At the conclusion of our last lesson from the Book of Acts, Paul and his missionary companions had finished an exciting ministry in the city of Paphos on the island of Cyprus. As today’s lesson begins the missionaries leave Cyprus headed for Antioch of Pisidia. Luke wrote, “From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem” (Acts 13:13, NIV). To make this leg of their journey the missionaries boarded ship and sailed 160 miles north to the Bay of Attalia on the south central coast of Asia Minor. They bypassed the port city of Attalia, sailing eight miles up the Cestrus River, where they left the ship and traveled five miles overland to the city of Perga.
After a brief stop-over in Perga with no record of ministry in that city, the decision was made to make the six-day journey of about 80 miles across rugged valleys infested with bands of robbers to the region’s central plateau with an elevation of just over 3,600 feet where the city of Antioch of Pisidia was located. John decided not to make that dangerous journey, and at this point according to Luke, “John left them to return to Jerusalem” (Acts 13:13b, NIV).
After John left them, Paul and Barnabas made the journey from Perga to Antioch. Luke wrote, “From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch” (Acts 13:14a, NIV). Antioch sat on the Via Sebaste, the Roman road from Ephesus to the great city of Babylon located on the Euphrates River, which meant that there would be a diverse population of people of both Jews and Gentiles there, many of whom would ultimately be traveling to every conceivable part of the Roman Empire. No doubt, this incredible opportunity to influence people who might in turn become salt and light to places all over the Empire was at least part of motivation for the missionaries to undertake the dangerous journey from Perga to Antioch. An important spiritual lesson to learn from Paul and Barnabas is: “Following Jesus may mean that you are required to endure difficult and dangerous circumstances!”
