Luke now writes about Paul's second missionary journey. A map to aid you is attached. The first thing to note is that Barnabas did not accompany him. They had had an argument about the wisdom of taking John Mark again as he had left the group halfway the first time. Eventually, Barnabas headed off to Cyprus with Mark and Paul was accompanied by Silas. Paul and Barnabas never travelled together again. It is hard to determine whose opinion was the correct one, however we do know that Mark became one of the great figures in the Church and his sense of self-respect and confidence came from the backing and support of Barnabas. Inevitably, the reader is now told about Paul's journeying. His second missionary journey took about three years, beginning in Antioch and touring through the areas of Syria, Cilicia, Derbe, Lystra, Iconium and Pisidian Antioch. From there Paul travelled with great uncertainty through Troas, Neapolis, Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus and Jerusalem, finally returning to Antioch. What we can particularly note is that in this journey Paul entered Europe. It had been five years since Paul had preached in Derbe and Lystra. There he met again a young man, who would bring him great joy after the disappointment with Mark. Timothy was the son of a mixed-race marriage and so would not have been seen to be a Jew by the Jews. So what Paul did was to encourage him to be circumcised. This may appear a rather retrograde step from the man who declared that Jew and Gentile were all equal under Christ Jesus, but Paul in effect demonstrated that all national barriers had come down. He recognised a true heir to his work in Timothy. We have in Scripture the two letters which Paul wrote to him, we are told that Paul used him as a messenger-1 Corinthians 4 v 17; 1 Thessalonians 3 v 2-6-and he stayed with Paul in Rome when Paul was under house arrest there- Philippians 1 v 1; Colossians 1 v 1; Philemon v1. Paul called Timothy his 'beloved son' when he wrote to the church at Corinth. Weeping may happen at night, but joy comes with the morning!
