In The Footsteps of Paul

In the Footsteps of Paul: Day 11, Wednesday, March 4

Miletus and Ephesus

After a long drive from Hierapolis, we arrived at Miletus, one of the major ports on the Aegean Sea. At the conclusion of his Third Missionary Journey, Paul stopped here on his way back to Jerusalem. He asked the church elders in nearby Ephesus to visit him in Miletus to bid them an emotional and final farewell. The pilgrims gathered in the ancient theater of Miletus to hear and ponder the words of Paul's farewell speech (Acts 20:17-38).

Preaching Paul's sermon in Miletus.

After lunch in Selcuk, where Christian tradition places the tomb of the Apostle John, we drove to Mary's house, high on a hill above the upper gate of Ephesus. Church tradition has John, with the Virgin Mary in his care, traveling to Ephesus after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70AD. Mary's home has been a pilgrimage shrine since the 1st century. It is in a quiet, secluded place that has a deep sense of holiness.

Mary's house.

Sampling the holy waters at Mary House.

Then we entered the archeological excavation of the major Roman port city of Ephesus. In the 1st century, Ephesus was the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire, the capital of the Roman Province of Asia and a center of great wealth and power. Paul lived in Ephesus for over two years during his 3rd Missionary Journey, and during that time taught every afternoon in the Hall of Tyrannus, "so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks." (Acts 19:12)

Teaching about Paul in the Ephesian Senate.

Paul's Letter to the Ephesians was written to the Christians in Ephesus, most likely when he was being held a prisoner in Rome. (Ephesians 4:1) He warns the Ephesians to separate their new Christian faith from their former pagan practice, since God, "has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 1:2) If Colossians has the highest Christology in the Bible, Ephesians has the highest Ecclesiology. Paul presents a vision of the Church that unites all believers, "There is one body, one spirit... one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and in all and through all." (Ephesians 4:5-6)

As David Garrett said to me three days ago as we walked through the ruins of Perga, "Perga is a jewel, but Ephesus is the crown." Many consider Ephesus to be the greatest archeological site in the world, with its long main street, beautiful temples and theaters, and a two story library--all ranked among the greatest treasures of the ancient world.

Curetes Street in Ephesus, the main road from the upper gate to the harbor.