). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 15:23–24). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.