Tag: barnabas

  • Preaching Good News then a Parting of Paths to the Gentiles

    Preaching Good News then a Parting of Paths to the Gentiles

    First Missionary Journey

    SUCCESS! So after their first missionary journey and years together witnessing the Gospel you wouldn’t expect a parting of paths of these apostles Barnabas and Paul, right?

    map of Mediterranean coastline - Jerusalem, Antioch Syria Cypress & Antioch Pisidia on Paul's first missionary journey

    The Church at Antioch received exciting good news that their First Missionary Journey was successful. Then hey sent a delegation to Jerusalem to clarify some gentile issues in a Council meeting with the Apostles and Church. Barnabas and Paul return to Antioch with a clarification of doctrine and some brothers from the Jerusalem Church.

    The Council at Jerusalem sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers.. down to Antioch.

    Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren – Acts of the Apostles 15:20 – KJV

    Previously:
    
    Acts 14:27 [in Antioch]
    And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they remained no little time with the disciples. But some men came down from Judea [to the church at Antioch] ..
    
    And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 
    
    When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them.
    
    Excerpt from Acts of the Apostles 14:27 - 15:4

    A.D. 49 – Antioch Syria

    Acts 15:

    30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.

    Preaching the Gospel to all in Antioch

    32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33 And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.

    35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

    [Let’s not miss this: Paul and Barnabas had spent some time with the Church in Jerusalem. Now Judas [Barsabas] and Silas ‘exhorted the brethren’ [KJV] in Antioch. And then they return [v.33b]

    Planning a Second Missionary Journey

    Take a look at our  map [cover]: 
    Barnabas and Paul preached the Gospel as they had sailed to Cypress, travelled along the coast and then sailed to Pamphylia where they journeyed to inland cities before sailing back to Antioch. ~A.D. 47-49
    

    36 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas,

    “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.”

    37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark.

    38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.

    route of sailing from Paphos Cypress to Perga Pamphilia
    Do you recall the incident prior to their inland journey? (It too had caused a parting of paths and as mentioned previously became a time when Mark would write his Gospel.)
    
    Acts of the Apostles 13:13 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem
    

    Barnabas wants to have his young cousin who had served them in Cypress to go with them again. As a reminder, Barnabas had also mentored the younger Saul of Tarsus (Paul) in his early days. But Paul disagreed.

    This sharp disagreement between Christians, brothers who worked side by side proclaiming the Gospel — even suffering severe persecution for the sake of the Gospel of Christ Jesus — Paul and Barnabas would NOW agree to a parting of paths to the gentiles, making separate mission journeys with new travel companions to witness the Gospel in yet more cities and towns of the Roman-ruled world of MOSTLY gentiles.

    39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus..

    Acts of the Apostles 15:39 – Second Missionary Journey of Barnabas and Mark begins.

    AD 49/50 {Between v.39 & v.40} It will take Paul some weeks or perhaps months to reorganize the 2nd mission to the Gentiles as the apostles and friends plan their parting of paths for two missions to MORE new Christians.

    A parting of paths of Barnabas (who sails again to Cypress) & Paul who now plans a 2nd missionary journey to Derbe by land through Syria and Cilicia.
    Cilicia – journey through Syria to Pamphylia

    40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

    Acts of the Apostles 15:40-41 – Second Missionary Journey of Paul and Silas begins.

    4 apostles De-parting on 2 Paths with 1 Gospel

    NEXT: A map of their NEW Missionary Journeys & Parting of Paths to the Gentiles, God-willing.

    ACTS on MISSION To Be Continued…


  • Apostles Sent to the Gentiles with a Letter of the Council

    Apostles Sent to the Gentiles with a Letter of the Council

    Will any of the Twelve travel to Antioch Syria from Jerusalem? Or will the Apostles send their Epistle to the Gentiles with other reliable messengers?

    A.D. 49 – Jerusalem Judea in Roman occupied Syria

    Who are these Apostles to the Gentiles?

    Recall that the current crisis of the Church involves both Jews and Gentiles and that the Church at Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to clarify the Law of Moses.

    A Council of Church Leaders meets under leadership of the Apostles of Jesus, the risen Christ witnessed my the Twelve and many leading men of Jerusalem.

    Acts 15:19-20a – James: Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them..

    Acts 15:

    22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers..


    ἀπόστολος – apostolos – apostle

    a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders

    This is exactly what the Council of Jerusalem has ordered.

    in a broader sense applied to other eminent Christian teachers

    • of Barnabas
    • of Timothy
    • and Silvanus

    They SEND these apostles with their epistle of encouragement and specific instructions to the Church and its other leading men in Antioch, obeying Christ’s command to go into all the world — theirs, a gentile world — with the Gospel.

    • ἀπόστολος – Apostle
    • a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders
      • specifically applied to the twelve apostles of Christ
    • ἀπόστολος apóstolos, ap-os’-tol-os; from G649; a delegate; specially, an ambassador of the Gospel; officially a commissioner of Christ (“apostle”) (with miraculous powers):—apostle, messenger, he that is sent.

      ἔθνος – ethnos

      The KJV translates Strong’s G1484 in the following manner: Gentiles (93x), nation (64x), heathen (5x), people (2x).

      We have recently spent time on this on Paul’s first missionary journey, but for clarity definitions which apply here:

      • in the OT, foreign nations not worshipping the true God, pagans, Gentiles
      • Paul uses the term for Gentile Christians
      Acts of the Apostles Missions trips of Paul, Barnabas, Silas and several others
      ACTS on Mission

      Paul

      The Church is already quite familiar with Saul of Tarsus or Paul; who following his first mission from Antioch to the Gentiles along with Joseph of Cypress (Barnabas) has precipitated this Council in Jerusalem.

      In a later Epistle of Paul to the Romans he writes:

      Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.

      Letter of Paul to the Romans 11:13-14 ESV

      Think about it, my fellow gentile brothers and sisters in Christ.

      1. Paul identifies himself as an apostle. The Council sent both Paul and Barnabas as apostles for this next mission to the Gentiles.
      2. The Apostle Paul also magnifies his mission is to the Gentiles (although a remnant of Jews will be saved).

      On their first missionary journey the Apostle Paul had proclaimed Christ to the Jews first and then preached the Gospel to the Gentiles.


      Barnabas

      Acts 9 Joseph of Cypress aka Barnabas 'son of encouragement' meets Saul of Tarsus

      Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

      – Acts 4:36-37 ESV

      It was Barnabas, a trusted Jew of the priestly line, who brought Paul to the Apostles after his encounter with the risen Christ (and having heard their former nemesis preach Christ crucified and risen to the Jews in Damascus).

      When a report came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem after some men of Cyprus and Cyrene spoke to the Hellenists in Antioch (and a great number turned to the Lord), they sent Barnabas to Antioch. – from Acts 11:20

      Judas called Barsabbas

      Βαρσαβᾶς – Lexicon :: Strong’s G923 – barsabas

      Barsabas [or Barsabbas] (i. e. son of Saba)

      (Not to be confused with another important disciple and deacon of the church in Jerusalem * possibly also present with its leading men of the Council, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus [Acts 1:23] put forth along with Mathias as a candidate to replace Judas Iscariot in the Twelve Apostles.)

      2. the surname of a certain Judas: Acts 15:22, (B. D. under the word Judas Barsabas].

      * Could Luke’s wording indicate that both were present & this Barsabbas is Judas son of Saba rather than Joseph son of Saba? (And might they even be biological brothers? [again, my speculation])

      Silas

      Σιλᾶν – Lexicon :: Strong’s G4609 – silas

      Contraction for Σιλουανός (G4610) – Silvanus, the same man who in Acts is called Σιλᾶς (which see): 2 Corinthians 1:19; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1; 1 Peter 5:12.

      Silas or Silvanus is a Roman Citizen (as is Paul) sent with the Apostle to the Gentiles on this second mission and other journeys to preach the Gospel to all the world of the Roman Empire.

      A.D. 49 – 51 Secondary Missionary Journey with Paul

      The Council Adjourns

      Acts 15:22b-29 Text of the Council’s Epistle

      They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,

      23 with the following letter:

      “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders,

      to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.

      Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

      We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:

      that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

      30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch…


      ACTS of the Apostles TO BE CONTINUED…

      in Antioch Syria…

      map of route between Jerusalem and Antioch where apostles sent missionaries into all the world of the gentiles

      Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel

    • Through Many Afflictions Saul and Joseph return to Antioch

      Through Many Afflictions Saul and Joseph return to Antioch

      What afflictions, which tribulations will we suffer for our witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

      ~AD 49 - a return journey
      
      [Just a reminder that Paul is a more local name for Saul from Tarsus beyond the imposing Guyik and Taurus mountains and many brothers address Joseph of the island of Cypress by his encouraging nickname, Barnabas.]
      
        - from remote Derby through Lycaonia to Antioch through Pisidia & Pamphylia to Perga and sailing from Attalia (without returning to Cypress) to their home port in Syria to Antioch.

      Joseph of Cypress and Saul of Tarsus have endured many afflictions for the Gospel, even a stoning of Saul (as he had once witnessed of Stephen in Jerusalem).

      Barnabas

      You’ll recall that Joseph of Cypress, known to his friends as Βαρναβᾶς or son of encouragement is a very Jewish Levite.

      Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement)

      Acts of the Apostles 4:36 LSB

      Joseph had devoted his life to the Apostles’ teaching and gave them money from selling a field. This highly respected older man from Cypress had brought the feared young and zealous Pharisee Saul to the Apostles vouching for the authenticity of his conversion and teaching since encountering Christ.

      Even then he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews, but they were attempting to put him to death.

      So the Church at Jerusalem, led by the Apostles, sent Saul off to the Church at Antioch, nearer to Tarsus as well as Cypress.

      Barnabas continues mentoring a young Saul of Tarsus known to the Gentiles as Paul.

      The Church at Antioch sends them out to Cypress along with Joseph’s nephew John Mark. From there these two apostles proceed to cities and small towns in the Taurus Mountains.

      As a reminder: 
      Luke publishes ACTS OF THE APOSTLES in about AD 62 as a historical account for a growing Church.
      
      This FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY of the Apostles PAUL & BARNABAS occurs over several months and many miles in about AD 47-49.
      

      Another Rising of Saul

      Not too many men or women ever suffer the afflictions of Saul OR the miraculous raisings of a man who seems to have been struck down by God and men to persevere in more persecution for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

      conversion of saul on the road to Damascus

      and falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

      And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”

      And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,

      Acts of the Apostles 9:4-5 LSB
      The Jews are divided by Paul’s Gospel of the Messiah Jesus

      Acts of the Apostles 14:

      19 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.

      Derbe where Paul and Barnabas fled after they were first worshipped as Zeus & Hermes in Lystra then suffered afflictions by the crowds

      20 But while the disciples stood around him, he rose up and entered the city.

      The next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe.

      21 And after they had proclaimed the gospel to that city and had made many disciples..

      Dr. Luke once again accounts for not only the miracle of Paul's rising after being stoned to death and his battered frame dragged out of Lystra, but again that they 'had made many disciples' of the risen Lord Jesus in Derbe.
      

      Their Return Journey to Antioch Pisidia

      map of return journey of Paul and Barnabas from first missionary journey
      [from Derbe] .. they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples..

      The Apostles’ Parting Message:

      .. encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying,

      “Through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God.”

      θλῖψις – Afflictions, Tribulations, Pressure & Persecution

      So you want to enter the kingdom of God?

      You hope for THE LIFE in a risen KING- the Son of God JESUS.

      AND THIS IS the GOSPEL GOOD NEWS Paul proclaims?

      thlipsis STRONGS G2347:

      properly, a pressing, pressing together, pressure (Strabo, p. 52; Galen); in Biblical and ecclesiastical writings, a Greek metaphor, oppression, affliction, tribulation, distress, straits;

      Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

      Gospel of Matthew 24:9 KJV – a prophesy of Jesus to his disciples

      Paul and Barnabas have already seen much tribulation. But now others – Jewish converts, Hellenists, even Roman believers among so many saints of these growing churches will also suffer afflictions as disciples of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

      The Gospel of Paul comes with more than a change of heart and soul – these Christians will see afflictions and tribulations — troubles never before encountered when they did not claim the risen Christ Jesus as their Lord.

      Galatia map with its capitol Pisidian Antioch

      The SOULS of the disciples of these NEW CHURCHES will need much STRENGTHING from leaders ENCOURAGING them to CONTINUE in THE FAITH.

      Paul and Barnabas will continue that work which they begun by returning to these new disciples on their return journey to the Church at Antioch from which they were sent out by the Holy Spirit and church.

      A foundational ministry in the mountains

      • they had proclaimed the gospel [in Derby] and had made many disciples,
      • they returned
        • to Lystra
        • and to Iconium
        • and to Antioch

      And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

      Acts of the Apostles Paul and Barnabas 14:23
      Antioch Pisidia map
      And when they passed through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia. – ACTS 14:24

      And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

      route of Paul and Barnabas returning to Antioch Syria after first missionary journey
      Acts of the Apostles 14 – Paul & Barnabas’ return from first missionary journey

      And from there they sailed to Antioch, from where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled.

      Home in Antioch (Syria)

      This Ancient Roman road connected Antioch and Chalcis.

      And when they had arrived and gathered the church together,

      they began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

      And they spent not a little time with the disciples.

      This first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas has taken about two years. The apostles (ones sent out) of the Gospel have much to share with the disciples (followers) of the risen Christ Jesus. 
      
      NEXT: In Acts of the Apostles 15 Luke will record some differences in worship yet to be worked out between Christians in Antioch and disciples of Christ in Judea and other parts of Syria.
      

      Acts Apostolos - Acts of the Apostles - the chronicles of Christ's Apostles - a history of Christ's Church

      To be continued…