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The Life of Paul, Part III: First Missionary Journey

In recent Bible Study articles we have looked at the life of Paul - Part I: To the Damascus Road; and Part II: Conversion.  From this turning point of his life when light knocked him to the ground, Paul dedicated everything to proclaiming the Jesus Christ he had met on that road; and he set out to do that to people far and wide.

This week we will begin a review of that missionary effort.  Most of the historical basis for Paul's apostolic endeavors comes from The Acts of the Apostles.  Some information that is present in his letters also serves as a basis.

Three years after his conversion, Paul visited Jerusalem.  But many in the Christian community did not trust him, "not believing that he was a disciple" (Act 9:26).  Barnabas then took Paul under his wing and explained to the community how Paul "had seen the Lord and had spoken to him and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus" (9:27).  With Barnabas' help, Paul began to become more involved and proclaim Jesus' name in Jerusalem.  But he had a confrontation with the Hellenists, his life was threatened, and so he was sent to Tarsus (28-30).

Barnabas was subsequently sent to Antioch by the Church at Jerusalem to visit the community of faith growing there.  From there he went to Tarsus to find Paul and bring him to Antioch where they joined in the ministry of the church.  It was there that believers "were first called Christians" (11:26).

The first missionary journey of Paul is narrated in the Acts, chapters 13-14. It was inspired in a dramatic way by the "holy Spirit" who said: "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them" (13:2).  After fasting, prayer, and the laying of hands, they were sent off by the Antioch community.

Their journey first took them to Salamis, one of the great commercial harbors of Cyprus (cf. 13:4-12).  It was here that Saul began to be called Paul (13:9).  They moved across the Island to its eastern town of Paphos, proclaiming the word of God.  In this ministry they encountered Elymas the magician who tried to prevent the proconsul Sergius Paulus from converting.  In this confrontation, Elymas was rendered blind, and Sergius Paulus converted.

Paul and Barnabas then sailed to Attalia, which is on the southern coast of modern day Turkey (cf. 13:13-52).  Continuing north to Antioch, they attended Sabbath services at which Paul spoke to the worshipers about the history of the people of Israel, from the exodus out of Egypt to the coming of "the savior, Jesus Christ" (13:23).  He recounted how Jesus was put to death without grounds, but how "God raised him from the dead" (30).  Paul testified that it is through this Jesus that they have "forgiveness of sins" (38).  Many were converted.  But on the following Sabbath, a strong resistance developed which pressured Paul to say: "Since you reject it . . . we now turn to the Gentiles" (46).  A persecution was stirred up and Paul and Barnabas were expelled from this territory.

The two missionaries continued to travel further inland and eventually came to Iconium (cf. 14:1-7). Here they again entered a synagogue and preached.  They "spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks came to believe" (14:1).  But again, disbelieving Jews stirred up a back lash against them.  Plans were made "to attack and stone them" (5-6), and so they both fled.

They went to Lystra (cf. 14:8-20), where Paul healed a man lame from birth.  The crowd of witnesses declared Paul to b a "god come down to us in human form"(11).  Paul tore his clothing and vehemently denied this, trying to assure them that he and Barnabas were but human beings.  To complicate things further, some disbelievers, who had followed Paul from Iconium, stoned him leaving him for dead.  The disciples found him still alive, however, and soon Paul moved on to Derbe.

After preaching in Derbe (cf. 14:21-23) and winning many converts, Paul and Barnabas returned back to Antioch, exhorting "the people to persevere in faith" (22).  They also provided organizational structure as "they appointed presbyters for them in each church" (23).  The presbyters there then blessed them "with prayer and fasting, as they commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith" (14:23).

They then retraced their journey back to Attalia from where they traveled by boat back to Seleucia and Antioch, now in present day Syria (cf. 14:24-28).  There "they called the church together and reported what God had done with them and how God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles" (14:27).

At this time, a major issue had arisen in the Christian Church.  Some were teaching that "unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved" (15:1).  Paul and Barnabas were appointed to go down to the Council Jerusalem where this matter was being discussed.  There Paul spoke, witnessing to the events of his first missionary journey and insisting that "we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ" (15:11).

Map of Paul's First Missionary Journey

Text: First Corinthians 3:1-9

1  Brothers, I could not talk to you as spiritual people, but as fleshly people, as infants in Christ.

2  I fed you milk, not solid food, because you were unable to take it.  Indeed, you are still not able, even now,

3  for you are still of the flesh.  While there is jealousy and rivalry among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving in an ordinary human way?

4  Whenever someone says, "I belong to Paul," and another, "I belong to Apollos," are you not merely human?

5  What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul? Ministers through whom you became believers, just as the Lord assigned each one.

6  I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.

7  Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth.

8  The one who plants and the one who waters are equal, and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor.

9  For we are God's co-workers; you are God's field, God's building.

Discussion/Reflection Questions:

1.  In verse 1-3, Paul uses the images of milk and solid food to symbolize believers in different stages of spiritual growth.  How would you see this imagery born out in yourself or in the journeys of real people around you?

2.  In verses 6-9, Paul emphasizes the fact that the outcome of growth in the Church is due to God's power.  How might church minsters be failing to recognize this Pauline insight?