Acts 13 · The Lantern

Paul’s First Missionary Journey Begins

Now there were in Antioch, in what is the church, prophets and teachers: both Barnabas and Simeon who is being called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen also — with Herod the tetrarch brought up — and Saul.

"And Manaean, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch." Behold the customs of each of them: not even the fact of being brought up together saves them both. See how absolutely evil Herod was, for he did not want to be converted. But his foster brother Manaean certainly changed a great deal, because he was considered worthy of the gift of prophecy.

Behold the character of each one, and not the upbringing from childhood saves. For see what company Manaen kept, who was esteemed a companion of prophecy. [AMMONIUS]

He mentions Barnabas first, since Paul had not yet become famous and had not yet performed any sign. But it should be noted that both Paul and Barnabas were numbered among the rank of the apostles.

Now as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart then to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Then having fasted and having prayed and having laid the hands on them, they sent them off.

On Cyprus

They themselves indeed therefore, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia. From there then they sailed to Cyprus,

and having come into Salamis, they were proclaiming the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. Now they had also John as a helper.

There is, besides, another John mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, with the surname Mark, whom Barnabas and Paul attached to themselves as companion, and of whom again it is said: "And they had also John to their minister." But whether this is the one who wrote the Revelation, I could not say. For it is not written that he came with them into Asia.

"And when they were come to Salamis," the metropolis of Cyprus, "they preached the word of God." They had spent a year in Antioch: it behooved that they should go hither also (to Cyprus) and not sit permanently where they were (the converts in Cyprus): needed greater teachers.

They preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. Due to ignorance of the places, I believed it should be noted once: Wherever you see a synagogue of the Jews, know that occurrences in the city are described.

Now having passed through all the island as far as Paphos, they found a man — a certain Jewish magician, a false prophet — whose name of Bar-Jesus,

who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. He, having called to him Barnabas and Saul, desired to hear the word of God.

Elymas the magician was opposing them, however — for thus means his name — seeking to turn away the proconsul from the faith.

Saul then, the also called Paul, having been filled with the Holy Spirit, having looked intently upon him,

"But Saul, who is also Paul,"-here his name is changed at the same time that he is ordained, as it was in Peter's case.

"Then Saul, otherwise Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, said. "This continues what started above. While Sergius the proconsul and Paulus the prudent man listened, the apostle Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, vigorously reproved Bar-jesu the false prophet; and to show that his invective had been for the love of the Lord, he said to him: "Thou shalt be blind, and shalt not see t…

Here, together with Saul's ordination, his name is also changed. He was renamed so that in this respect too he would be no less than the apostles. And as for the preeminence that the chief of Christ's disciples, Peter, had, Paul too, it seems, enjoyed the same esteem and had occasion to win even greater favor.

said, “O full of all deceit and all craft, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the upright ways of the Lord?

And now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun during a season.” Immediately then mist and darkness descended upon him, and going about he was seeking one to lead by hand.

He first convicted the sorcerer (and showed), what he was; and that he was such, the sign showed: "thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun" this was a sign of the blindness of his soul: "for a season": he says, to bring him to repentance.

For the phrase "for a time," giving a limit to the sentence, means that the way in which he received the light is to be altered for the better; for he who had been led to the worse was now to be brought to this as well. Accordingly it was not punishment but healing.

It is not with us, says Paul, that you wage war and fight, but you turn people away "from the straight paths of the Lord. And now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you: you shall be blind and not see the sun for a time." By the same means by which he himself was converted, he wanted to convert him as well.

Then the proconsul, having seen that having happened, he believed, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

In Pisidian Antioch

Having sailed then from Paphos, with those around him, Paul came to Perga of Pamphylia. John, however, having departed from them, he returned to Jerusalem.

"John, having withdrawn." This is John, also called Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, who also wrote the Gospel according to Mark and was a disciple of Peter the chief, of whom he says in the Epistle: "Mark my son greets you." (1 Peter 5:13) Therefore this man, since the journey concerning Paul was to be prolonged, withdrew from them, although being a servant, because he would not…

John, called Mark, accompanied them in their evangelical journey from Palestine to Perga of Pamphylia. Then, when the apostles hastened their journey and with a firm, unyielding spirit began to arm themselves for labors, Mark, being a weak man who did not dare to undertake such a journey and those labors, dangers, and struggles that presented themselves in every city, fell behi…

Now they themselves, having passed through from Perga, came to Antioch the Pisidia, and having gone into the synagogue on the day of the Sabbaths, they sat down.

After then the reading of the law and of the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Men, brothers, if there is among you any word of encouragement toward the people, speak.”

Such was the case at Laranda, where Evelpis was thus exhorted by Neon; and at I conium, Paulinus was thus exhorted by Celsus; and at Synada, Theodorus also by Atticus, our blessed brethren. And it is probable that this is done in other places also, although we know not the fact.

"And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word or exhortation for the people, say on." Behold how they do this without grudging, but no longer after this. If ye did wish this (really), there was more need to exhort.

The Jews had the custom of reading on the Sabbath the Law of Moses and the Prophets, and after the reading, of addressing the people with a speech and explaining what had been read. Therefore the rulers of the synagogue invite those who were with Paul to speak in the synagogue.

Having risen up then, Paul, and having made a sign with the hand, he said: “Men, Israelites, and you who are fearing God, listen.

Behold Barnabas giving place to Paul - how should it be otherwise? - to him whom he brought from Tarsus; just as we find John on all occasions giving way to Peter: and yet Barnabas was more looked up to than Paul: true, but they had an eye only to the common advantage.

Here Paul first preaches in Antioch of Pisidia. He would enter the synagogues in the appearance of a Jew so as not to be driven away, and therefore everything succeeded.

Paul preaches here for the first time, and see with what prudence: those places where the discussion concerns God the Word, he passes over and stops at places that did not mention the seed of David, as he himself says when writing to the Romans: "I strived to preach the gospel not where the name of Christ was already known" (Rom. 15:20).

The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people in the sojourn in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm brought them out of it;

and for a period of about forty years He endured their ways in the wilderness;

and having destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave as an inheritance their land —

Then the settlement. "And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He divided their land to them by lot." And the time was long; four hundred and fifty years. "And after that He gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet." Here he shows that God varied His dispensations towards them at divers times.

"Seven nations:" the Hittites, the Gergaeans, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. (see Deut. 7:1)

And destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, He allotted their land to them by lot, as after four hundred and fifty years, and after this He gave them judges. How this number can be understood, we said in the preceding book of our exposition.

during four hundred and fifty years. And after these things He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

Then they asked for a king, and God gave to them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, forty years.

And having removed him, He raised up David to them as king, to whom also He said, having carried witness: ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man according to My heart, who will do all My will.’

And they both spake evil; Absalom of his father David, as of an unjust judge, saying to every one: "Thy words are good, but there is no one that will hear thee, and do thee justice.

And that also which was said by the Lord unto Samuel, "I have found a man according to My heart," testified unto the purity of David's heart, and it is well known that simplicity is born of purity of heart.

It should be noted that these words are not found in the Book of Kings in the same form as here; there it is only prophetically said by Samuel to Saul: "The Lord will find for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord will command him to be a ruler over His people, since you have not fulfilled what was commanded to you by the Lord" (1 Sam. 13:14).

Of this man, of the seed, God according to promise has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus —

when John was proclaiming before the face of His coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

Then while John was fulfilling the course, he was saying, ‘Whom do you suppose me myself to be? I myself am not he; but behold, He comes after me myself, of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandal of the feet.’

Men, brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and you who are among you fearing God, to us the message of this salvation was sent out.

For those dwelling in Jerusalem and their rulers, not having known Him and the voices of the prophets that are being read on every Sabbath, having condemned Him they fulfilled them;

and having found no cause of death, they begged Pilate to execute him.

Then when they had finished all the things written about Him, having taken Him down from the tree, they put Him in a tomb.

But God raised Him out from the dead,

So it is clear to them that pay attention that at the raising of the body the Son is said by Paul to have been raised from the dead, for he refers what concerns the body to the Son's person. Similarly when he says "the Father gave life to the Son," it must be understood that the life [the Father gave the Son] was given to the flesh.

Nothing is inappropriate in saying that Jesus was raised by God. For if Jesus is none other than the Word who became flesh, (see Jn. 1:1-14) and this Word is the power of the Father through whom he enacts all things, (see 1 Cor. 8:6) according to "Christ is the power of God," (1 Cor.

"But God raised Him from the dead." Let it not trouble you that it is said of Jesus that He was raised by God, because if Jesus is none other than the incarnate Word, and the Word, according to the testimony of Scripture, Christ, the Power of God and the Wisdom of God, is the power of the Father by which He accomplishes all things, then it follows that Jesus raised Himself.

who appeared for many days to those having come up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who now are His witnesses to the people.

By comparing what the prophetic Scriptures tell us of Jesus with what his history tells us, we find nothing dissolute about him recorded. For even those who conspired against him and looked for false witnesses to aid them did not find any plausible grounds for advancing a false charge of licentiousness against him.

"And He was seen many days of them which came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses unto the people." "Who appeared," he says, "for many days to them that came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem." Instead of which he says, "Who are His witnesses unto the people," to wit, "The men which came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem." Then he produces David…

"Who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and who are now His witnesses before the people." Which they could in no way have been, if the power of God had not sustained them.

And we ourselves evangelise to you the promise having been made to the fathers,

Let Celsus, and those who agree with him, tell us whether it is at all like "an ass's shadow" that the Jewish prophets predicted the birth place of him who became the ruler of those who had lived righteous lives and are called the "heritage" of God, that Emmanuel was conceived by a virgin, that such signs and wonders were performed by him who was the subject of prophecy, that h…

"And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that He hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second Psalm, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee." But, "He hath raised up Jesus again: This day," he says, "I have begotten thee." Aye, upon this the rest…

"And we declare to you the promise made to our fathers, that God has fulfilled this to our children." In Greek it reads more consistently: "That God has fulfilled this to their children." It follows:

that God has fulfilled this to us, to their children, having raised up Jesus, as also it has been written in the second psalm: ‘You yourself are My Son; I myself today have begotten you.’

The only one who knows the Father and who is only known by the Father as his Wisdom and Word and as "the Angel of great counsel" according to the prophet, perfectly explains to us the mystery of the incarnation. Since he was Son by nature and by truth and had shone forth from the very essence of God the Father, he was made flesh, that is, man, according to John.

"You are my Son." These words from the psalm suitably belong to the incarnation of Christ, which had a temporal arrival. For "Today" and "Tomorrow" are representative of days. But he, as the Word, is begotten of the Father timelessly. [HESYCHIUS OF JERUSALEM]

"Unto us their children, raising up Jesus." The name "Jesus" the brothers of the God-slayers take as the name of a man. Having said above that the Word was laid in the tomb, Paul — lest anyone think that he called the Word incorporeal — again calls Him Jesus and does not allow, for a single moment after the union of the two natures, any division in the incarnate Word.

And then that He raised Him out from the dead, no more being about to return to decay, thus He has spoken: that ‘I will give to you the holy blessings of David, the sure blessings.’

"And as concerning that He raised Him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, He said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David." "The faithful mercies," the abiding mercies, those which never perish. Paul loved them exceedingly. And observe, he does not enlarge on the ingratitude of the fathers, but puts before them what they must fear.

Note, then, that it is not necessary to say that the body of our Savior and God Jesus Christ, after the resurrection, is passible, that is, susceptible to suffering, nor imperishable and immortal before the resurrection. For the incorruption according to sinlessness was noticeably present from that very time of the Incarnation.

Because I will give you the holy and faithful promises of David, that is, whatever I promised David, I will surely and faithfully fulfill to you, namely, that Christ would be born from his lineage. For Isaiah, tasting the mysteries of the New Testament in this way, says: "And I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the holy and sure blessings of David" (Isaiah 55:3).

Therefore also in another He says: ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see decay.’

For David indeed, in his own generation having served the purpose of God, he fell asleep and was added to his fathers and saw decay;

but the One whom God raised up did not see decay.

It should be known therefore to you, men, brothers, that through this One forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you;

"Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Observe how Paul here is more vehement in his discourse: we nowhere find Peter saying this.

Why did he not produce testimony by which they would have been persuaded that the forgiveness of sins is affected through him? That this was what was being sought, namely to show first that he had risen. This being admitted, the other is indisputable.

See how he does not finish speaking about the essence of the matter, about the promised seed. He did not bring forward the testimony on which they could rely that the remission of sins is accomplished through Jesus, and this was beyond doubt.

and from all things from which you were not able in law of Moses to be justified, in Him everyone who is believing is justified.

Take heed therefore, lest that said in the prophets may come about:

‘Behold, you scoffers, and wonder and perish; for I myself am working a work in your days, a work that you may certainly not believe even if one shall declare it to you.’”

A Light for the Gentiles

Then when they are departing, they were begging for these declarations to be spoken to them on the next Sabbath.

Do you mark Paul's wisdom? He not only gained admiration at the time, but put into them a longing desire for a second hearing, while in what he said he dropped some seeds as it were, and forbore to solve the questions raised, or to follow out the subject to its conclusion, his plan being to interest them and engage their good-will to himself, and not make people listless and in…

"And as they went out, they desired them, that on the next sabbath, they would speak unto them the words of God." As Paul and Barnabas went out of the synagogue, a crowd of Jews begged them to speak their words about the Lord Christ again on the following sabbath.

You saw the wise resourcefulness of Paul. In order to attach and endear the Gentiles to himself, and also so as not to scatter their attention by communicating everything to them all at once, he first offered several hints and did not resolve them, and by this aroused in the Gentiles a desire to hear him another time.

Then when the synagogue was releasing, many of the Jews and of the worshipping converts followed after Paul and after Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were persuading them to continue in the grace of God.

"And when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and worshipping proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas" - after this point he puts Paul first - "who, speaking unto them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God." Do you observe the eagerness, how great it is? They "followed" them, it says. Why did they not baptize them immediately?

Respecting here and going forward those who are fervent and passionate in the worship surrounding it, he calls them rather zealots than the others.

They were speaking, urging them to remain in the grace of God. Hence in the Greek follows a verse, which our Codices do not have: But the word was spread throughout the whole city, and then what we have is added: On the next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of God.

Now on the coming Sabbath almost all the city was gathered together to hear the word of the Lord.

Having seen the crowds, however, the Jews were filled with jealousy and were contradicting the things spoken by Paul, denigrating him.

Having spoken boldly also, Paul and Barnabas said, “To you it was necessary first to be spoken the word of God; but since you thrust it away and do not judge yourselves worthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

Therefore Paul and the apostles themselves, mindful of the precept of the Lord, bear this solemn testimony before Israel, which they had now filled with their doctrine-saying, "It was necessary that the word of God should have been first delivered to you; but seeing ye have rejected it, and have not thought yourselves worthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." And fr…

They were to go out to the Gentiles: but observe the boldness coming with measure: for if Peter pleaded in his justification, much more these needed a plea, none having called them there. But by saying "To you first," he showed that to those also it was their duty to preach, and in saying "Necessary," he showed that it was necessary to be preached to them also.

So that the words "you make yourselves unworthy of eternal life" might not be interpreted by someone as evidence of their humility, Paul first said "as you reject it." Then he added "we turn to the Gentiles." He does not say "we are leaving you," but expresses himself in such a way that allows for the possibility of his return to Antioch.

For thus the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you for a light of the Gentiles, for you to be for salvation until the uttermost part of the earth.’”

Hearing it then, the Gentiles were rejoicing and they were glorifying the word of the Lord, and they believed, as many as were appointed to life eternal.

It is absurd to speak of Jesus Christ with the tongue, and to cherish in the mind a Judaism which has now come to an end. For where there is Christianity there cannot be Judaism. For Christ is one, in whom every nation that believes, and every tongue that confesses, is gathered unto God.

"And hearing this the Gentiles" - this, while it was more cheering to them, seeing the case was this, that whereas those were of right to hear first, they themselves enjoy the blessing, was at the same time more stinging to those - "and the Gentiles," it says, "hearing this were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and believed, as many as were ordained unto eternal life":…

"Who were ordained to eternal life." Ordained not by compulsion, for it is said, "whom He foreknew, He also predestined" (Rom. 8:29). Thus, the kindred of the Lord is essentially the entire human race, but Israel is His especially close kindred.

The word of the Lord was carried then through all the region.

But the Jews incited the worshipping women, those prominent, and the principals of the city, and they stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their district.

"Honest rich women," the text says, "and pious," but not faithful. They certainly were Greek-Jewish women. In fact they, being most evil and imitators of the archevil demon and transgressor, endeavor through women to close to men the way of salvation, just as that one closed paradise to men through Eve until the proper time.

"But the Jews stirred up the devout women, and raised persecution" - observe even of what is done by the women, they are the authors - "and cast them," it says, "out of their coasts," not from the city merely.

The Jews were not limited to feelings of envy, but resorted to actions as well. By "devout women" he means not believing women, but Jewish or Greek ones, and by "honorable" he means wealthy. Do you see what a vile deed they persuaded the women to commit?

But having shaken off the dust of the feet against them, they went to Iconium.