An Ephesian interlude (11): a reflection for Day 19 of Lent

 

“…[Paul] argued daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.  This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.” (Acts 19.9-10, NRSVUE)

     A cursory reading of Luke’s succinct summary of Paul’s almost-3-year-stay in Ephesus (cf. Ac. 20.31) can give the reader the impression that this was a mostly quiet time, a refreshing “academic hiatus” (daily lectures) from the usual rigours of apostolic life.  However, once we step back from the frame and consider the larger context of Paul’s activity that we discover in the New Testament, a very different picture emerges.  Several things demand acknowledgement.

     First of all, while Paul continued to use the scholarly skills he had developed as a Pharisee, as an apostle of Jesus he had to pay his own way.  At this point in the history of the Church, to be an apostle (of Jesus) was to be a nobody – an individual with a clear vocation, yes, but nevertheless a person without any social or professional standing.  To be clear: Paul the apostle was not a religious professional.  His “religious” activity was done on a strictly ad hoc and volunteer basis (often at great personal risk: e.g. Ac. 14.19-23).  In fact, Paul insisted on working “with his own hands” and supporting himself economically through his work as a craftsman of leather goods (“tentmaker”: cf. Ac. 20.34-35; 18.1-3; 1 Cor. 9.3-18).

     Secondly, Paul had to deal with (often hostile) opponents.  Paul’s stay in Ephesus had been a time of suffering – we gather that most of the local Jewish population had not welcomed his message and had actively persecuted him.  It seems like Paul was also imprisoned for several months (cf. 2 Cor. 1.8-9; 1 Cor. 15.32).[1]  After Paul leaves Ephesus for Jerusalem, he invites the elders of the church to meet him outside the city, so as not to delay his progress towards his final (?) destination.  Reading Paul’s farewell address to these Ephesian leaders (that he had probably trained) gives us a good idea of what life had been like for him in their city:

“You…know how I lived among you the entire time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, enduring the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews. I did not shrink from doing anything helpful, proclaiming the message to you and teaching you publicly and from house to house, as I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus.  And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me.  But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.” (Ac. 20.18-24)

     Thirdly, Paul sought to care for his other churches à distance.  Regarding this, there was the “Corinthian connection” (cf. Ac. 18.1-17).  Paul’s relationship with the church in Corinth was not an easy one – a fact that is easy to forget when we read Luke’s (very succinct) account of the church’s founding (Ac. 18.9-11).  We know that Paul wrote his first letter “to the Corinthians” from Ephesus (1 Cor. 16.8).  Paul may also have taken a break from his work in the Asian capital to pay his “painful visit” to Corinth (cf. 2 Cor. 2.1-2; 11.28).[2]  His churches were always on Paul’s mind, and he seems to have ceaselessly prayed for his communities, their leaders and to have done his best to communicate with them via letters (many of which are probably lost to history).  Another aspect of the Corinthian connection was Apollos.  He seems to have been quite popular with certain members of the church in Corinth (cf. 1 Cor. 1.10-12; 3.4-6; 4.6), having spent time there after Paul had left following his 18-month stay, during which he had established the Corinthian church.  Paul and Apollos seemed to have played a kind of cat-and-mouse game between Corinth and Ephesus (cf. Ac. 18.18-24; 19.1).  Despite the tremendous potential for rivalry, they seem to have built a solid friendship/ partnership (cf. 1 Cor. 16.12; Titus 3.13).  They had similar educational backgrounds; however, Apollos seems to have been a much better communicator (cf. Ac. 18.24).  Was Apollos’ eloquence the root of the Corinthians’ disparaging of Paul’s speaking style (cf. 2 Cor. 10.10)?  Despite all this, Apollos and Paul seem to have become earnest collaborators for the gospel.  May it be so for all of us as well.

     Finally, there was all the other stuff.  What was Paul up to in Ephesus on a typical day?  There is a variant reading in certain manuscripts at Ac. 19.9, according to which Paul lectured in the hall of Tyrannus “from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.” every day.  This was the “siesta time” of the ancient world, and was far from the ideal time to teach and hold discussions, but of course, the hall would have been available during these hours.  So, Paul was “dialoguing”/“arguing” for 5 hours a day, holding audiences in private homes (Ac. 20.20-21; cf. 20.7-12), proclaiming “the whole purpose of God” (Ac. 20.27), doing his leather-work, engaging with clients, conducting church gatherings, training “elders” (leaders) for the Ephesian church, dealing with opponents, doing jail time, writing letters to Corinth, Philippi and perhaps elsewhere, dealing with the Corinthians’ drama, not to mention receiving requests for healing (Ac. 19.11-12) and supervising book-burnings (Ac. 19.18-19), all the while (anxiously) planning his trip to Jerusalem (Ac. 19.21).  Just another day in the life of an apostolic “entrepreneur”.  Not too relaxing, after all!

     Despite everything Paul went through – and this is Luke’s point – “the name of the Lord Jesus was praised…and the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed” (Ac. 19.17, 20).  At the end of the day, Luke’s objective is not to dwell on Paul’s hardships, but rather on the triumphant march of the word of God (gospel).  Indeed, Luke considers himself (and undoubtedly, his protagonists) to be a “servant of the word” (cf. Lk. 1.1-4).

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose
    and succeed in the thing for which I sent it”

(Is. 55.10-11; cf. 40.6-11; 52.7).  Amen.

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[1] Does this explain the 9-month discrepancy between the “Ephesian timeline” found in Ac. 19.8-10 and that found in Ac. 20.31?  If Paul was indeed imprisoned during this period, he may have written his letter “to the Philippians” from the Ephesian jail: cf. J.A. Diehl, 2 Corinthians, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2020, p. 56.

[2] cf. J.A. Diehl, 2 Corinthians, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2020, p. 55.