Paul’s First Missionary Journey
The Holy Spirit said,
“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
Acts 13:2 ESV
He did NOT say, “Set apart for me Barnabas, Saul, and John-Mark…”
The “John” in chapter 13 is not the Apostle John. This is John-Mark who would later pen the Gospel which bears the name Mark.
If the theories are correct about John-Mark being the young man who was wrapped up in a linen cloth in Gethsemane who ran away naked (Mk. 14:51-52), then we see him again tagging along and wanting SO bad to be involved. We don’t know if he asked to go or someone suggested him as an assistant, but he went with Barnabas and Saul, basically to haul luggage. The Greek word used to describe John-Mark in Acts 13:5 was also used for an “oarsman.”
😏 🚣 Heave-ho.
🤓 “Ramming speed!” 🥁
🤓 That’s from Ben-Hur.
Yes. Brilliant film. But I don’t think John-Mark literally manned an oar even though they did set off by sea. Maybe he did help a little as a deck-hand.
We also first see Saul called “Paul” in Acts 13. So that’s what I’m going to call him now.
The second stop they run into a real character, Elymas the Magician.
🤓 Did he pull rabbits out of a hat? 🪄🎩
Not that kind of magician. He was a Jewish false prophet who fancied himself a Magos.
🤨 What’s that?
It’s the singular of Magi, like the wise men who visited baby Jesus. He probably based his prophecies on the positions of the stars and planets.
🤔 So… like astrology?
Maybe. The Bible doesn’t say, but based on the use of the word “magos” and the fact that he is called a false prophet, that’s my best guess.
He doesn’t want the Roman Deputy, Sergius Paulus, to believe the Gospel.
I find it interesting that Elymas (or Bar-Jesus) is struck with temporary blindness. The physical sight becomes indicative of the spiritual condition. And this demonstration of miraculous power by Paul causes the Deputy to believe the Gospel.
Paul saw Jesus and became temporarily blind. Elymas didn’t want the Deputy to see Jesus, and so was struck with blindness “for a season.”
And so the group sails to Perga…
We don’t know why exactly that John-Mark bailed out and went back to Jerusalem, but whatever it was, Paul was not impressed and it’s going to be a problem later.
A lot of people think that ministry is just the part they see on Sunday or just the adventurous highlight reel from the visiting missionary. It’s not.
It’s people.
And people can be…very… uh…peopley.
Much of church ministry is picking up other people’s trash (literal and spiritual) and moving chairs and tables. Or, as one of my ministry mentor’s said (speaking of the part of ministry that we do as opposed to the heavy lifting that the LORD does),
“Ninety percent of ministry is just being where you are supposed to be, when you are supposed to be there.”
And I’ve found that to be fairly true. Usually, the keys of the building end up in the hands of the people who are actually responsible enough to arrive early and then stay late to clean up and turn off the lights. It doesn’t require a Ph.D.
Ministry is also a lot of patiently teaching the same things over and over and over and over and over and…
It’s not about having a grand adventure that looks good on Instagram. Maybe that’s what John-Mark was expecting. Instead he was probably making food and cleaning up and schlepping luggage for Barnabas and Paul.
My Bible College had a special emphasis on training students for missions. But they also recognized that not everyone is called to that particular ministry. And they had a very practical saying to remind us to examine our hearts about calling. It went like this:
Some are called
Some are sent
Some just thought they were and went
Antioch of Pisidia
This is a different Antioch. It’s in Galatia. Scroll back up and look at the map again. Most of the rest of Acts 13 and 14 take place in Galatia. These are the people that the Letter to the Galatians is written to. (Might want to make notes in your Bible about that, both in Acts 13-14 and Galatians.)
Paul preaches the gospel in the synagogues because the Jews need to know that the Messiah has come and fulfilled the prophecies of the OT. It usually results in:
- A few who believe
- The rest who want him dead
There is a movement today to equate early Christianity with Judaism. If that was so, then why did the Jews constantly persecute both Jews and Gentiles who believed on Jesus? Why did Paul and other Jewish followers of Jesus get thrown out of the synagogues? If God meant for the Gentiles to become Jews, then why did He destroy His own temple, end the priesthood and scatter the whole nation?
No. Christ fulfilled the Law and Prophets and established a completely New Covenant for whosoever will. And many of Paul’s fellow-Hebrews had a hard time accepting this. Look closely at what he said to them:
“Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.”
Acts 13:38-39 ESV
There were limits to what the Law of Moses could do, holy though it was. It could not make the sons of Israel truly free. Makes me think of what Jesus said…
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
John 8:36 ESV
Some of the people received the Gospel. Some did not. But nearly the whole town showed up the next Sabbath, and boy was there a ruckus!
“But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.” Acts 13:45 ESV
Just like the chief priests in Jerusalem who couldn’t stand being outshone by Jesus, these local Jewish leaders are motivated by the old green-eyed monster of Jealousy.
Paul and Barnabas leave town but they also leave behind a small group of both Jews and Gentiles who have received Christ.
When they go to Iconium, it’s a copy-paste of previous situation.
- A few believe (Jews & Gentiles)
- The rest want them dead
When we read it, the whole account is a few verses, but they may have stayed in the area for a few weeks or even months. But it’s not long because, ya know, murder plot.
On to the next stop…
Things Get Crazy in Lystra
From the text, it looks like Lystra is primarily a Gentile town.
😐 A town where nothing ever happens.
What do you mean?
😐 Well, one poor guy gets his feet healed and they think Paul and Barnabas are gods. Have they never seen a healing before?
Probably not. This isn’t Judea or Galilee where Jesus and the Apostles made miraculous healings something that happened on the regular.
But, in a matter of minutes the people of Lystra went from “Let’s worship them!” to, “Let’s stone them!”
😏 All it took was some fake news.
“But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.”
Acts 14:19 ESV
I think Paul either really was dead or very near it. And I’m pretty sure that he later told the Corinthians that he had what we would now call an N.D.E. (Near Death Experience).
“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.”
2 Corinthians 12:2-4 ESV
If you look at Paul’s language in this chapter, it’s clear that he is speaking about himself. And, like the Apostle John, he humbly deflects and refers to himself in the 3rd person. Paul wrote 2 Corinthians 14 years after this first missionary journey.
And while Paul was seeing heaven, the disciples gathered around him. I don’t know if they were mourning his death, praying for his resurrection, or a bit of both. Either way, God was just getting started with Paul, so the dead man suddenly sits up.
And I wonder if it was this stoning that introduced Paul’s “thorn in the flesh.” He makes reference to his poor bodily health as the occasion for preaching to the Galatians, and notes his eyes in particular in 4:13-15; and writing in large print in Galatians 6:11. We know that Paul bore severe scars in his body. He will later have Luke traveling with him as a personal physician. I wonder if, rather than sit up from this stoning perfectly healed, if rather, Paul needed weeks of recovery from broken bones and severe bruises and cuts. Maybe his eyesight never quite recovered. Perhaps while he was recovering in Derbe, he was preaching the Gospel to the Galatians as he recalled in his letter to them.
After time in Derbe, Paul and Barnabas retrace their steps back through the towns where the groups of believers (churches) had been established. There is no mention of them going back into the synagogues on the return trip. Instead they are doing this:
“And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”
Acts 14:23 ESV
Think about this. These new Christians have no New Testaments. No church buildings. No hymnals. No centuries of precedent. They have been rejected by the synagogues. They have only each other and the Lord. And the Apostles are going to leave. The elders appointed to provide oversight for the churches have not been Christians for 40 years. They have probably been serving Jesus for a matter of months. And they are all going to need growth. There is a lot of faith here in trusting these baby saints to the Lord but there is something so nimble and exciting about this kind of church-planting. It needs no infrastructure. It can easily stretch as it grows. But it’s not getting built on the foundation of Paul and Barnabas. They are forced to depend on Jesus.
Perhaps our churches today could learn from that. How would we do with no building? No lyrics on a screen? No church office to call? GASP! No nursery on Sunday mornings?!?! NOOOO! Say it isn’t so!
I don’t think we need nearly as much as we think we do to be the Church. We only need each other and the Lord.
