In Chapter 1, Verse 5 of Paul’s letter to “Titus”, he states that he left Titus in “Crete”, which is the 4th largest island in the Mediterranean.
But in NONE of his 3 Missionary Journeys recorded in the Book of ACTS does it state that Paul Ministered or even visited Crete.
Strangely Titus is NOT mentioned anywhere in the Book of ACTS either, but is mentioned 13 times in the Epistles of Paul.
So 2 questions need to be looked into; 1) WHEN did Paul visit Crete, obviously with Titus, to leave him there and 2) WHO is Titus?
In Galatians 2:1 – 4 Paul states that he took Titus along with him and Barnabas to Jerusalem, to attend the “Council” there, which is recorded in ACTS Chapter 15, when the question about ‘Circumcision’ arose.
As per Galatian 2:3 Titus was an uncircumcised Greek, meaning a Gentile. Most probably Paul took him along to show as an example that “One need NOT be circumcised to show forth the ‘New Life’ in Christ”.
That also means Paul could have met Titus during his 1st Missionary Journey, somewhere in Galatia, which is a REGION and NOT a city.
Sadly most seem to assume it to be a city, as Paul mainly wrote to “Congregations in the cities”. ALL the ‘CITIES’ Paul visited during his 1st Journey are stated in ACTS Chapters 13 & 14.
The Epistle to Galatians is generally considered to be the second one Paul wrote, 1st Thessalonians ‘assumed to be’ the first. Otherwise it may be the ‘first’, with 1st Thessalonians becoming the ‘second’.
ACTS 15:40 records that Paul took Silas with him on his 2nd Missionary Journey, after he and Barnabas separated.
Wonder what happened to Titus, once the Council in Jerusalem ended? Did Paul send him back, all by himself OR “Was he still with Paul, though Luke does not mention him by name?
All the others Luke includes in his writings were Jews. Luke himself is generally considered to be a ‘Gentile’, possibly a “Proselyte”, though there are a very few who think he was also Jewish.
Then ACTS 16:1-3 records how Paul found Timothy in Lystra and circumcised him, in order to take him during the rest of his 2nd Missionary Journey and Verse 6 states that they travelled through Galatia.
IF Titus was ‘sent back’ once the “Council in Jerusalem” was over, the possibility remains that he could have joined Paul again, then.
Verse 8 states they ended up in Troas, where during the night Paul had a ‘Vision’, urging him to “Come to Macedonia” as per Verse 9.
In ACTS 16:10 the word “WE” appears for the first time in the Book of ACTS. That is because the writer of the Book, Luke had joined them in Troas.
Troas was a port city and ACTS 16:11 states after the Vision Paul and his companions left for Macedonia from there, obviously in a ship.
The reason WHY all that was stated is because, in 2nd Corinthians 2: 12 & 13 Paul states that he had “NO peace of mind, because he did NOT find his brother Titus there, in Troas”.
We do NOT know whether Paul left Titus there before they embarked then OR subsequently during his 3rd Missionary Journey, because 2nd Corinthians was written during his 3rd Missionary Journey, from Macedonia, according to available evidence – 2nd Corinthians 7:5 and 8:1.
Then in 2nd Corinthians 7:6 & 7 Paul states how he was comforted by the “Coming of Titus” to Macedonia from Corinth, where ‘Titus was well treated by the Corinthians’ – Verses 13 – 15.
That is because there had been some misunderstanding between Paul and the Believers in Corinth, after the ‘previous Epistle of Paul’ to them, as Paul records in 2nd Corinthians 2:1- 6.
Troas was in what was then called “Asia”, whose capital under the Romans was Ephesus. Today that area is referred to as ‘Asia Minor’, which really is Turkey.
Greece actually consisted of 3 provinces; i) Macedonia was where Alexander was born and Philippi, which was named after Alexander’s father was a leading city there and was a Roman Colony where many leading retired Roman officials lived [ACTS 16:12] and Thessalonica was also a leading city in that province.
ii) Achaia was another province whose leading city was Corinth. It is estimated that during the time of Paul’s Missionary Journeys its population would have been 250,000 free people and 400,000 slaves. Most of them were really like present day ‘domestic servants’ but without any wages, though enjoying lodging and food and clothing and were definitely NOT treated like the ‘black slaves’ of USA came to be.
The 3rd Province was Greece, whose leading city Athens was considered to be the Capital of all 3 provinces that was considered to be ‘ALL of Greece’.
As per 2nd Corinthians 8, Titus was in-charge of the “Collection” [Verses 16 & 17], possibly the one referred to in Romans 15:25-27, for the JEWISH Believers in Jerusalem.
ALL that was regarding “WHO Titus was”.
With regard to WHEN Paul and Titus went to Crete, there is NO Scriptural evidence. Only reference is what was quoted at the beginning of this article.
The Book of ACTS ends with “Paul being under ‘House arrest’ in Rome”.
It is considered by most Biblical Scholars, due to the ‘general information’ available, that once he was released from being under house arrest in Rome, Paul did a “4th Missionary Journey” and it was then that he would have gone to Crete, taking Titus along with him. Because Paul mentions about his desire to visit Spain, where there was a large “Jewish Population”, in his Epistle to Romans [15:24 &28], it is also assumed by some that Paul ultimately went to Spain too.
It appears according to what Paul mentions regarding Titus in his Epistles that he had a high regard for Titus. So it seems quite logical for Paul to take him along. Also, referring to Titus in his Epistles to others, Paul calls him ‘his Brother’, but in the Epistle addressed to Titus himself, Paul calls him ‘His Genuine Son’, according to the Greek wording found in Titus 1:4.
Final Titus is mentioned in 2nd Timothy 4:10, where Paul says he has gone to Dalmatia, which then consisted of modern Albania and a portion of former Yugoslavia. It was also called “Illyricum”, as per Romans 15:19.