Christianity to the uttermost part of the world (13:1-12)
By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce
Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical Precepts & Gospel music
Events in Antioch
1 In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting,
the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
Events in Cyprus
4 The two of them, sent on their
way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5When
they arrived at Salamis; they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish
synagogues. John was with them as their helper. 6 They traveled
through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish
sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an attendant
of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul an intelligent man, sent for
Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8But
Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to
turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul,
filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are
full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right
ways of the Lord? 11Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are
going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun. "Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him
by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed,
for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
Verse 1 Here begins what has been called “The Acts
of Paul” because Paul becomes the dominant figure. Simeon called Niger. Niger was
his Latin name and probably indicates that he was an African. Who had been brought
up with. Lit., foster brother, a designation given to boys of the same age as royal
children with whom they were brought up. Herod the tetrarch. Herod Antipas, who
ruled Galilee during the public ministry of Christ.
Barnabas a Levite, a Cyprian by birth (4:36).
Niger meaning black and denoting a Negro,
probably of African origin. Lucius a Cyrenian
from Cyrene in North Africa. He was a Jew if he was the Lucius in Rom.16:21, a kinsman
of Paul. Manaen, Herod was governmentally
related to the Romans; hence, Manaen,
Herod’s foster brother, must have been Europeanized. Herod the one who killed John
the Baptist (Luke9:7-9). It was the Lord’s sovereign doing that the foster brother
of John the Baptist’s murderer became one of the leading functioning members in the church.
Saul a Jew born in Tarsus and taught by
Gamaliel according to the law of Moses (22:3). The five prophets and teachers recorded
here were composed of Jews and Gentiles, each having a different background, education,
and status. This indicates that the church is composed of all races and classes
of people regardless of their background, and that the spiritual gifts and functions
given to the members of the Body of Christ are not based on their natural status.
Verse 2 This was a great step taken
by the Lord for the spread of the gospel of His kingdom to the Gentile world. It
was begun from Antioch, a Gentile center in Syria, without the organizing of a mission,
without the raising of funds, without human ordination, and without any human plan
or method. It was initiated by five faithful and seeking members of the Body of
Christ, who gave the Head of the Body an opportunity through their ministering and
fasting that He, as the Spirit, might set them apart to carry out His great commission
to spread His kingdom for the establishing of His church in the Gentile world through
the preaching of His gospel. This major step had nothing to do with the church in
Jerusalem organizationally, and it was not under the authority and direction of
Peter and the other eleven apostles in Jerusalem. It was begun solely and purely
from a Gentile enter, far away from the atmosphere and influence of any Judaic background
and practice and even from the practice and influence of the church in Jerusalem.
It was absolutely a move by the Spirit, in the Spirit and with the Spirit through
the coordination of the faithful and seeking members of the Body of Christ on the
earth with the Head in the heavens. Hence, this was not a religious movement with
a human schedule. From Antioch the Lord’s move on the earth for God’s New Testament
economy had an entirely new start. Although the flow of the Lord’s move began from
Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and later came to Antioch and went on from Antioch
to the Gentile world, it had a purified start by the Spirit at its turn in Antioch.
Verse 3 The laying on the hands
denotes identification, signifying that they who laid their hands were one with
those on whom they laid hands. By this they declared to all that they were one with
the sent ones in their going to carry out the Lord’s great commission.
Verse 4 In v.3 Barnabas and Saul
were sent by the other three. But here it says that they were sent out by the Spirit.
This proves that the three were one with the Spirit in the Lord’s move, and the Spirit
honored their sending as His. This was the start of Paul’s first ministry journey,
which ended in 14:27.
Verse 5 Barnabas and Saul did not
go to attend the Jewish synagogue gathering but to take advantage of that gathering
to announce the word of God, just as the Lord did in His ministry on the earth (Matt.4:23;
Luke 4:16). John was with them as their helper. This was John Mark, son of Mary
(12:12) and cousin to Barnabas (Col4:10)
Verse 7 The proconsul. Cyprus was
a Roman senatorial province.
Verse 8 Elymas was the name given
to Bar-Jesus by Greek –speaking acquaintances.
Verse 9 Saul, who was also called
Paul. Saul was his Jewish name and Paul his Roman or Gentile name. Both were given
him at the time of his birth, but he now begins to use his Gentile name in this
Gentile environment. The change of name may indicate a change in life. In any case,
after Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit here, he took the lead in the apostolic
ministry all the way.
Bibliography,
King James, The
Holy Bible (KJV), Cleveland, OH: The world publishing company
Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim,
CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV).
Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986
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