(a) Describe the circumstances in Antioch which led to the commissioning of Paul and Barnabas for their missionary journey. (b) Narrate their experience at ...

Answer Details

(a) The circumstances in Antioch which led to the commissioning of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:1-3)

In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers of importance: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch) and Saul (Paul). As they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." After they had further fasted and prayed, the church laid their hands on them and sent them off. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul, with John Mark as their helper, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed for Cyprus, beginning the first missionary journey.

(b) Their experience on the Island of Cyprus (Acts 13:4-13)

On reaching Salamis, Barnabas and Saul proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues, with John Mark assisting them. They travelled through the whole island as far as Paphos. There they met a Jewish magician and false prophet named Bar-Jesus (also called Elymas), who was attached to the proconsul Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. The proconsul sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wished to hear the word of God.

But Elymas opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. Then Saul, who is also called 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? Now the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind and unable to see the sun for a time." Immediately mist and darkness fell on Elymas, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, astonished at the teaching of the Lord. From Paphos, Paul and his companions set sail and came to Perga in Pamphylia, and there John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem.