Primary Scriptures: Acts 19-20
Story Summary: The Third Missionary Journey
Location: Roman Empire; Joppa, Philippi, Corinth, Ephesus
Time: AD 30 Jesus crucified and resurrected; Pentecost; Holy Spirit arrives AD 46 First Missionary Journey starts AD 48 – 51 Second Missionary Journey AD 52-57 Third Missionary Journey
Paul was anxious to follow up on the success of the Second Missionary Journey, so he didn’t wait very long to start another journey. It seems as if Paul had much to do and knew he was running out of time. Although the description in Acts of the Third Missionary Journey is not extensive, the trip was more than twice as long in calendar time as the Second Missionary Journey, and accomplished much, including the writing of several of the books in the New Testament.
At the end of the Second Missionary Journey, Paul was in Antioch; Priscilla and Aquilla were in Ephesus where they met Apollos; Luke was probably in Philippi; and the location of Silas and Timothy remains unknown, although they were last mentioned in Corinth with Paul. During Luke’s description of the Third Missionary Journey, the action almost always centers on Paul, making it unclear what most of the others were doing.
Paul spent almost three years in Ephesus teaching and preaching. Since Ephesus was a major city, Paul was able to affect more people in one place than by traveling around. While in Ephesus, Paul seemed to have intensified his training efforts with a lot of young men. It is likely that many churches were planted throughout the province of Asia during this time period, including the churches mentioned in Revelation.
The church in Corinth continued to have a long list of problems. Paul and the other Christian leaders exerted a lot of efforts to guide them, including personal trips and writing of multiple letters.
The Christians’ effects on the city of Ephesus were dramatic, even though the city was large and affluent, and since so many people quit worshiping Artemis—and quit paying for the privilege of doing so—the Christians’ teachings resulted in a change in the whole city’s economy. Once more, Paul was forced to leave, continuing the Third Missionary Journey in Macedonia and Greece.
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