e28
Preaching the Word on Cyprus
Acts 13
The church in Antioch, Syria seems to be a thriving community of believers. Barnabas and Saul have been serving faithfully there for the past year.
Their work has included assimilating all of the new believers. And since early churches met in homes, each home church would need to be equipped with an elder who could teach and shepherd the small group.
I suppose if finding enough elders proved to be a problem, a sharing system would have to be developed, perhaps having one elder be responsible to teach several house churches. This would mean having some kind of a schedule for meetings.
I think this is where Paul’s directive for the compensation of elders comes in. He said, “ ¶ Elders with a gift of leadership should be considered worthy of respect, and of adequate salary, particularly if they work hard at their preaching and teaching. (1 Timothy 5:17 JB Philips translation)
Paul differentiates between elders who could volunteer their time to take care of a house church and hold down regular employment at the same time, with those who were working at teaching the word and caring for multiple house churches, leaving no time for secular employment.
We come now to verse one of chapter thirteen where Luke gives us a small picture of the leadership team or, as we might say it today, the church board.
1 ¶ Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
This list of names could be the total number on the leadership team. I don’t know if the order of names is significant, but I will point out that Barnabas is listed first and Saul is the last one mentioned. The other three were Simeon, Lucius and Manaen.
We know nothing about Simeon other than his ‘other’ name means black. Lucius' roots are from Cyrene, Africa. And Manaen, according to the NKJV of the bible, was brought up with Herod the Tetrarch.
This presents a little different light on his relationship to Herod. It was Herod Agrippa I who had James put to death and Peter imprisoned. He was a grandson of Herod the Great who had the boy babies killed at the time of Jesus’ birth. But Herod the Tetrarch was a son of Herod the Great and an uncle to Herod Agrippa I.
The ministry team was a very dedicated group as we notice in the next verse. 2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
It is a wonderful thing when the will of God is made clear to serious church leaders. The church will miss the wisdom of Barnabas and Saul but the wisdom of God is saying that they are ready to carry on without them.
3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
The ‘work’ to which they have been called is the work of traveling to outlying areas and preaching the gospel of salvation to the lost, and then organizing and establishing the new believers into local house churches.
4 ¶ So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
Seleucia was almost straight west of Antioch. It was a seaport. There is no mention that the team did any preaching or evangelizing there. They get on a ship and go to the isle of Cyprus. This happens to be the original home of Barnabas.
5 And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant.
Preaching in the synagogues was a decision they apparently made on their own. But it is completely logical. They would have had a very soft spot in their hearts for the Jewish people and a desire to see them accept Christ as Savior. But, more than that, if they ended up getting a few to become Christians, the work of teaching all the basics of scripture would be greatly lessened, since all of these Jews would already have a great knowledge of the Old Testament.
Salamas was a seaport on the island at the east end nearest the mainland of Antioch, Syria. They ‘preached’ in the synagogues. They did this …because they could. They were entering the synagogues as if they were still Jews in good standing with the other Jews. After a few minutes of speaking it would become apparent that they had a very unusual message. If they were met with total unbelief, they would move on to the next synagogue.
Luke points out here that they had taken John Mark with them. He is a young nephew to Barnabas, who saw some potential in bringing him along. He would serve as ‘an assistant’ but Barnabas' nature would be to see John Mark as a missionary preacher in the making.
6 Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.
The team has, at this point, walked over the entire island clear to the west end. Each Sabbath day they would have entered a synagogue and spoke. But we read of zero results until they reach Paphos.
Luke is now describing what happened there.
Two men in particular approach Barnabas, Saul and John Mark. One of the two, Sergius Paulus, must have heard what Barnabas’ team had been saying. In all probability it was in their local synagogue where he heard them. He approaches them in order to hear more. His companion Bar-Jesus however, was trying to discourage Sergius from asking questions. Bar-Jesus' other name was Elymas.
8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
Somehow I don’t think Elymas, even though he was a Jew, would not have been welcomed in the synagogue. And I think this because of his name. It seems to be an assumed name or title. The name, says Luke, means ‘sorcerer’. His name elsewhere in scripture has been interpreted as ‘wise’ or ‘doctor’. He sees himself as an important ‘somebody’ and seems to want to hold on to Sergius as one of his disciples.
The love of power, influence and popularity, is often a strong reason why people oppose the gospel.
9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him …
This is the last time we will see Saul called by this name. From now on he is known as Paul. Why the change in name? Bible commentators do not agree on this, so I will just give my own opinion. First of all, the definitions of each name; Saul means, desired one. Paul means little or dwarfish.
The occasion about which we are reading in these verses have mentioned Sergius' last name as being Paulus. The spelling in Greek is identical to Paul.
When Saul was introduced to the man I wonder what went through his mind? Saul is introduced as ‘Desired one’ while the man he meets is called ‘small or dwarfish’. I believe Saul thought about his own name compared to the odd name that Paulus had to bear. To always be known as small or dwarfish would certainly affect one’s pride. As a serious believer I think Paul thought it over and decided a name like that would be better. I think he adopted it himself after leaving Paphos. It would serve to keep him humble.
Paul spoke to Elymas… 10 and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?
11 “And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
We can observe some things about Paul’s ‘nature’ here. In his natural temperament Paul was very aggressive and cruel. Here I believe we see that nature tempered as a ‘righteous indignation’. I would not expect that Barnabas would ever speak as Paul just did. I believe God uses the natural temperament of a person, coupled with the filling and leading of the Holy Spirit to bring about His desired result.
Paul pronounces a ‘punishment’ upon Elymas. “...the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.”
I find this curiously interesting. Paul’s experience as a servant of God is just over a year old. Several years before, Paul himself had been struck blind for a while. Paul remembers what that was like.
But what about Paul’s experience in the area of ‘spiritual gifts’ and abilities? Very likely Paul has never pronounced a ‘curse-like’ judgment on anyone during his time as a Christian. How did he know that it would work? Obviously he has learned to really walk with God to the point where he could ‘feel’ what the Holy Spirit was enabling him to do.
If it had been Barnabas reprimanding Elymas, I wonder what he would have said and how the Spirit would have directed him?
The key is for you and for me to walk with God in such a way that the Spirit will enable you to do things that ‘just come out’ … perhaps even to your surprise.
We don't know what finally happened to Elymas. Did this ‘punishment’ cause him to repent and turn to Jesus?
This event, however, was convincing proof for Sergius Paulus. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
13 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem,
Barnabas and Paul (and John Mark) were able to travel because of the financial support they had no doubt received from their church family in Antioch. John, however, becomes a deserter. We don’t know how helpful he actually was to the team. John Mark was Barnabas’ nephew. Barnabas was hoping this experience would cause him to mature spiritually and perhaps point him into ministry. But it seems to have failed. There will be more about this later in Acts.
Leaving the isle of Cyprus they sailed across to the mainland, arriving at Perga. Apparently there were no ‘gospel results’ that took place there.
14 ¶ but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.
next: Preaching the word in Antioch, Pisidia
Their work has included assimilating all of the new believers. And since early churches met in homes, each home church would need to be equipped with an elder who could teach and shepherd the small group.
I suppose if finding enough elders proved to be a problem, a sharing system would have to be developed, perhaps having one elder be responsible to teach several house churches. This would mean having some kind of a schedule for meetings.
I think this is where Paul’s directive for the compensation of elders comes in. He said, “ ¶ Elders with a gift of leadership should be considered worthy of respect, and of adequate salary, particularly if they work hard at their preaching and teaching. (1 Timothy 5:17 JB Philips translation)
Paul differentiates between elders who could volunteer their time to take care of a house church and hold down regular employment at the same time, with those who were working at teaching the word and caring for multiple house churches, leaving no time for secular employment.
We come now to verse one of chapter thirteen where Luke gives us a small picture of the leadership team or, as we might say it today, the church board.
1 ¶ Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
This list of names could be the total number on the leadership team. I don’t know if the order of names is significant, but I will point out that Barnabas is listed first and Saul is the last one mentioned. The other three were Simeon, Lucius and Manaen.
We know nothing about Simeon other than his ‘other’ name means black. Lucius' roots are from Cyrene, Africa. And Manaen, according to the NKJV of the bible, was brought up with Herod the Tetrarch.
This presents a little different light on his relationship to Herod. It was Herod Agrippa I who had James put to death and Peter imprisoned. He was a grandson of Herod the Great who had the boy babies killed at the time of Jesus’ birth. But Herod the Tetrarch was a son of Herod the Great and an uncle to Herod Agrippa I.
The ministry team was a very dedicated group as we notice in the next verse. 2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
It is a wonderful thing when the will of God is made clear to serious church leaders. The church will miss the wisdom of Barnabas and Saul but the wisdom of God is saying that they are ready to carry on without them.
3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
The ‘work’ to which they have been called is the work of traveling to outlying areas and preaching the gospel of salvation to the lost, and then organizing and establishing the new believers into local house churches.
4 ¶ So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
Seleucia was almost straight west of Antioch. It was a seaport. There is no mention that the team did any preaching or evangelizing there. They get on a ship and go to the isle of Cyprus. This happens to be the original home of Barnabas.
5 And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant.
Preaching in the synagogues was a decision they apparently made on their own. But it is completely logical. They would have had a very soft spot in their hearts for the Jewish people and a desire to see them accept Christ as Savior. But, more than that, if they ended up getting a few to become Christians, the work of teaching all the basics of scripture would be greatly lessened, since all of these Jews would already have a great knowledge of the Old Testament.
Salamas was a seaport on the island at the east end nearest the mainland of Antioch, Syria. They ‘preached’ in the synagogues. They did this …because they could. They were entering the synagogues as if they were still Jews in good standing with the other Jews. After a few minutes of speaking it would become apparent that they had a very unusual message. If they were met with total unbelief, they would move on to the next synagogue.
Luke points out here that they had taken John Mark with them. He is a young nephew to Barnabas, who saw some potential in bringing him along. He would serve as ‘an assistant’ but Barnabas' nature would be to see John Mark as a missionary preacher in the making.
6 Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.
The team has, at this point, walked over the entire island clear to the west end. Each Sabbath day they would have entered a synagogue and spoke. But we read of zero results until they reach Paphos.
Luke is now describing what happened there.
Two men in particular approach Barnabas, Saul and John Mark. One of the two, Sergius Paulus, must have heard what Barnabas’ team had been saying. In all probability it was in their local synagogue where he heard them. He approaches them in order to hear more. His companion Bar-Jesus however, was trying to discourage Sergius from asking questions. Bar-Jesus' other name was Elymas.
8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
Somehow I don’t think Elymas, even though he was a Jew, would not have been welcomed in the synagogue. And I think this because of his name. It seems to be an assumed name or title. The name, says Luke, means ‘sorcerer’. His name elsewhere in scripture has been interpreted as ‘wise’ or ‘doctor’. He sees himself as an important ‘somebody’ and seems to want to hold on to Sergius as one of his disciples.
The love of power, influence and popularity, is often a strong reason why people oppose the gospel.
9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him …
This is the last time we will see Saul called by this name. From now on he is known as Paul. Why the change in name? Bible commentators do not agree on this, so I will just give my own opinion. First of all, the definitions of each name; Saul means, desired one. Paul means little or dwarfish.
The occasion about which we are reading in these verses have mentioned Sergius' last name as being Paulus. The spelling in Greek is identical to Paul.
When Saul was introduced to the man I wonder what went through his mind? Saul is introduced as ‘Desired one’ while the man he meets is called ‘small or dwarfish’. I believe Saul thought about his own name compared to the odd name that Paulus had to bear. To always be known as small or dwarfish would certainly affect one’s pride. As a serious believer I think Paul thought it over and decided a name like that would be better. I think he adopted it himself after leaving Paphos. It would serve to keep him humble.
Paul spoke to Elymas… 10 and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?
11 “And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
We can observe some things about Paul’s ‘nature’ here. In his natural temperament Paul was very aggressive and cruel. Here I believe we see that nature tempered as a ‘righteous indignation’. I would not expect that Barnabas would ever speak as Paul just did. I believe God uses the natural temperament of a person, coupled with the filling and leading of the Holy Spirit to bring about His desired result.
Paul pronounces a ‘punishment’ upon Elymas. “...the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.”
I find this curiously interesting. Paul’s experience as a servant of God is just over a year old. Several years before, Paul himself had been struck blind for a while. Paul remembers what that was like.
But what about Paul’s experience in the area of ‘spiritual gifts’ and abilities? Very likely Paul has never pronounced a ‘curse-like’ judgment on anyone during his time as a Christian. How did he know that it would work? Obviously he has learned to really walk with God to the point where he could ‘feel’ what the Holy Spirit was enabling him to do.
If it had been Barnabas reprimanding Elymas, I wonder what he would have said and how the Spirit would have directed him?
The key is for you and for me to walk with God in such a way that the Spirit will enable you to do things that ‘just come out’ … perhaps even to your surprise.
We don't know what finally happened to Elymas. Did this ‘punishment’ cause him to repent and turn to Jesus?
This event, however, was convincing proof for Sergius Paulus. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
13 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem,
Barnabas and Paul (and John Mark) were able to travel because of the financial support they had no doubt received from their church family in Antioch. John, however, becomes a deserter. We don’t know how helpful he actually was to the team. John Mark was Barnabas’ nephew. Barnabas was hoping this experience would cause him to mature spiritually and perhaps point him into ministry. But it seems to have failed. There will be more about this later in Acts.
Leaving the isle of Cyprus they sailed across to the mainland, arriving at Perga. Apparently there were no ‘gospel results’ that took place there.
14 ¶ but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.
next: Preaching the word in Antioch, Pisidia