ST. PAUL and BAR-NABAS in LYSTRA and DEBRE

Paul and Barnabas in Lystra and Debre  

The Passage: Acts 13:50 – 14:28

Structure:

a. 13:50-52, Travel of evangelization

 b. 14:1-4, Increasing disciples

  c. 14:5-7, Stoning

   d. 14:8-13, crowd wanted a sacrifice

    e. 14:14-17, Words of apostles

   d’. 14:18, restraining crowd from a sacrifice

  c’. 14:19-20, Stoning

 b’. 14: 21-23, Increasing disciples

a’. 14:24-28, Travel of evangelization   

Historical and geographical context: This story concludes the First Mission trip. After St. Paul’s miraculous resurrection at Lystra (see below), he visits Debre, converting many, after which Paul and Barnabas begin their trip back. Passing through the same cities avoiding Cyprus they return to the church (Acts 14:27). Apparently, Antioch (of Syria) became a center of the church development.

The name of town Debre – the final destination – is derived from Persian Derbent which stands for “narrow gate” (lit. “barred gate”). It is interesting that the city with this name has accepted the Gospel without any hesitation or reservation. Debre is mentioned 4 times in the Book of Acts (14:6, 20; 16:1; 20:4). First time it is just a geographical pointer, then St. Luke simply states that “they preached the Gospel to that city and made many disciples”. Interesting, that the city with such name is fast to believe in Jesus (as He preached, Mt. 7:13-14).    

In comparison, two other cities mentioned in the story are Iconium and Lystra. The meaning of Iconium is based on “icon/image” – city of [the large or mass produced] Image. What is surprising is that regardless of the prohibition to create the images for “acknowledgement” (Ex. 20:4-6) there was a Jewish synagogue in town (Acts 14:1). The exact meaning of Lystra is lost, but it could mean something within a range of “loose goats, pain relief, or city of madness”. If the last one is true, no wonder St. Paul was stoned there. To conclude, Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Debre are Galatian cities St. Paul writes his famous letter to. 

PAUL and BAR-NABAS in ANTIOCH of PISIDIA

Paul and Barnabas in Antioch of Pisidia

The Passage: Acts 13:14-49

Structure:

A. 13:14-23, Israel is chosen by God (13:17)

 B. 13:24-25, proclaiming baptism of repentance (13:24)

  C. 13:26-30, God raised Him from the dead (13:30)

   D. 13:31-32, We proclaim this good news (13:32)

  C’. 13:33-37, Jesus is raised (13:33)

 B’. 13:38-41, proclamation of forgiveness of sins (13:38)

A’. 13:42-49, Word of God spoken to you first (13:46)  

Historical and geographical context:

By the time of Jesus (maybe even earlier) Jewish community developed Scripture reading calendar. It is mentioned here in v. 15 and 27. Books of Torah (5 books of Moses) were divided into 54 parashot – weekly passages. These readings were also supplied with readings from the Prophets (the block of books of Prophets differs a little from our understanding of prophets, see Overview of the Bible: Introduction). Our reading calendar is based on Gospels with additional readings from OT, Psalms, and Epistles.      

SAUL and BAR-NABAS COMMISSIONED

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.

CHURCH in ANTIOCH

Church in Antioch  

The Passage: Acts 11:19-30

Structure: two parts: A and B

I. Conversion of Hellenists (11:19-24) 

a. 11:19-21, Many believed and turned to the Lord

  b. 11:22-23, Barnabas was sent from Jerusalem

a’. 11:24, Many added to the Lord 

   “A” part has its own chiastic structure:

a. [Many] scattered because of the persecution

  b. Steven

    c. Phoenicia, Cyprus, Antioch

    c’. Cyprus, Cyrene, Antioch

  b’. Hellenists

a’. great number believed

 

II. Barnabas and Saul – first task together (11:25-30)

a. 11:25-26, Barnabas is looking for Saul

  b. 11:27-28, Prophets came with the news from Jerusalem

a’. 11:29-30, Sending Barnabas and Saul   

Historical and geographical context: Persecution is never fun for those who take part in it. Yet, Tertulian (church father of II century) put it this way: Blood of the Martyrs is the seed of the Church. Similar effect we can attest here. The Book of Acts in the first 7 chapters speaks only of the church of Jerusalem. Acts 8:1 indicate the outbreak of the “great persecution”, which triggers the world-wide mission work of the believers.

There is a cultural connection between parts of Phoenicia, Cyprus and Cyrene – Phoenicians were great travelers and explorers. 800 – 300 BC they went South side of Mediterranean (also parts of Cyprus, Sicily, and Sardinia) searching for silver, other metals, and trade (History of the World, Map by map, p. 56).

Two Antiochs – a valuable geographical reminder. There are [at least] two cities with this name in the Book of Acts. This one is founded by late IV century BC by the successor of Alexander the Great – Seleucus I Nicanor – after his victory over Syria in the battel of Ipsos 301 BC (it is possible that he built 16 Antiochs – Wikipedia). But in Acts 13 St. Paul and Barnabas come to Antioch in Pisidia where Paul preaches his first recorded great sermon in a local synagogue. This is one of those 16 Antiochs and was situated more in-land in the modern Turkey.      

Theology:

Conversion of Hellenists. There are two noteworthy facts about this event. First, the conversion of Hellenist was the result of the testimony of the members of Jerusalem church who fled from the persecution. We don’t know their names or status – a great lesson on Evangelism. Second, so far, the Hellenists have been the troublemakers. Hellenists raised a complaint about “wrong distribution of social care” by the church (6:1). Not being part of the Church, they allowed themselves to critique the community of believers. Response to this challenge led to the establishment of the office of deacons. Then in chapter 11:29 we have a record of their intent to murder Saul (St. Paul). As a result of this plot, he ended up in his hometown – Tarsus. That’s where Barnabas finds him in our current lesson.       

Figure of Barnabas. Two reflections: following the fact of conversion of Hellenists by “laymen” of Jerusalem it should not a be a surprise that the headquarter send Barnabas – he was not an apostle. At the same time, he was native of Cyprus like the men who brought the Word to Antioch (Acts 11:20). He would speak their language in a literal and symbolic/theological sense. We also talked about the possibility of identification Barnabas as Joseph Barsabas (Acts 1:23, cp. lesson 11, other themes).   

Regardless of this possible connection, note that Antioch church sends him back to Jerusalem with financial support in accordance with the prophecy (Acts 11:28-29). Apparently, he was known to be a trustworthy person in relations with money (4:36-38). He is sent by the elders of the congregation and accompanied by Saul (St. Paul). NB: it is Barnabas that vouches for Saul back when the apostles were suspicious of Saul’s conversion (Acts 9:27). Therefore, Barnabas could be trusted both with the money and the people.  

Possession of Believers

Believers share their Possessions.

The Passage: Acts 4:32-37

Structure:

P (4:32-33) Those who believed had one heart and one soul.

  A. (4:34-35) General principle – sold and laid at the feet of the apostles

  A’. (4:36-37) Particular example – Joseph

Historical and geographical context:

The important geographical input – we are still in Jerusalem. The practice of total sharing is not going to be replicated in the diaspora.

Theology:

Unity and diversity is a theme of many passages in the Bible. Here we have the unity of the Jerusalem community – one heart and one soul (v. 32). It is not even a congregation in the modern sense of the word. It is a community that has members living in the different parts of the city. It has members who gather in a variety of places in Jerusalem (Acts 2:46). Having one heart and soul has a multi-dimensional application. For sure, it is emotional or psychological unity: if one suffers – all suffer. When St. Peter and St. John were released from their first imprisonment – the community prayed all together the words of thanksgiving and encouragement (Acts 4:24). It also can be a representation of confessional unity (Deut. 6:4-5). They confess God – the united YHWH – together “with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might”. The words of Sh’ema were given to Israel for a communal statement of faith. Therefore, the third level of unity is liturgical. As noticed above, they could break the bread at different places, but this practice was a sign of unity of all who “believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:30-31).

On the other hand, we should acknowledge structural diversity. What we see in the first Jerusalem church is the apostles who rule and regulate the business of the community. It will create some complications in the future that will be addressed by creating a diaconal ministry (ch. 6). Yet, at this point, the landowners and real estate owners would bring their money to the apostles after closing the deal on their properties. So, to summarize, we see family type structure.              

Two outcomes of the that: First, apostles still preach (giving their testimony to) the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Unlike many modern preachers who get access to the financial benefits of their parishioners, they did not shift to prosperity Gospel. Their testimony was built on the solid rock of resurrection of Jesus. Neither the persecution nor the increased financial element changed the message. That’s what St. Paul will pick up later on – Philippians 4:10-13.   

Also, we can see the theological connection with the year of Jubilee. The Biblical calendar is divided into 7 years cycles. 7 cycles of 7 years turn into 49 years periods. Then there is the Jubilee year – 50^th year. During the fiftieth year the land would return to the LORD Who would give it back to the original “renters”. We need to avoid the term “original owners” for the land belongs to the LORD (Ps. 24:1). When the believers brought their money to the Lord’s representatives – apostles – the monetary value went back to the Lord who gave (or left) the means for His Bride – the church.       

Other themes:

Luke has an interesting habit – introducing important people as a minor character. For example, St. Paul is introduced as Saul – just a guy who was guarding the outer clothing or garments of those who stoned the first martyr – St. Stephen.

Same here, we meet Joseph, whom apostles called Bar-Nabas (son of encouragement). Later he will be a very prominent figure and a partner of St. Paul (9:26-27; 11:30 etc.). Yet, there is a possibility for another connection. We already saw Joseph Bar-Sabbas (Son of Sabath) in 1:23. It is possible that it is the same person. That’s why St. Luke writes that the apostles used an adjusted name for him. It is very interesting that loses the election to be a replacement for Judas, but he stayed in the community, sold his possessions, brought it to apostles (in stead of starting his own group or sect). As a result of his patience, he was listed as an apostle – 14:14 – together with St. Paul.