Luke recorded that Jesus came to bring deliverance to the Jews and to the whole world (Luke 4:14-30). In his Gospel, Luke told the story of Jesus' personal ministry, primarily to the Jews. In Acts the emphasis is mainly on Jesus' ministry, through His apostles, to the Gentile world. As the mission to the Gentiles unfolds in Acts we can see that Luke took pains to show that the ministry to the Gentiles paralleled the ministry to the Jews. He did this by relating many things that the missionaries to the Gentiles did that were very similar to what the missionaries to the Jews did. This demonstrates that God was indeed behind both missions and that they are really two aspects of His worldwide plan to bring the gospel to all people and to build a worldwide church.
The present section of text (12:25-16:5) does more than just present the geographical expansion of the church into Asia Minor (modern western Turkey). Primarily it shows the legitimacy of dealing with Gentiles as Gentiles rather than through Judaism before and after their conversion. It becomes increasingly clear that the church and Judaism are two separate entities. God was not renewing the remnant in Israel and refreshing it with Gentile's who believed in Jesus. He was creating a new body: the church. This section culminates in the Jerusalem Council (ch. 15) in which the issue of the Gentiles' relationship to the church came to a head. The last verse (16:5) summarizes these events and issues.
Luke recorded these verses to set the stage for the account of Barnabas and Saul's first missionary journey that follows.
"The world ministry which thus began was destined to change the history of Europe and the world."515
12:25 After delivering the Antioch Christians' gift to the church in Jerusalem (11:27-30), Barnabas and Saul returned to Antioch taking with them John Mark (12:12) who was Barnabas' cousin (Col. 4:10). This verse bridges what follows with the earlier account of the virile Antioch church (11:19-30). The reference to John Mark here also connects the preceding section about the Jerusalem church (12:1-24) with what follows. The effect is to give the reader the impression that what follows has a solid basis in both the Gentile Antioch church and the Jewish Jerusalem church, which it did.
13:1 There were five prominent prophets and teachers in the Antioch church at this time. The Greek construction suggests that Barnabas, Simeon, and Lucius were prophets (forthtellers and perhaps foretellers), and Manaen and Saul were teachers (Scripture expositors).516Barnabas (cf. 4:36-37; 9:27; 11:22-30) seems to have been the leader among the prophets and teachers. The priority of his name in this list, as well as other references to his character qualities, suggests this. Simeon is a Jewish name, but this man's nickname or family name, Niger, is Roman and implies that he was dark skinned, possibly from Africa.517Lucius was a common Roman name; Luke was his Greek name. He was from North Africa (cf. 11:20).518Herod the tetrarch refers to Herod Antipas who beheaded John the Baptist and tried Jesus (Mark 6:14-19; Luke 13:31-33; 23:7-12). Saul was evidently the newcomer (cf. 7:58-8:3; 9:1-30; 11:25-30). This list of leaders shows that the church in Antioch was cosmopolitan and that God had gifted it with several speakers who exhorted and taught the believers.
"There in that little band there is exemplified the unifying influence of Christianity. Men from many lands and many backgrounds had discovered the secret of togetherness' because they had discovered the secret of Christ."519
13:2 It was while these men were serving that God redirected them.520Notice also that the ministry of these men, while to the church, was primarily to the Lord (cf. Col. 3:24). Fasting in this context undoubtedly involved going without food temporarily to give attention to spiritual matters of greater importance than eating.
"Pious Jews of the time fasted twice each week, and early Christians may have continued the custom."521
The Holy Spirit probably revealed His "call"through one or more of these prophets (cf. 8:29; 10:19; 13:4). HowHe did it was less important to Luke than thatHe did it (cf. v. 4). God leads His people though a variety of means that His disciples who are walking with Him can identify as His leading. If Luke had revealed just how the Spirit gave this "missionary call,"every missionary candidate that followed might expect exactly the same type of leading. One commentator speculated as follows.
". . . this would seem to suggest that at a service of divine worship one of the prophets was moved by the Spirit to propose the mission of Paul and Barnabas."522
13:3 "They"probably refers to the entire congregation together with its leaders (cf. 14:27; 15:2). The other church leaders did several things for Barnabas and Saul. They fasted and prayed, presumably for God's blessing on them. They probably fasted as they prayed indicating the priority they placed on seeking God's blessing in prayer. They also laid their hands on them, evidently not to bestow a spiritual power but to identify with and encourage them (cf. 9:17). Then they released them from their duties in Antioch so they could depart. This was a commissioning for a particular work, not ordination to lifetime service.523
"In commissioning Barnabas and Saul by the imposition of hands, the other office-bearers invest them with authority to act on behalf of the Christian community at Antioch, and symbolically identify the whole congregation with their enterprise."524
"This short paragraph [13:1-3] marks a major departure in Luke's story. Up to this point, contacts with Gentiles (one might almost say, missionary activity in general) have been almost fortuitous. Philip was despatched along an unusual road not knowing that he would encounter an Ethiopian eunuch reading Scripture; Peter was surprised by the gift of the Holy Spirit to an uncircumcised and unbaptized Gentile; the missionaries to Antioch did not set out with the intention of evangelizing Gentiles. Here, however, though the initiative is still ascribed to the Holy Spirit (v. 2), an extensive evangelistic journey into territory in no sense properly Jewish (though there was a Jewish element in the population, as there was in most parts of the Empire) is deliberately planned, and two associates of the local church are commissioned to execute it."525
Luke recorded the events of Paul's first missionary journey to document the extension of the church into new territory and to illustrate the principles and methods by which the church grew. He also did so to show God's supernatural blessing on the witness of Barnabas and Saul.
". . . the account of Paul's ministry has two parts: his journeys (Acts 11-20) and his trials (Acts 21-28)."526
Peter had encountered Simon, a sorcerer, when the Jerusalem church initiated its first major outreach in Samaria (8:9-24). Similarly Barnabas and Saul ran into Bar-Jesus, a false prophet and sorcerer, when the Antioch church conducted its first major outreach to Gentiles. Luke undoubtedly wanted his readers to note the parallel and to draw the conclusion that God was behind the second outreach to Gentiles as He had been behind the first one to Samaritans.
13:4 Luke carefully noted that the person ultimately responsible for the venture that followed was the Holy Spirit (cf. 1:1-2). This was another of God's initiatives in building His church. Barnabas and Saul departed from the port of Antioch, Seleucia, located about 15 miles to the west near where the Orontes River flowed into the Mediterranean Sea. The island of Cyprus (Kittim, Gen. 10:4; et al.) was Barnabas' homeland (Acts 4:36).527
"Cyprus was an island of great importance from very early times, being situated on the shipping lanes between Syria, Asia Minor, and Greece. In 57 B.C. it was annexed by Rome from Egypt and in 55 B.C. incorporated into the province of Cilicia. In 27 B.C. it became a separate province governed on behalf of the emperor Augustus by an imperial legate. In 22 B.C. Augustus relinquished its control to the senate, and, like other senatorial provinces, it was administered by a proconsul."528
13:5 Salamis was the largest town in eastern Cyprus, about 130 miles from Seleucia. It lay on the coast, and there were enough Jews there to warrant more than one synagogue.529Barnabas and Saul habitually visited the Jewish synagogues when they preached the gospel. They undoubtedly did so because that was where the people who were God-fearing anticipators of the Messiah assembled, both Jews and Gentiles. Of course, this was not the first time the Christian gospel had come to Cyprus, but the Christians had only evangelized Jews earlier (cf. 11:19). John Mark probably provided assistance in many ways. Timothy served in a similar capacity when Paul and Silas left Lystra on Paul's second missionary journey (cf. 16:1-3).530
13:6-8 Barnabas and Saul travelled west across Cyprus coming eventually to Paphos, the provincial capital of the island. Paphos was 90 mile west of Salamis and lay on the western coast of Cyprus. Evidently word reached Sergius Paulus of the missionaries' preaching. Since he was an intelligent man (Gr. aner syneton, an understanding or sagacious man, cf. v. 12), he ordered them to meet with him so he could hear their message personally.
"In the Greek world it was the custom for philosophers, rhetoricians, or religious propagandists, to travel about from city to city and give public orations. By this means they often secured permanent professorships. So when Sergius Paulus heard of Barnabas and Saul, he took them for similar professors, and having an interest in these matters he summonedthem to give a declamation before his court."531
He was a "proconsul,"the highest Roman government official on the island who was there by appointment of Rome's senate.532Evidently Bar-Jesus (lit. Son of a Savior) was a Jewish false prophet in the sense that he claimed to be a prophet of God but was not. He was only a magician who may have had some Satanic power (cf. 8:9). The Mosaic Law forbade Jews from practicing magic (Deut. 18:10-11). "Elymas"seems to have been a nickname. It means "sorcerer,""magician,"or "fortune-teller"(Gr. magos, cf. Matt. 2:1, 7, 16). He may have opposed the missionaries because they brought the true message of God. Furthermore he may have felt that if Sergius Paulus believed the gospel his relationship to the proconsul would suffer.
"It was not usual for such a character to be attached to the household of a Roman dignitary."533
13:9 Luke now introduced Saul's Greek name Paul, by which he referred to him hereafter in Acts. The reason for Luke's change at this point seems to be that here Paul's ministry to the Gentiles really began (cf. 22:21). "Paul"means "little,"perhaps an allusion to his physical stature, and obviously rhymes with "Saul"(lit. asked). "Paul"was evidently a cognomen (nickname). Paul's first and family Roman names appear nowhere in Scripture.534
"Both names, Saul and Paul, were probably given him by his parents, in accordance with Jewish custom, which still prevails, of giving a child two names, one religious and one secular."535
Note Luke's reference to Paul's being filled with the Holy Spirit. We have seen that Spirit filling marked the early believers (v. 9; 2:4; 4:8, 31; 6:3, 5; 7:55; 9:17). Paul was about to announce a divine miracle designed to frustrate Satan's work in hindering the progress of the gospel (cf. 8:9-23; 16:16-18; 19:13-17). A true prophet of the Lord was getting ready to pronounce a curse on a false prophet. This fresh filling (Gr. plestheis, an aorist participle) empowered him for the task.
13:10 Instead of being full of wisdom, Paul accused Elymas of being full of deceit and a fraud. Instead of being the son of a savior or the follower of Jesus, Bar-Jesus was a son of the devil. Instead of being the promoter of righteousness, this magician was making the straight way of the Lord crooked.536
13:11 Paul's stern words recall Peter's as he dealt with Ananias and Sapphira, and Simon the sorcerer (5:3-4, 9; 8:20-23). Perhaps Paul hoped that when God darkened Elymas' physical eyesight He might restore his spiritual eyesight, as had been his own experience (ch. 9).
13:12 This show of superior power convinced Sergius Paulus of the truth of Paul's gospel, and he believed it. Notice again that belief is all that was necessary for his salvation (cf. 14:1; 17:34; 19:18). It was Paul's teaching concerning the Lord that Sergius Paulus believed.537
"This blinding of the false prophet opened the eyes of Sergius Paulus."538
The blinding of Elymas shows that Paul possessed the power of binding that God had also given to Peter (cf. Matt. 16:19). God validated Paul's message by granting a miracle. This was especially helpful in evangelism before the completion of the New Testament.
This incident is significant in the unfolding of Luke's purpose because at Paphos Paul assumed the leadership among the missionaries (cf. v. 13). The mission of the church also became more Gentile oriented. Jewish response continued to be rejection, symbolized by Elymas' blindness (cf. 28:26-27). Furthermore, this was the first appearance of Christianity before Roman aristocracy and high authority, a new benchmark for the advance of the mission. Paul's conflict with Elymas is also reminiscent of others in the Old Testament in which prophets with rival messages made presentations to kings and people (cf. 1 Kings 22; Jer. 28-29).
"The conversion of Sergius Paulus was, in fact, a turning point in Paul's whole ministry and inaugurated a new policy in the mission to Gentiles--viz., the legitimacy of a direct approach to and full acceptance of Gentiles apart from any distinctive Jewish stance. This is what Luke clearly sets forth as the great innovative development of this first missionary journey (14:27; 15:3). Earlier Cornelius had been converted apart from any prior commitment to Judaism, and the Jerusalem church had accepted his conversion to Christ. But the Jerusalem church never took Cornelius's conversion as a precedent for the Christian mission and apparently preferred not to dwell on its ramifications. However, Paul, whose mandate was to Gentiles, saw in the conversion of Sergius Paulus further aspects of what a mission to Gentiles involved and was prepared to take this conversion as a precedent fraught with far-reaching implications for his ministry. It is significant that from this point on Luke always calls the apostle by his Greek name Paul and, except for 14:14; 15:12; and 15:25 (situations where Barnabas was more prominent), always emphasizes his leadership by listing him first when naming the missioners. For after this, it was Paul's insight that set the tone for the church's outreach to the Gentile world."539
Having evangelized Barnabas' homeland the missionaries next moved into Paul's native territory of southern Asia Minor.
The increasing number of Gentiles who were becoming Christians raised a problem within the church. What was the relationship of the church to Judaism? Some Christians, especially the more conservative Jewish believers, argued that Christianity was a party within Judaism, the party of true believers. They assumed that Gentile Christians, therefore, needed to become Jewish proselytes, which involved being circumcised and obeying the Mosaic Law. Other Christians, the more broad-minded Jewish believers and the Gentile converts, saw no need for these restrictions. They viewed the church not as a party within Judaism but as a distinct group separate from Judaism that incorporated both believing Jews and believing Gentiles. This difference of viewpoint led to the meeting Luke recorded in this section. He described it at length to explain the issues involved and to emphasize their importance.
Luke reported Paul and Barnabas' efforts to strengthen the churches they had planted in Cyprus and Asia Minor to emphasize the importance of this phase of church extension. He also did so to set the scene for the next major advance of the church. Paul went next into the provinces around the Aegean Sea some of which were on the European continent.
