And when these things were fulfilled, Paul purposed in his spirit to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, After I have been there I must see Rome also.
Paul's long work at Ephesus is over. Here he sets the travel plan that shapes the rest of the book, and it raises two questions: whose "spirit" is resolving, and why does a man sent to the nations put Jerusalem before Rome?
Translations differ here. Some print "Spirit" with a capital, others "his spirit" with a small one. Commentators read it as Paul's own mind, not the Holy Spirit directing him — the plan of a man whose work in one city was done.
It is not correct to interpret "in the spirit" here of the Holy Spirit. It means only that the apostle planned it "in his spirit" — a phrase he often uses, in this Book and elsewhere. He longed once more to go to Jerusalem after passing through the two Roman provinces of Greece. He felt that his work at Ephesus had ended for now, and that after visiting Jerusalem he must see Rome also.
The strongest argument is not grammar but what happens next. The Spirit's later warnings rule out the idea that the Spirit began this trip.
People often ask how we should understand Paul's purposing in the spirit to go again to Jerusalem. Did he purpose in the Spirit of God, after long prayer, to go up to Jerusalem? Did the Holy Spirit guide him to carry the gifts from Achaia and Macedonia to the poor believers in the city of his fathers? It could not have been the Spirit of God who prompted him to go once more to Jerusalem. During the journey the Holy Spirit warned him many times not to go.
From here the story turns toward Rome. Everything that follows leads to the city Paul names here.
This verse marks an important change. It brings us to the last stage of Paul's recorded acts in this history. Rome is the goal which looms up before him. "I must also see Rome." And he did see Rome — but not in the way he had planned in his spirit. He came as the prisoner of the Lord.
Behind the detour lay affection, not ambition. Paul carried a gift from the churches of Greece to poor believers in Jerusalem, and his heart went with it.
But behind his burning desire to go up to Jerusalem stood the mighty constraint of love for his own beloved people. How he did love them and how his heart, filled with the love of God, yearned over them! This holy love and courage shaped his answer. His fellow believers had once more begged him by the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem, and he said, "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."
Commentators differ on whether that errand suited him. One questions the detour, not the love behind it.
Why not go to Rome in the energy of the Spirit, now that his work in Greece was finished? ... But why should Paul put rebellious Jerusalem between his desire to preach and his work? The affection was good, and the service good — for a deacon, or a messenger of the churches. But this was Paul, who had the whole west open before him for the gospel!
The desire to see Rome was not only Paul's own wish. The Lord later said the same thing to him.
While at Ephesus Paul had "purposed in the spirit saying, I must also see Rome"; and, what is more important still, it was the Lord's purpose for him — "so must you also bear witness at Rome."
The plan was granted. The route was not what he pictured.
It was Paul's purpose to visit Rome after going to Jerusalem, and God gave effect to it, for it was God's purpose. But how different was the way under His hand from the apostle's expectation! He must go a prisoner to Rome.
Losing his freedom did not end his usefulness. It changed its direction, and what came out of prison has served the church ever since.
He also knows how to overrule any mistakes His servants make. He closes one line of service before them and opens another, which in the end may prove even more important. It was Paul's imprisonment that led him to write those inspired letters, which have built up the church for nineteen centuries.
- Spirit, small "s." Paul resolved this in his own mind. The Holy Spirit would later warn him again and again not to go to Jerusalem.
- Purpose. The verse turns the book toward Rome — everything after it is the journey to the city he names here.
- Pull. Jerusalem came first because he loved his own people and carried their gift. Writers ask whether that errand fitted an apostle sent to the nations.
- Promise. What he purposed, the Lord confirmed — he would testify in Rome. His wish became God's word to him.
- Prisoner. He reached Rome in chains, not in freedom. God grants the ask and still chooses the road. He can even turn a servant's mistake into letters that feed the church for centuries.
And having sent into Macedonia two of those ministering to him, Timotheus and Erastus, he remained himself awhile in Asia.
One quiet sentence sits just before the riot at Ephesus. Paul is still in Asia, and he sends two of his helpers ahead into Macedonia. It is a verse about how a servant of God plans, shares the work, and pays the cost of parting with the people closest to him.
In the verse before, Paul "resolved in the Spirit" to travel through Macedonia and Achaia. Sending these two men is the first step of that plan. The ESV prints "Spirit" with a capital letter. One commentator reads the phrase differently:
It is not right to take 'in the spirit' here as meaning the Holy Spirit. It means no more than that the apostle purposed it 'in his own spirit'. He uses this phrase often, not only in this book but elsewhere. He longed once more to go to Jerusalem after passing through the two Roman provinces of Greece. He felt that his work at Ephesus was done for now.
The word behind "helpers" is the ordinary word for a servant. It is also the word translated "deacon", and one writer uses that to clear up a common confusion:
Timothy and Erastus served as deacons (Acts 19:22). As for the seven men chosen in Acts 6:5, there is no hint that they were "deacons" in any sense other than the sense in which all the servants of Christ are. Once we remember that "deacon" and "servant" translate the same word, we see at once how mistaken it is to call these seven men "the first deacons." Say "the first servants" instead, and the error is obvious.
Erastus is named only a few times in the Bible. One writer groups him with godly treasurers and is not sure that every mention is the same man:
There have been godly treasurers, such as the one who served Queen Candace. We should not look down on him or on Erastus, because Scripture says, "in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God" (1 Cor. 7:24). If this is the same Erastus who is described in Acts 19:22 as serving Paul, and who stayed at Corinth (2 Tim. 4:20), we can thank God for such a saint.
Paul sent the fellow-worker closest to him, and stayed behind himself:
We also see how he directed the service of others with apostolic authority, and did so at great cost to himself. At this very time he sent two of those who served him into Macedonia: not Erastus only, but Timothy, the fellow-worker nearest to his heart, his beloved child, while he himself stayed for a while in Asia.
Paul held back from going himself. One commentator explains why he sent the two men ahead:
Yet he put off going to Macedonia and Achaia, clearly because he feared what he might find at Corinth (2 Cor. 1:15-23). He did send Timothy and Erastus ahead of him (1 Cor. 4:17), most likely hoping that their ministry would help correct wrong practices there before he came himself.
Paul decided where his fellow-workers went. Did that make him their master? The same writer, commenting on Erastus staying at Corinth years later, says no:
Even an apostle used no force in directing the work of his fellow-workers. They were servants of the Lord. No one would have urged this more earnestly than Paul, and no one would have drawn back more than he did from setting up an authority that gives orders between the Lord and His servants.
This verse also fixes where Timothy was at the time. That explains a small detail in Paul's two letters to Corinth:
While Paul was staying at Ephesus, he sent Timothy ahead into Macedonia (Acts 19:22). That probably explains why Timothy's name is missing from the opening of the first letter. By the time Paul wrote the second letter, both he and Timothy were in Macedonia, so Timothy's name appears there.
- Purpose. Paul planned the journey "in his spirit" — his own resolve, not a direct word from the Holy Spirit. His work at Ephesus was done for now.
- Servants. "Helper" here is the plain word for a servant. "Deacon" and "servant" translate the same word, and it belongs to everyone who serves Christ.
- Cost. The plan cost Paul personally. He gave up Timothy, the fellow-worker nearest his heart, and stayed behind himself.
- Care. Corinth was in trouble. Timothy and Erastus went ahead to help correct wrong practices there before Paul arrived.
- Freedom. Even an apostle used no force over fellow-workers. They stayed servants of the Lord, and Paul refused to stand between the Lord and His servants.