THE GOSPEL TO THE GENTILES
It was a dramatic moment when Paul and Barnabas, with their helper, set sail from Seleucia, on the waters of the Mediterranean. Behind them lay Syria and Palestine and the history of the chosen people; in front of them was the west. The religion of Israel had emerged from its age-long seclusion; it had entered at last upon the conquest of the world.
The message that crossed the strait to Cyprus was destined to be carried over broader seas. A mighty enterprise was begun. It was an audacious thought! The missionaries might well have been overpowered by what lay before them—by the power of a world empire, by the prestige of a brilliant civilization. How insignificant were their own weapons! Would they ever even gain a hearing? But though the enterprise was begun in weakness it was begun in faith. At their departure from Antioch the missionaries were "committed to the grace of God."
The account of this first missionary journey is one of the most fascinating passages in The Acts. The interest never flags; incident follows incident in wonderful variety. In reading this narrative, we are transplanted into the midst of the ancient world, we come to breathe the very atmosphere of that cosmopolitan age. In the lesson of to-day the teacher has an unusual opportunity. If he uses it well, he may cause the Bible story to live again. Absolutely essential to that end is the judicious use of a map—preferably something larger than the small sketch map of the Text Book. A travel narrative without a map is a hopeless jumble. The map is an aid both to memory and to imagination. Tracing the route of the missionaries on the map, the teacher should endeavor to call up the scenes through which they passed. The student should be made to see the waters of the Mediterranean, with the hills of Cyprus beyond, the interminable stretches of the Roman roads, the lofty mountains of the Taurus, the perils of rivers and the perils of robbers, the teeming population of the countless cities—and through it all the simple missionaries of the cross, almost unnoticed amid the turmoil of the busy world, but rich in the possession of a world-conquering gospel and resistless through the power of the living God.
1. THE PROPHETS AND TEACHERS
Both prophecy and teaching were gifts of the Spirit. I Cor. 12:28-31. Prophecy was immediate revelation of the divine plan or of the divine will; teaching, apparently, was logical development of the truth already given. Which of the men who are mentioned in Acts 13:1 were prophets and which were teachers is not clear. If any division is intended it is probably between the first three and the last two. For this grouping there is perhaps some slight indication in the connectives that are used in the Greek, but the matter is not certain. Perhaps all five of the men were possessed of both gifts.
Lucius was perhaps one of the founders of the church, for he came from Cyrene. Compare Acts 11:20. Manaen is an interesting figure. He is called "foster-brother" of Herod the tetrarch. The word translated "foster-brother" is apparently sometimes used in a derived sense, to designate simply an intimate associate of a prince. If that be the meaning here, then at least one member of the church at Antioch was a man of some social standing. In Antioch, as in Corinth, probably "not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble" were called, I Cor. 1:26; but in Antioch as in Corinth there were exceptions. The Herod who is here meant is Herod Antipas, the "Herod" of the Gospels.
2. ELYMAS
When the Jewish sorcerer is first mentioned he is called Bar-Jesus—that is, "son of Jesus," Jesus being a common Jewish name. Then, a little below, the same man is called "Elymas the sorcerer," and the explanation is added, "for so is his name by interpretation." Apparently the new name Elymas is introduced without explanation, and then the Greek word for "sorcerer" is introduced as a translation of that. The word Elymas is variously derived from an Arabic word meaning "wise," or an Aramaic word meaning "strong." In either case the Greek word, "magos," for which our English Bible has "sorcerer," is a fair equivalent. That Greek word is the word that appears also in Matt. 2:1,7,16, where the English Bible has "Wise-men"; and words derived from the same root are used to describe Simon of Samaria in Acts 8:9,11. The word could designate men of different character. Some "magi" might be regarded as students of natural science; in others, superstition and charlatanism were dominant.