Paul’s journeys were self-financed so as not to be a burden on the fledgling churches. While we may chiefly conceptualize Paul as an itinerant evangelist, his vocation was as a tentmaker. Jesus was a carpenter. Paul made tents. Often Paul would lead the way into a new community with his entourage coming in a bit later. Until the full group arrived, Paul would act as a part-time evangelist, a part-time tentmaker.
While in Corinth and plying his trade, he met up with a Jewish couple Claudius Caesar had banished from Rome. You may have heard of them: Priscilla and Aquilla. There is the other “P” and the first “A” of our people acronym. God brought together and formed a bond among these three people.
After about a year and a half of ministry in that raucous port town, it came time for Paul to head out. Antioch was the destination, and that via the large city of Ephesus. Like the big city airport hubs in the 21st Century ships would make their way from port to port and so Paul ended up briefly in Ephesus.
Paul was not an introverted tentmaker. No corner of the room measuring, cutting and stitching for Paul. Nope, he liked to talk and lived under a compulsion to share the gospel1. As such the relationship between these three which began as a commercial one blossomed into an eternal one. When Paul’s time at Corinth drew to a close, and he set his sights on Antioch Priscilla and Aquilla boarded the same ship and crossed over to Ephesus.
Paul did not long stay at Ephesus mainly preaching in the synagogue before heading on. The tentmaking couple did not continue on with Paul from that point but stayed behind. While Paul was gone to Antioch our fourth character, Apollos, showed up in Ephesus. He hailed from Alexandria, down in Egypt, and according to Acts 18 had been instructed in the way of the Lord; the Christian part of the Judeo-Christian spectrum. His knowledge was still rudimentary, however, so the learning that Paul had imparted to this couple they shared with Apollos. He is the second “A” of our people acronym.
To wrap up the places portion Paul eventually set out on his third missionary journey, and Ephesus became its main focal point. He would stay in Ephesus for 2-3 years. The early portion of that ministry was at the synagogue, but the prickly-popping of the Jews ended it after a short 3 months, and he slid into a Gentile setting for the rest of his Ephesian term.
So the Latin papaceae, the prickly poppy, is a good acronym to help us hold on to the people and places which lay behind this letter.
Housekeeping factoids:
- Second missionary journey: AD 51-53 (Think long-stop at Corinth, Priscilla, Aquilla, and a quick-stop at Ephesus)
- Third missionary journey: AD 54-58 (Think Apollos, Priscilla, Aquilla, and a long-stop at Ephesus)
- If you turn an E around what do you get? A 3. Ephesus, 3rd missionary journey
- Likely date of the writing of the book of Ephesians: AD 62
- Here is a good reference for this timeline stuff: Thanks, Matthew McGee!
Leave a Reply