Acts 13–14 · Olivet Men’s Group, Week 39 (Day 3)
| # | Place | Leg | What happened | How long | Text |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antioch (Syria) | — | The church fasts, prays, and lays hands on Barnabas and Saul — the first deliberate sending of missionaries. Home base; disciples first called “Christians” here (11:26). | Start | 13:1–3 |
| 2 | Seleucia | ~16 mi on foot | Antioch’s port. They sail for Cyprus — Barnabas’s home island (4:36). | < 1 day | 13:4 |
| 3 | Salamis (Cyprus) | ~90 mi by sea | Preach in the synagogues. John (Mark) is with them as a helper. | Days | 13:5 |
| 4 | Paphos (Cyprus) | ~90 mi across the island | Elymas the sorcerer (Bar-Jesus) is struck blind; proconsul Sergius Paulus believes. Here “Saul, also called Paul” — the name change, and Paul takes the lead. | Weeks (crossed the whole island) | 13:6–12 |
| 5 | Perga (Pamphylia) | ~170 mi by sea | John Mark leaves them and returns to Jerusalem — a departure Paul later counts as desertion (15:38). | Brief stop | 13:13 |
| 6 | Antioch of Pisidia | ~100 mi inland, over the Taurus mountains | Paul’s great synagogue sermon. Next Sabbath nearly the whole city gathers; opposition stirs, they turn to the Gentiles, and are driven out — shaking the dust off their feet. | ≥ 2 Sabbaths; likely weeks–months | 13:14–51 |
| 7 | Iconium | ~90 mi | Many Jews and Greeks believe; signs and wonders. A plot to stone them forces them to flee. | “Considerable time” — months | 14:1–6 |
| 8 | Lystra | ~25 mi | A man lame from birth is healed. Crowd calls Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes; the priest of Zeus tries to sacrifice to them. Jews from Antioch and Iconium turn the crowd — Paul is stoned and left for dead, then gets up and goes back in. | Days–weeks | 14:8–20 |
| 9 | Derbe | ~60 mi | They preach and make many disciples. The furthest point of the journey. | Weeks–months | 14:20–21 |
| ↩ | Return leg — back through Lystra, Iconium, Pisidian Antioch | They retrace their steps through the cities where Paul was just stoned — strengthening disciples, warning that “we must endure many hardships,” and appointing elders in each church. | ~250 mi retraced | 14:21–23 | |
| ↩ | Perga → Attalia | through Pisidia to Pamphylia | This time they stop and preach in Perga, then go down to the port of Attalia. | Days | 14:24–25 |
| ↩ | Antioch (home) | ~300 mi by sea | They report “all that God had done… how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.” | “A long time” after return | 14:26–28 |
Distances are rough route estimates. Acts gives no calendar dates — c. AD 47–48 is the common scholarly dating, between the Jerusalem famine visit (~46) and the Jerusalem Council (~48–49). The only duration clues in the text are “the next Sabbath” (13:44), “considerable time” (14:3), and “a long time” (14:28).
Co-leader, a Levite from Cyprus (4:36). Sent by the Spirit; called “Zeus” at Lystra.
Name change noted at Paphos (13:9); from there he leads. Preaches the Pisidian Antioch sermon; heals at Lystra; stoned and left for dead — and gets back up.
Helper from Jerusalem (12:25). Deserts at Perga (13:13) — later the cause of the Paul/Barnabas split (15:37–39).
Jewish sorcerer and false prophet at Paphos; blinded for opposing them (13:8–11).
Proconsul of Cyprus; “a man of intelligence” who believes — the journey’s first named Gentile convert (13:7, 12).
The other prophets/teachers at Antioch who send the pair off (13:1). Manaen grew up with Herod the tetrarch.
Crippled from birth at Lystra; Paul sees he “had faith to be healed” (14:9–10).
Jews from Antioch and Iconium follow ~150 mi to Lystra to incite the stoning (14:19).
Worth noting: Lystra is likely where a young disciple named Timothy first hears Paul — he joins the second journey there (16:1) and Paul calls him “my son.”