Paul sent by the Church
1 There were at Antioch – in the Church which was there – proph ets and teachers: Bar nabas, Symeon known as Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod, and Saul.
2 On one occasion while they were celebrating the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for me Bar nabas and Saul to do the work for which I have called them.”
3 So, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
Paul’s first mission
4 These then, sent by the Holy Spirit, went down to the port of Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus.
5 Upon their arrival in Sala mis they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogue; John was with them as an assistant.
6 They traveled over the whole island as far as Paphos where they met a certain magician named Bar-Jesus, a Jewish false prophet
7 who lived with the governor Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. He had summoned Bar nabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God.
8 But they were opposed by the Elymas (that is, the magician) who tried to turn the governor from the faith.
9 Then Saul, also known as Paul, full of Holy Spirit, looked intently at him
10 and said, “You son of the devil, full of all kinds of deceit and enemy of all that is right! Will you never stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord?
11 Now the Lord’s hand is upon you; you will become blind and for a time you will not see the light of day.” At once a misty darkness came upon him, and he groped about for someone to lead him by the hand.
12 The governor saw what had happened; he believed, and was deeply impressed by the teaching about the Lord.
Paul in the capital of Pisidia
13 From Paphos, Paul and his companions set sail and came to Perga in Pam phylia. There John left them and returned to Jerusalem
14 while they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they entered the synagogue and sat down.
15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent this message to them, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the assembly, please speak up.”
16 So Paul arose, motioned to them for silence and began, “Fellow Israelites and also all you who fear God, listen.
17 The God of our people Israel chose our ancestors, and after he had made them increase during their stay in Egypt, he led them out by powerful deeds.
18 For forty years he fed them in the desert,
19 and after he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance.
20 All this took four hundred and fifty years.
21 After that, he gave them Judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king and God gave them Saul, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, and he was king for forty years.
22 After that time, God removed him and raised up David as king, to whom he bore witness saying: I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all I want him to do.
23 It is from the descendants of David that God has now raised up the promised savior of Israel, Jesus.
24 Be fore he appeared, John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel.
25 As John was ending his life’s work, he said: ‘I am not what you think I am, for after me another one is coming whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.’
26 Brothers, children and descendants of Abraham, and you also who fear God, it is to you that this message of salvation has been sent.
27 It is a fact that the inhabitants of Jerusalem and their leaders did not rec ognize Jesus. Yet in condemning him, they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sab bath but not understood.
28 Even though they found no charge against him that deserved death, they asked Pilate to have him exe cuted.
29 And after they had carried out all that had been written concerning him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb.
30 But God raised him from the dead,
31 and for many days thereafter he showed himself to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They have now be come his witnesses before the people.
32 We ourselves announce to you this Good News: All that God promised our ancestors,
33 he has ful filled for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus, according to what is written in the second psalm: You are my Son, today I have begotten you.
34 On raising him from the dead so that he would never know the decay of death, God fulfilled his promise: I will give you the holy blessings, the sure ones, that I kept for David.
35 Moreover, in another place it is said: You will not allow your holy one to suffer corruption.
36 Now David was subjected to corruption, for he died and was laid beside his ancestors after having served God’s purpose in his own time.
37 But the one God raised up – Jesus – did not know corruption.
38-39 Through him, fellow Israelites, you have forgiveness of sins, and this is our good news. Whoever believes in him is freed of everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
40 Now watch out lest what was said by the prophet happen to you:
41 Take care, you cynics; be amazed and disappear! For I am about to do something in your days which you would never believe even if you had been told.”
42 As Paul and Barnabas withdrew, they were invited to speak again on the same subject the following Sab bath.
43 After that, when the assembly broke up, many Jews and devout God-fearing people followed them and to these they spoke, urging them to hold fast to the grace of God.
44 The following Sabbath almost the entire city gathered to listen to Paul, who spoke a fairly long time about the Lord.
45 But the presence of such a crowd made the Jews jealous. So they began to oppose with insults whatever Paul said.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out firmly, saying, “It was necessary that God’s word be first proclaimed to you, but since you now reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we turn to non-Jewish people.
47 For thus we were commanded by the Lord: I have set you as a light to the pagan nations, so that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
48 Those who were not Jews rejoiced when they heard this and praised the message of the Lord, and all those destined for everlasting life believed in it.
49 Thus the Word spread throughout the whole region.
50 Some of the Jews, however, incited God-fearing wom en of
the upper class and the leading men of the city, as well, and stirred up an intense persecution against Paul and Barnabas. Finally they had them expelled from their region.
51 The apostles shook the dust from their feet in protest against this people and went to Iconium,
52 leaving the disciples filled with joy and Holy Spirit.
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Comments Acts, Chapter 13
• 13.1 This is the beginning of Paul’s missions; for the time being he is sent as Barnabas’ assistant.
It is very difficult to know how the Church organized itself in the beginning. It did not have the same kind of hierarchy with three orders that we have now: bishops, presbyters (or priests) and deacons: this started only at the end of the first century. The Churches of Jerusalem and Antioch were certainly not directed as those in small towns. Most of the time, the communities chose their elders among the most trusted men. They had to be recognized or installed either by the apostles or some other superior authority and accepted by the neighboring communities. Their ministry as leaders included baptism, the celebration of the Eucharist and the anointing of the sick. This institution of the Elders (see 14:23 and 11:30) copied exactly the organization of the Jewish communities.
However, wherever there were prophets accepted as such (this was the case in Antioch), they enjoyed greater authority, somewhat like the apostles (1 Cor 12:28 and Eph 2:20).
Paul and Barnabas are not considered apostles yet, but they are prophets. As for the teachers: they are those who have the ability to teach doctrine and morality based on Scripture, for the ser vice of the community.
Luke gives the details of the beginning of this mission. It emerges from the initiative of the Holy Spirit, but responds to the life of fervor of the community of Antioch. Note also that the community agrees to have two of its five leaders leave, and that Saul and Barnabas are ready to face the risks of this adventure.
The laying on of hands invokes the grace of God upon these two missionaries.
• 4. This first mission begins in a very traditional way. Jews could travel through out the Roman em pire: in any impor tant city they would find other Jews involved in trade and always gathered in communities, in “synago gues.” From Anti och, Barnabas and Saul travel by sea to the island of Cyprus, Barnabas’ homeland.
The meeting with Ser gius Paulus has the value of a sign: the Gospel not only convinces simple people, but also authorities. Paul is aware that he must witness before “kings and rulers” (Lk 21:12). The prophetic gifts of Saul are seen when he meets Sergius Paulus. From then on, the Book of Acts will no longer speak of Saul but of Paul: had the governor authorized him to use his family name? For Paul, who was already a Roman citizen (16:37), it is a further step in becoming integrated into the world of the non-Jews.
Paul and his companions. Once the mission began, Paul becomes the obvious leader. They do not stay in Cy prus; they leave there groups of believers who have been hastily instructed.
When they arrive on the continent, at the inhospitable area of Perga, John Mark leaves them. Paul’s daring plans may have scared him. They go through the mountain range of modern Turkey and reach the heart of the province of Pisidia – Antioch (which must not be confused with the other An tioch).
Luke gives all the details of the events at Antioch in Pisidia, because they were typical of the situations Paul was going to face in various parts of the Roman empire.
Paul speaks at the Sabbath gathering in the “syn agogue” (house of prayer of the Jews). The worship involves psalms and biblical readings (obviously, from the Old Testament). Then, one or sever al of the leaders make comments. Since Paul is a visitor, out of deference, they ask him to speak.
Paul’s discourse, this return to the history of Israel may seem to us to hold little interest, as was the case for Peter’s (chapter 2) and Ste phen’s (chapter 7). But it was the Jewish way of preaching, and for all these emigrants, there was nothing more interesting than being reminded of this history that they knew by heart and which gave them their identity in the midst of other peoples. So Paul presents this history, highlighting a series of facts that gives it meaning and clearly leads to Christ. Paul shows that God’s promises to Israel have been fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ.
We have here a way of understanding the Gospel that we must not lose. We hold that the Jewish and later the Christian faith is “historical.” That means first of all that God has been revealed through history: our faith is not a doctrine developed by thinkers, nor has it sprung from legends. It also means that the resurrection of Jesus marks a new departure for all human history and that year-by-year history presses on towards an end where the sole issue will be Judgment and the Kingdom of God. We cannot simply preach a doctrine that is always true, we must show how the Gospel is a living power and how the Spirit of God is at work in events.
The audience reacts in various ways. Those who are listening are not all Jews; there are also those “who fear the Lord,” or “proselytes” whom we have already met in the Ethiopian (8:30) and Cornelius: these are considered second-class believers by the Jews.
From the first words, Paul greets them the same way he greets the Jews. Then, in his preaching, he does not emphasize the observance of the Law, which only the Jews could fulfill and which made them feel superior to others: instead, Paul declares that the Law is surpassed (v. 38). He stresses the promises of God addressed to all people. Those who “fear God” are delighted by a Gospel that makes them God’s children, just as the Jews are.
They all invite Paul to speak on the same theme the following Saturday. At that time Paul makes an important decision: Instead of restricting himself to the Jews during the week, he prefers to go to those who “fear God,” people whom he wins over because he is not racist in any way. These people, in turn, bring others to the gathering on the following Sabbath – pagans who had never been involved with the Jews but now mix with them.
Then a crisis occurs. The assembly divides into two factions. Those Jews who are most close-minded and proud are afraid when they see themselves surrounded by “unclean” pagans; they oppose Paul and even try to throw him out. Rich and pious women intervene. From that moment, a Christian community separate from the Jews is formed.
Is not all this factual? If we do not often have such crises in our own Church, it is perhaps because the apostles are few, as in Paul’s time and we have not yet had the visit of the one who will be heard beyond our walls.
All those destined for everlasting life (48). This expression does not condemn those who have not believed. It simply states that the coming to faith was a gift for those believers: God entered their life and made them bearers of a current of divine life that would transform the world (Jn 17:3).