Taking the gospel to the world
June 5, 2009 (Friday)
(Continuing our Friday blogs on the life of Paul). The Apostle Paul ended his second missionary trip by cutting his hair and taking it back to Jerusalem, in fulfillment of a Nazirite vow. While he had been observing the vow, his hair grew without being cut. The process was complete when he presented his hair and offered sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem.
On the way to Jerusalem, his ship docked at Ephesus for a while, and during that time Paul worked with those who were traveling with him, sharing the gospel with people in Ephesus. It was a short-term work, but it whetted his appetite for working in Ephesus, a major city in Asia Minor.
After his trip to Jerusalem, he returned to his home base, Syrian Antioch, where he met with Timothy, who had traveled overland from Ephesus to check on the Galatian churches. He learned that the people in those churches had been heavily influenced by the Judaizers, who taught that one must become a Jew and fulfill the ceremonial requirements of Jews before one could become a Christian. This upset Paul very much, so he wrote his letter to the Galatians, which was preserved as one of the books of the New Testament. In the letter, he scolded the Galatian Christians and urged them to return to the simple gospel of salvation by grace through faith that he had shared with them when they became Christians.
As soon as another trip was possible, Paul and his companions set out on a third missionary adventure, going first to Galatia and then on to Ephesus, where he remained for the next three years, with great success. He wrote about Ephesus, that it offered “a great door for effective work.” It was indeed a strategic place for spreading the gospel. We can be thankful today that Paul took the gospel to a place that was influential because that influence eventually resulted in someone sharing the gospel with us.