Week 40: Paul’s Missionary Journeys
Week 40: Paul’s Missionary Journeys
“God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18). This was an epoch-making declaration by the conservative Jewish leaders of the Jerusalem church. God himself had put the matter beyond dispute by bestowing his Spirit on a gentile household. So the inclusion of the Gentiles is to become Luke’s main theme in the rest of Acts, and with chapter 13 he will begin to chronicle Paul’s amazing missionary exploits. Before this, however, he gives his readers two vignettes, which form a transition from the conversion of the first Gentile (through Peter) to the systematic evangelization of Gentiles (through Paul). In the first, the expansion of the church northward is depicted, and the scene is Antioch. In the second (12:1–25), opposition to the church by King Herod Agrippa I is depicted, and the scene is Jerusalem. This is Luke’s final Peter story before his leadership role is taken over by Paul and Jerusalem is eclipsed by the goal of Rome.
Sunday: Expansion and Opposition
Monday: Paul’s First Missionary Journey
Tuesday: The Jerusalem Council
Wednesday: Mission in Macedonia
Thursday: Paul in Athens
Friday: Paul in Corinth
Saturday: Paul in Ephesus