When Paul attempted to reconnect with old friends in the Grecian synagogues at Jerusalem, it ended with his having to flee for his life. The brethren there took him as far as Caesarea, where Paul sailed to Tarsus. As one reads the account, it all seems to just naturally flow into the idea that Paul went home to reconnect with family and childhood friends, and thereby more or less nurse his wounded self-esteem. Up to this point Paul had probably preached in Arabia, Damascus and Jerusalem. The result was Aretas’ ethnarch sought to arrest him, the Jews in Damascus sought to kill him, and his old friends at Jerusalem also sought his life. What was he doing wrong?
