Day 09 - The Starting Line & the Finish Line

Today marked the final day of our New Testament journey through the lands of Turkey and Greece. Over the past several days, we have walked the postal route of Revelation 2–3, listened to the words of Jesus to the Seven Churches, traced the missionary footsteps of Paul, and soaked our hearts in the pages of Acts, Ephesians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Timothy, 1–3 John, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and more. Each city opened Scripture in new ways through stones, inscriptions, ruins, and reflections.

We culminated our study today in Corinth—the city Paul visited on his second missionary journey (Acts 18), the place where he spent a year and a half teaching and making disciples, and the recipient of two deeply pastoral and confrontational letters we now call 1 and 2 Corinthians.

There’s too much in Corinth to summarize in one post (temples, bema, inscriptions, its evidence of wealth and wildness). As we concluded our day-long tour of the city, we  paused at one often-overlooked feature: a starting line.

Near the edge of the Roman Forum, beneath the polished power of the Empire’s marble, lies a simple stone embedded in the ground. It’s etched with grooves for the feet of ancient runners. This starting line dates back to around 300 BC, one of the original balbides (it ensured that the athletes' feet were side by side at the start of each race) of the Isthmian Games, the Panhellenic athletic contests held every two years just outside Corinth. Second only to the Olympics, these games were a major event in the ancient world. And Paul was likely in the city when they occurred around AD 51.

We ended our trip standing on that starting line, but thinking of the finish.

That’s the paradox of the Christian life, isn’t it? We begin by fixing our eyes on the end. We look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. As we’ve listened to the messages to the Seven Churches, one repeated call has rung loud and clear:

“Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.” (Revelation 2:10)

Over and over again, Jesus speaks:

“To the one who is victorious…”

“To the one who has ears to hear…”

He promises a reward, but only after the race is run.

And so we end this trip not with an ending, but with a beginning.

We leave Corinth with Paul’s charge to Timothy ringing in our ears:

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness…” (2 Timothy 4:7–8)

And with his exhortation to the Corinthians:

“Run in such a way as to get the prize.” (1 Corinthians 9:24)

This journey has changed us.

It has filled our minds with truth, stirred our hearts with wonder, and anchored our spirits in history, geography, and grace. But now we must run. 

Not just walk sites. 

Not just visit ruins. 

Not just take notes.

We must run, with endurance, with joy, with faithfulness.

Because the journey isn’t over.

It never was.

So, today, on that ancient stone starting line beneath the ruins of Corinth, we stepped forward.

The journey is the Destination.

Jerrell