18:1-4
Paul traveled from Athens to Corinth. Corinth was a strategic town to evangelize. It was commercially vibrant, having two ports. It was a Roman city, redeveloped by Julius Caesar and serving as the capital of the province.
In Corinth, Paul met Aquila and Priscilla. They were Jewish converts from the province of Pontus on the Black Sea. From there they had moved to Rome. They were in Corinth because Claudius had expelled all Jews from Rome. This would be somewhere around 50 A.D.
Paul and Aquila were tent makers. Paul stayed with them and worked with them during the week. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul said he had the right as a minister to support from them, but that he had not made use of this right so that he would not put an obstacle in the way of their receiving the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:8-12)
On the Sabbath, Paul went into the synagogue and spoke to the Jews and God-fearing Greeks about Jesus. (4) He was following his pattern of preaching first to the Jews, then the Greeks.
Ministry to the Gentiles
18:5-17
Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia. They had stayed behind in Berea when Paul was sent off to Athens to avoid an attack from the Jews and the crowds they stirred up. (17:14) They later joined Paul in Athens. But, Silas and Timothy must have returned to Thessalonica from Athens, after meeting Paul because because Paul later wrote “Therefore we we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no-one be moved by these afflictions.” (1 Thessalonians 3:1-3)
Paul had worried that the Thessalonians might not hold up under persecution from the Jews. But, Timothy brought him good news of their faith and their fondness for Paul. (1 Thessalonians 3:6)
When Silas and Timothy arrived, they found Paul occupied with preaching Jesus to the Jews. He was never idle.
As time went on, though, opposition arose from the Jews. (6) Paul left them and went to minister strictly to the Gentiles. He told the Jews their blood was on their own heads, meaning they were responsible for their own fate, or judgment. This may be a reference to Ezekiel 33:1-7, where Ezekiel said if the watcher sounds the warning, but people ignore it, their blood is on their own heads. He also added a dramatic gesture: shaking out his robe. The idea was not not even a speck of their dust would go with him. Today, we might say “I wash my hands of you”.
Right next door to the synagogue, Paul started a church in the house of Titius Justus, a God-fearing Greek who had come to faith in Jesus. (7) He was joined by a converted Jew, Crispus the ruler of the synagogue, and his entire household, family and servants. (8) And the church began to grow as many Corinthians heard the gospel from Paul and believed.
At this point, the Lord appeared to Paul in a vision, or dream, to encourage him. (9) Paul must have been nervous about coming to Corinth. He wrote to the Corinthians that “I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling”. (1 Corinthians 2:3) ”The Lord told him to keep preaching and not be afraid because the Lord would protect him. Paul needed to keep preaching since the Lord had many in this city who are his people. (10)
Who were these people? They were those who would come to believe in Jesus. The Lord knew who they were and had sent Paul to reach them. So, he had to stay until he had done that. Paul obeyed, staying 18 months. The only place he ever stayed longer was Ephesus. Corinth and Ephesus became the centers of Paul’s work. Paul would later write that the Corinthians were the seal of his apostleship in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 9:2)
There was an attempt to stop him. The Jews brought Paul before the tribunal, but the ruler of the tribunal, Gallio, dismissed the whole thing as a theological argument about Judaism. He saw this as a disagreement between Jewish sects, whom he would consider to be pagans who did not worship the Roman gods. Gallio believed it was beneath him to get involved in such things. In frustration, the Jews beat the former ruler of the synagogue, Sosthenes, in front of the tribunal, but Gallio ignored that also. (17) Interestingly, 1 Corinthians 1:1 says that Sosthenes was with Paul and sent his greetings.
Back to Antioch
18:18-24
Paul was able to stay for a good while after the attack, but finally left Corinth to return to Antioch, his home church. This was spring of 52 A.D. He took Priscilla and Aquila with him. He had evidently taken some kind of vow, like a Nazarite vow, and had let his hair grow long. He cut it, then went to Ephesus and preached in the synagogue. Like Corinth, Ephesus was an important city. It was the most important commercial city in northern Asia Minor, a port, and was a jumping off point for the journey to Rome by sea.
Ephesus was also the size of the great temple of Artemis. It must have been magnificent, for it was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. A large settlement of Jews was there also.
Paul evidently left Priscilla and Aquila there to build the church, promising to return if the Lord allowed him. He must have had great confidence in Priscilla and Aquila. He continued his journey to Antioch.
Paul’s next stop was Caesarea, the main port city of Palestine on the Mediterranean Sea. (22) When it says “he went up and greeted the church”, it does not mean the church in Caesarea, but the church in Jerusalem. It was well enough known that it could be referred to as “the church”. Also, it was at a higher elevation, so Paul could go up to it from the coast. This might also explain Paul’s apparent haste in leaving Ephesus. He may have been trying to get to Jerusalem for Passover, which would have been in April of that year.
From there, he went down to Antioch, which had become his home church. Paul spent “some time” there, likely telling of the results of his second mission trip, as well as teaching. Then, he was off for his third mission trip.
So we see that Jesus was building his church as he promised. He has propelled his chosen servant, Paul, across the Mediterranean Sea, preaching and planting churches in Asia and Europe. The Holy Spirit has brought people to Christ by bringing them into contact with Paul and convicting them of the truth of the gospel and their need to be saved.
Jesus still builds his church today. If we will share the gospel, he will draw people to Jesus and they will be saved.
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