Saul and Barnabas commissioned
The
Passage: Acts 12:24
– 13:13a
Structure:
a. 12:24-25, They took with them John, called
Mark
b. 13:1, List
of the disciples
c. 13:2-5,
Holy Spirit
d. 13:6, a
magician
e. 13:7, the
Word of God
d’. 13:8, a
magician
c’. 13:9-11,
Holy Spirit
b’. 13:12, becoming
a disciple
a’. 13:13a,
John left them and returned to Jerusalem
Historical
and geographical context:
Turns out
that Barnabas and Saul were in Jerusalem when St. Peter was released from
prison. The story of St. Peter being released from a prison by a hand of an
angel is so beautiful that we can lose the chronological order. Barnabas and
Saul came to Jerusalem with financial support for the suffering saints of
Jerusalem.
Another
important fact of NT chronology – this is the first story when Saul is called
Paul – importance of names and name-changes. Sometimes the changing of names
can give us an additional clue for the meaning of a story. From now on Saul
(being named after the first king of Israel) will “surrender” his name for the
sake of another king – Christ the King. He will pick up another name that
sounds similar changing only the first letter which changes the meaning
drastically – small, short, little, or humble.
Theology:
What service
did Barnabas and Saul complete? Most likely St. Luke means money delivery for
he uses term “diaconia” – that’s where the order of deacons comes from (cp.
Acts 6:1-6). It should be contrasted with 13:2 where “worshiping the LORD” means a liturgical rite.
Antiochian church apparently had some VIPs among its members
– one of them being Manaen. Which raises the question why a life-long friend of
Herod lives far away from Jerusalem? Two things: first, the term “life-long
friend” literally means a fellow nursing. It is possible that his mother was
hired to breast-feed Herod the tetrarch (cp. Ex. 2:7-9). That can be a limit of
their relationship. Second, there is also a possibility that difference of
faith drove Manaen away from the Judean capital during the great persecution
(Acts 8:1).
Barnabas
(son of compassion) and Saul ran into a magi named Bar-Jesus (Son of Jesus).
Interesting that he had Jewish roots though a practice of magic was strictly
forbidden (Deut. 18:9-14). He is also named Elymas which could’ve been a
derivative of Aramaic ‘alim meaning “educated” or “wise” – very
appropriate for a magus. What is interesting, “Son of Jesus” tried to prevent
the missionaries to talk about “the” Jesus to proconsul.
Conversion
of proconsul. To begin with, we need to identify the status of Proconsul in the
Roman Empire. Proconsul was a governor of a province in Ancient Rome. Sergius
Paulus was a governor of Cyprus before 47 AD which helpful for the dating and
chronology of Acts. This date is well attested by the boundary stone of emperor
Claudius where Sergius Paulus is set in charge of the banks of Tiber River.
Which means that the emperor (maybe unknowingly) brought very close to Rome a
high official who was a Christian by a time of new appointment. It is possible
that he was one of the guests of St. Paul who visited him in Rome (Acts
28:30-31).
Other
themes:
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