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The Book of Acts
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BIBLE STUDY ACTS 13:1-52 REVIEW: Chapter 12 began with the beheading of the James, one of the first followers of Jesus and one of the twelve, by Herod Agrippa I. This marked the end of a short period of tranquility for the Jerusalem leadership following the death of Stephen. Looking at the story as a whole, Luke Timothy Johnson notes that the death of James serves Luke’s overall narrative purpose in Acts. From here on out, the focus will be upon the other “James” (Jesus’ brother who is sometimes called by historians “James the Just”) who was to be the leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 12:17; 15:13-21; 21:17-26). Pastor George also pointed out that Peter is said to have gone “to another place” - perhaps helping the reader to understand that from now on James (the Lord’s brother) and not Peter is the most important authority in the Jerusalem church. As part of this wave of persecutions at the hands of Herod, Acts 12 also tells the story of Peter’s arrest. The story of his escape is a “miracle story” of deliverance. In the face of impossible odds and hatred, God still answers the prayers of his church and works to save his people. God miraculously delivered Peter – and in the end the oppressor, Herod, dies. Chapter 13 returns to the narrative story of Paul and Barnabas. CHAPTER 13:1-3 “Commissioning of Barnabas and Saul” "Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler, and Saul. 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.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off." In Chapter 11, Barnabas was said to have “brought Saul to Antioch. So it was that for an entire year they met with (or were guests of) the church and taught a great many people…” Now, in this chapter, we see that Barnabas and Saul have gained status among the leadership of this church of Hellenist Jews. They are listed (the first and the last, the alpha and omega) as prominent “prophets and/or teachers” in the church at Antioch. In his description of these “prophets and teachers,” who were “worshiping the Lord and fasting,” Luke deliberately shows the demeanor of the church leadership. Their main activity seems to be directed toward discerning God’s will. After all, this is the implied role of a “prophet” and the implicit purpose of prayerful fasting—discerning God’s voice. Apparently it worked, for the guiding voice is attributed directly to the Holy Spirit who instructs them to “set apart” Barnabas and Saul for a new ministry. The leadership at Antioch prayerfully ordains or commissions them for this new ministry with a laying on of hands. CHAPTER 13:4-12 “At Paphos” "So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia; and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John also to assist them. When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they met a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God. But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, also know as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now listen – the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord." Commissioned by the Antiochene Church in Syria, Saul, Barnabas, as well as their assistant John, are sent out by the Holy Spirit on this new mission. Introduced in this section is Saul’s practice of preaching to the Jews first in Jewish synagogues wherever he goes. This will be a continuous occurrence in Acts. Luke parallels this story, the story of the confrontation with a magician, with that of Acts 8:4-25, when Philip encountered Simon the magician in Samaria. It seems that with every new outreach in the name Jesus Christ, the church is shown to encounter new demonic resistance. Notice the familiar image from Isaiah 40 and the words of John the Baptist, “making crooked the straight paths of the Lord.” Everywhere the Word of the Lord goes making a “way of righteousness”, the chaotic and demonic wilderness objects. This story illustrates, finally, the powerlessness of the devil when confronted by the power of Jesus. Ironically, the same blindness that once inflicted Saul, here inflicts Elymas. CHAPTER 13:13-14a “John Separates Himself” "Then Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and returned to Jerusalem; but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia." Their journey takes them from Paphos on the Island of Cypress in the Mediterranean Sea to Pamphylia, which is present-day Turkey. No reason is given for the departure of John. However, we will see how John’s departure in this Chapter would become a catalyst for the future split between Paul and Barnabas (in Chapter 15). The Greek verb used (apochoreo) to describe John’s withdrawal can be used in the sense of “removing oneself from” in the context of disapproval or out of fear or cowardice… “to desert.” Although Luke gives little detail about the relationship between these men, Paul, Barnabas and John, this small detail about John’s turn to Jerusalem is likely more significant than it seems, especially when it comes to the future relationship between Paul and the Jerusalem Church. CHAPTER 13:14b-25 “Paul and Barnabas at Pisidian Antioch: Pauls Speech, Part I” "And on the sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. After the reading of the law and the prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, give it.” So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak: “You Israelites, and others who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. For about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. After he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance for about four hundred fifty years. After that he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel. Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. When he had removed him, he made David their king. In his testimony about him he said, ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.’ Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised; before his coming John had already proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his work, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but one is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thing of the sandals on his feet.’” In this section we are given a relatively full example of the way in which Paul and Barnabas carried out their mission of evangelism along their journey. This is, in fact, Paul’s first and last missionary sermon reported in any detail in the Book of Acts: 1) First, they would enter a Jewish synagogue to hear the daily scripture readings. As guests they would apparently wait for the appropriate time to speak. Here, we see how they were invited by the synagogue officials to speak. 2) Upon receiving invitation, Paul would stand up to talk. He began, quite similarly to the speech given by Stephen (Chapter 7), by retracing steps from Israelite history. The obvious point in this was to communicate to the people that the story of Jesus was part of their own story, or rather, its fulfillment! Notice how his address was to “Israelites and others who fear God.” Retracing all the way from their time in Egypt to the establishment of the monarchy, Paul tells the history of the people Israel. He culminates this “salvation history” by introducing the “savior, Jesus” as a fulfillment of God’s promise. Here, he makes two important claims regarding Jesus’ messianic authority. A) Jesus is descended from the line of David according to the messianic promise. B) John the Baptist proclaimed himself unworthy next to Jesus. This is yet another testimony of Jesus’ messianic authority. CHAPTER 13:26-46 “Paul and Barnabas at Pisidian Antioch: Pauls Speech, Part II” “My brothers, you descendants of Abraham’s family, and others who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent. Because the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him or understand the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, they fulfilled those words by condemning him. Even though they found no cause for a sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him killed. When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead; and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’ As to his raising him form the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, ‘I will give you the holy promises made to David.’ Therefore he has also said in another psalm, ‘You will not let your Holy One experience corruption.’ For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, died, was laid beside his ancestors, and experienced corruption; but he whom God raised up experienced no corruption. Let it be know to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. “Beware, therefore, that what the prophets said does not happen to you: ‘Lo Look, you scoffers! Be amazed and perish, for in your days I am doing a work, a work that you will never believe, even if someone tells you.’” As As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people urged them to speak about these things again the next Sabbath. When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God." 3) Paul again identifies his audience as spiritual descendants of Abraham. This, as we can easily see in Paul’s Letter to the Church at Rome (Romans 4), is a theological move central to Paul articulation of Christianity. That is, according to Paul, the historic foundation of the religious faith is found in the faith of the patriarchal figure Abraham and not necessarily with the temple cult which was a later historical development in Jerusalem, the City of David. 4) In fact, in Paul’s words, it is the “residents of Jerusalem” who were to blame for the death of Jesus, the messiah. With this sentiment we can see some lines being drawn by Paul on his missionary endeavors. It may very well be that Paul found the pre-existent lines of tension between Israelites who lived in and outside of influence of the Jerusalem temple helpful for the purpose of developing the Church. One would wonder how the Jerusalem Church, who were also “residents of Jerusalem,” would be affected by this characterization? 5) Finally, we see how Paul used Jewish scripture to argue his point to an audience whose religious concerns he understands. In this day and age, with the encroachment of Rome on Jewish culture, the issue of purity had become central to all Israelites. Here we see how Paul uses the “corruption” factor as a key religious factor. While David, associated with Jerusalem (called “Ir David” or “the City of David), died and his body experienced corruption, the resurrected Jesus will never experience such corruption. Likewise, the forgiveness of sins found in Christ, will bring greater purity—greater freedom from the world’s corruption—than that found in the Jerusalem’s temple. Following his sermon, we see that Paul and Barnabas earned themselves an entrance to this Diaspora community of faith. Acts illustrates how effective Paul’s words were, as we see him surrounded by those interested in what he had to say—those who would invite him back for the next Sabbath. CHAPTER 13:43-52 “Departure” he "The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy; and blaspheming, they contradicted what was spoken by Paul. Then both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I h "I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers. Thus the word of the Lord spread throughout the region. But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region. So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them, and went to Iconioum. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." This passage gives great insight into the nature of Paul and Barnabas’ mission. In this section we see how Paul and Barnabas’ work upset the power structure of the communities in which they entered. It was not a mission for those who would rather avoid conflict. Yet, they still deemed it “necessary” to proclaim the message to Israelites before moving on to the Gentiles. It is as if the rejection of their message opened the door for them to “shake the dust from their feet” and to move on to the Gentiles. -------------------- Joshua W. Magyar, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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