Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first.Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” (Acts 13:46, 47)
This chapter signals a new phase of the expansion of the gospel.
It’s exciting to read of the way the Holy Spirit engaged in the fasting and prayer meeting of the prophets and teachers in Antioch. What an occasion that must have been. I wonder if people have encounters like that today as they dedicate themselves to God in prayer and fasting. Does the Holy Spirit still talk like that among us to let us know what we should do?
There is then the first stop on the journey where they encounter Elymas the Sorcerer. It’s the little things in scripture that often appear to be the most profound as it is this episode that first sees Saul referred to as Paul. It’s also here that he takes a more prominent role in the narrative of Acts.
The episode with Elymas is one of those that highlight that the power of the gospel is able to confound and literally blind those who would oppose it. The good news is not soft news or a pathetic proclamation. Seeing the opportunity to share with an influential proconsul, Paul is emboldened to stop the works of witchcraft and set a witness for the proconsul.
These days in the West, witchcraft and spiritual wickedness appears to take on a more sophisticate expression. In as much as people are open to spirituality, there’s such a liberality that all sorts of mixtures of spirituality is accepted. This can make the gospel appear to be another product in the shopping store of faiths and spiritual experiences. We can be encouraged by the example of Paul, however, to see in the gospel the distinct and essential claims of Jesus Christ that makes Him and Him alone worthy of following.
The final episode in this chapter’s adventures sees the team’s first encounter with sharing the gospel in the synagogue. It’s the first encounter they have with the Jews and Gentiles. As Paul will say to the church in Rome later, the power of the gospel was for everyone to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. Checking Paul’s gospel proclamation giving context to the scriptures that the Jews would know and showing their fulfilment in Jesus is a great section of text to read to remind ourselves of where Jesus is coming from.
For us today it is another word of impetus for us to know that this good news is now freely available to people to the ends of the earth. It’s not about limiting it to a people group or a culture. It is about being sensitive to the leading of the same Holy Spirit that called out Barnabas and Saul and equipped them for mission.
As we are sensitive to that, so we will be effective in sharing this good news to those who will listen, even if they reject the news.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 