1 Corinthians 16:7-8 For I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost,9 because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.
Paul wanted to spend quality time with the Corinthians and not make a quick visit. There were places where Paul’s visits were quick. These were usually quick because of persecution; he was run out of town. It is difficult to for influential relationships in only a short time. It is also difficult to deal with the big types of problems addressed in this letter. People are slow to catch on and change. It takes patience to develop trust among a group. Trust is the foundation for change. Paul qualifies his plans here with an important statement that reveals a lot about how he traveled: “if the Lord permits.” Paul wanted to follow the leading of the Lord. Likely, “Lord” refers to Jesus Christ. But how Paul knew the Lord’s directions was through the Holy Spirit.
Verse 8 gives a strong clue that Paul was in Ephesus when he wrote this letter, although the phrase could be taken differently. Paul could simply mean that he would stay in Ephesus as he journeyed to Corinth, implying that he was someplace else. But the first and natural reading of the statement is that he was in Ephesus at the time of writing. He spent an extended time of almost three years there. From Ephesus, he launched other ministries in the Lycus Valley, such as to Colosse. This was a fruitful time of ministry for him. Ephesus would later become one of the centers of Christianity in that area. Verse 9 indicates that although this was a good place for ministry, Paul also faced much opposition. Often these two go together. As the ministry grows, so does the opposition. Paul was likely imprisoned at some point in Ephesus and experienced other types of physical persecution and suffering. He will write about his suffering in his travels in his next letter to the Corinthians in chs. 11-12.
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