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Maps: Journeys of the early church

Maps showing how the gospel spread after Pentecost.
Contributed by The Bible Journey
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Map of where Jesus’s followers came from.<br/> Nathaniel (Bartholomew) came from Cana in Galilee. (John 21:2) As he was a fisherman, he probably lived in Capernaum.<br/>Simon Peter and his brother Andrew came from Bethsaida (John 1:44) but they lived in Capernaum. (Mark 1:29-30)<br/>James and his brother John also lived and worked in Capernaum. (Mark 1:19-20)<br/>Philip was from Bethsaida and was a friend of Nathaniel. (John 1:43-45)<br/>Levi (Matthew) was a tax collector who lived in Capernaum. (Mark 2:13-14)<br/>Judas Iscariot probably came from Kerioth in Peraea or Kerioth-hezron in Judaea.<br/>Mary Magdalene came from Magdala on the Sea of Galilee. (Luke 23:55 & 24:10)<br/>Joanna and Susanna belonged to the court of Herod Antipas at Tiberias. (Luke 8:3)<br/>Mary and Martha lived at Bethany, near Jerusalem, with their brother Lazarus. (John 11:1-3)<br/>Joseph - who laid Jesus’s body in his own tomb - was from Arimathea in Judaea. (Mark 15:43) – Slide 1
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How the Gospel spread after Pentecost <br/>While in Jerusalem, the believers are filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. (Acts 2:1-4) <br/>Empowered by the Holy Spirit, the believers go out onto the streets of Jerusalem. They begin speaking in languages they’ve not learned to the crowds of Jews who have assembled from all over the known world for the Feast of Weeks (the Jewish harvest festival, held at Pentecost). (Acts 2:5-6)<br/>The Jewish pilgrims have come from Parthia, Media, Elam and Mesopotamia to the east; Cappadocia, Pontus, Phrygia and Pamphylia in the Roman province of Asia to the north; Egypt, Libya and Arabia to the south; and Rome and Crete to the west. They’re all amazed that they can hear the Good News being preached in their own native tongues. (Acts 2:7-12)<br/>About three thousand Jews - including both Aramaic and Greek-speaking Jews – are filled with the Holy Spirit and carry the message of forgiveness back to their own countries. (Acts 2:40-42) – Slide 2
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Map showing the scattering of believers after Stephen’s death. <br/>1. Following Stephen’s death in 35AD, the more radical members of the young church in Jerusalem are persecuted by the staunchly traditional Jewish hierarchy. Most of the Greek-speaking believers are scattered throughout Judaea and Samaria. (Acts 8:1) Some of those persecuted travel as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the message among fellow Jews. (Acts 11:19)<br/>2. Other Jewish believers from Cyprus and Cyrene go to Antioch in Syria and begin speaking to the Greek-speaking Gentiles as well as to fellow Jews. (Acts 11:20) – Slide 3
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Map of Philip’s Journeys.<br/>1. During the persecution of 35AD, Philip travels north with those who have fled to Sebaste, the principal city of Samaria. (Acts 8:4-8)<br/>2. Philip then travels south on the desert road leading from Jerusalem down to the coastal town of Gaza. On the way, Philip meets a Jewish official from the court of the Queen of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian believes in Jesus and is baptised. (Acts 8:26-39)<br/>3. The Holy Spirit takes Philip further north to Azotus (Ashdod). ( Acts 8:40)<br/>4. Philip spreads the Good News of Jesus in all the coastal towns he passes through before reaching Caesarea on the coast of Samaria. (Acts 8:40) – Slide 4
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Map of Peter’s Journeys. <br/>1. Peter and John go to Sebaste in Samaria in 35AD where they pray for the new Samaritan believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:14-25)<br/>2. Later, Peter visits the believers in Lydda. He heals Aeneas who has been bedridden for eight years. (Acts 9:32-35) Peter is called to Joppa where Tabitha , one of the believers, has died. Peter prays for her, and the dead woman comes back to life. (Acts 9:36-43) Peter then travels to Caesarea and shares the Good News of Jesus’s death and resurrection with Cornelius’s Gentile family and friends. (Acts 10:1-48)<br/>3. Peter reports back to the Jewish believers in Jerusalem. (Acts 11:1-18) <br/>4. Peter meets Paul in Antioch in 50AD, shortly after the Council of Jerusalem. (Galatians 2:11-14)<br/>5. In 66AD, Peter writes from Rome to the Jewish believers in the Roman provinces of Asia Minor. (1 Peter 1:1) – Slide 5
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Map of the growth of the Gentile church at Antioch. <br/>1. After the stoning of Stephen in 35AD, some Greek-speaking Jewish believers travel to Antioch in Syria to spread the Good News to the Jews living there. (Acts 11:19)<br/>2. Other believers from Cyprus and Cyrene also arrive in Antioch and preach to the Greek-speaking Gentiles living there. (Acts 11:20-21)<br/>3. Barnabas is sent to investigate the new Gentile believers in Antioch. (Acts 11:22-24) <br/>4. He goes to Tarsus in 43AD and brings Paul back to Antioch. (Acts 11:25-26)<br/>5. Barnabas and Paul travel to Jerusalem, taking a gift for those who are suffering due to famine. (Acts 11:27-30)<br/>6. Barnabas and Paul return to Antioch with John Mark. (Acts 12:25)7. Barnabas and Paul, accompanied by John Mark, are sent by the church in Antioch to Cyprus in 46AD. (Acts 13:1-4) – Slide 6
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