Lechem Panim #176 “Saul and Barnabas‘ First Steps” (Acts 13:2-12) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome to Lechem Panim! You will remember that last week we saw in the beginning of Acts 13 a coming together of a diverse group of leaders in Antioch. And they make a priority what every Christian leadership team ought to make a priority; they pray and fast together, seeking the will of God. And you know whenever that happens, God moves in a special way; because it says in…

Acts 13:2-3 (ESV)— 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 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Saul & Barnabas Commissioned— And so we see that God commissions them, the church leaders confirm their commission, and Barnabas and Saul are sent forth into ministry. And that is the model that is given to us in commissioning leaders. It is God who calls, but it is the church that confirms and equips them for that calling. Now my church (Renton Park Chapel) supports a number of missions organizations. And those missions organizations send out missionaries. However, they are only "sending agencies" that help to expedite the commissioning work authorized by the local church. It is always the local church that is central and key to the whole process of sending people out into ministry. That is why churches need to be intentional about training people for ministry.

John Mark, The Assistant— And we see (and we’ll see more and more as we progress through the book of Acts) that Saul and Barnabas (and really all the Christians) are very intentional about making sure that leaders are being raised up in the Church; that they’re discipling new believers into becoming mature followers of Jesus Christ. And we see Saul and Barnabas doing this even here in this passage. It says they take John Mark along with them as their assistant. John Mark was actually Barnabas’ cousin (Col. 4:10); and John Mark’s [mother’s home in Jerusalem was a gathering place for the believers (Acts 12:12).] It is very likely that John Mark came to faith in Jesus Christ in and through the ministry of Peter (1 Peter 5:13). And now he was no doubt being discipled by Saul and Barnabas as he assisted them in numerous ways, helping to free them for their task of preaching and teaching the Gospel. And so as a team, Barnabas, Saul, and John Mark set out on what would be for Saul the first of three missionary journeys. You know the popular phrase “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”? Well [Scholars estimate from the journeys recorded in Acts that Paul must have covered over 10,000 miles during his missionary career.] That’s a lot of miles.

One Small Step— You know, a couple weeks ago I watched the movie Apollo 13, which chronicled not only the disastrous yet miraculous deliverance of the Apollo 13 space shuttle after an onboard explosion, but also helped more modern viewers to understand the weight or the gravity of what it meant for Neil Armstrong to take those first steps on the moon, which of course then led to the Apollo 13 mission, during which Armstrong said those famous words: “One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.” Now after watching the moon landing on his television (and that famous first step), Jim Lovell (played by Tom Hanks) said (in awe): “From now on we live in a world where man has walked on the Moon.” Now, as amazing as those first steps were, I think even more so were these first steps of Paul, as this empire and then the world would soon be impacted by the ministry about to take place. It says in…

Acts 13:4 (ESV)— 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 

From The Port of Seleucia— Now Seleucia was the seaport of Syrian Antioch, 16 miles (26 km) to the west and 5 miles (8 km) upstream from the mouth of the Orontes River. That was where they left Antioch to journey towards Cyprus. And it made sense for them to go to Cyprus first because that was where Barnabas’ home was (Acts 4:36). It was familiar territory for them. Now they arrive at Cyprus; specifically Salamis. And it says…

Acts 13:5 (ESV)— 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. 

The Jew First— And by the way, that is how Saul would always do it; he would start in the synagogues, following the model “to the Jew first and then to the Gentile”. But there were god-fearing Gentiles in the synagogues who would also hear the message as well; and in fact would be the best types of Gentiles to reach at first.

From Salamis to Paphos— Now Salamis was the great commercial center at the east end of the central plain of Cyprus. Luke gives us no details of this visit. However, they likely preached the Word of God, some people believed, and then they would have helped form a local Christian assembly. Now from here they went on to minister to the rest of the island until they reached the city of Paphos, which was the capital (and administrative center) of Cyprus on the west end of the island, 90 miles from where they started in Salamis. And it is here that they meet their first opposition. It says…

Acts 13:4 (ESV)— 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

Bar-Jesus— Now in this verse I find it interesting the order in which Luke introduces the characters. He chooses to introduce the false prophet Bar-Jesus first and then the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. It’s kind of like the story of Aladdin, where you are introduced first to the sorcerer Jafar before being introduced to the Sultan who is under his power and influence, being deceived by him. The Sultan is less significant to the story. The main character in focus is Jafar. Well, so it is here with Bar-Jesus, who also went by the name Elymas, which is a Semitic name that means “sorcerer”, “magician”, or “wise man” and was probably a self-assumed designation. 

Magus— But the word for sorcerer here used to describe him is in fact the word “magus”, the same word used to describe Simon the Magician in Acts 8:9. And this word “magus” is actually what we translate “magi” in the birth narrative of Jesus given to us in Matthew 2. And the Magi were [Originally a religious caste among the Persians…devoted to astrology, divination and the interpretation of dreams.] They [were likely from Persia or southern Arabia, both of which lay east of the Holy Land.] However, by the first century B.C. this term “magus” was used in a more general sense to describe the various fortune tellers and people who belonged to various religious cults throughout the Mediterranean world. Leaders often kept private sorcerers. And this is what Bar-Jesus was. Now we can tell from the name Bar-Jesus that he is Jewish. Bar is a word meaning “son of” and Jesus is of course the Greek rendering of the Hebrew name Joshua (Yeshua), a very common name both then and now. But what is uncommon about Bar-Jesus is that he was a Jewish sorcerer; and that was uncommon because traditionally Jews shunned anyone who practiced demonic activities. And yet here was a Jew who was practicing these things. 

Sergius Paulus— And he was influencing the Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus, who is described as: a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. So Paul and Barnabas are sharing the Gospel with Sergius Paulus, but it says…

Acts 13:8-11 (ESV)— 8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. {And this was because [Bar-Jesus realized that if Sergius Paulus believed in Jesus, he would soon be out of a job.]} 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 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? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. 

Blindness, Round 2— Now this was a powerful thing because the Seer (the fortune teller) was now unable to see anything. He was struck with a physical blindness that matched his spiritual blindness. Now do you recognize anything familiar about this? This is exactly what had happened to Saul when he was on the road to Damascus to persecute the Christians and himself tried to stop the spread of the Gospel. It’s interesting that Saul inflicts the same punishment on Elymas. Now unfortunately, Elymas does not repent as Saul did. In fact later we will see that he is instrumental in the death of Barnabas. But for now, he is humbled. And the passage closes by giving us the response of Sergius Paulus. It says…

Acts 13:12 (ESV)— 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

Wheat & Tares— Now this passage graphically illustrates what Jesus had taught in his parable of the wheat and the tares (Matt. 13:24–30, 36–43). Wherever God sows His true children (the wheat), Satan will come along to sow his counterfeits (his tares), the children of the Devil. And Paul recognized in Elymas the counterfeit; and was willing to proclaim on him the judgment of God. 

Our Confronting— And you know, there is a time to be nice and kind to people; but there’s also a time to boldly confront them. And it’s sometimes hard to know when to do what, which is why we must always follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, which is what Saul was doing here. But we need to not be afraid to stand up for what is right, because there are people like Sergius Paulus who are depending on us to help silence the evil influences in their life and connect them with the one who truly does have all the answers for their lives. In this miracle Sergius Paulus saw by the authority they demonstrated that Barnabas and Saul were servants of the true God and that they were preaching the true message of salvation (Heb. 2:3-4). And he believed. And it is my prayer that many in our community might come to know Jesus by seeing Him at work in our lives as well. Let’s demonstrate that to them. Amen.