Part 3 — CHAPTER I. CYPRUS, PERGA, THE PISIDIAN ANTIOCH. A.D. 45, 46.

THE martyrdom of Stephen exercised, as we have seen, an important influence on the development of the Church, scattering the disciples over heathen lands. The martyrdom of James the son of Zebedee marks a no less important epoch. It seems to have been the signal for the withdrawal of the Apostles from Jerusalem859. The special work assigned there to Peter, the Apostle of the Circumcision, was over. He had founded the Church, opened its gates to Jews and Gentiles, and laid down the conditions of their admission. Consigning, therefore, the direction of the Christian society in Jerusalem to James the Lord’s brother (Gal. i. 19), the Apostles departed to enter upon wider fields of action.

After completing the object of their journey, and proving the fellowship that existed between the disciples in Syria and Palestine, Saul and Barnabas, accompanied by a kinsman of the latter860, John surnamed Mark, returned to Antioch. In the Syrian metropolis the three were joined by other teachers, Simeon, surnamed Niger861, Lucius of Cyrene862, and Manaen863 a foster-brother864 of Herod the tetrarch (Acts xiii. 1), and together they continued to instruct and build up the Church. At length while, on one occasion, they were engaged in a solemn service of prayer and fasting, the Holy Ghost intimated, probably through one or more of the prophets then present (Acts xiii. 2), that Barnabas and Saul should be set apart to accomplish a special work, for which they had been called.

In accordance with this intimation, after a solemn religious service (Acts xiii. 3), the hands of the chief members of the church at Antioch were laid upon the two, and accompanied by Mark they repaired to Seleucia865, and thence sailed to Cyprus, where amongst their connections and friends866 it might be expected that Barnabas and his kinsman might labour with good results, and where there was already the nucleus of a Christian Church.

After a few hours’ sail, therefore, they reached Salamis867, the eastern port and ancient capital of the island, and preached the word in its synagogues, of which there appear to have been several. Thence they travelled to Paphos868, at the south-western extremity of Cyprus, the seat of the Roman government and the residence of the proconsul869, Sergius Paulus. At his court was one of those Jewish sorcerers, whom we have already seen encountering the Apostle Peter in Samaria870, named Bar-jesus, or, as he called himself in Arabic, Elymas, the wise (Acts xiii. 8). Provoked at the willingness of the proconsul to listen to the preaching of the newly-arrived teachers, he offered a strenuous opposition to his wishes. But Saul, or, as he is now for the first time called Paul871, fixed his eyes upon him, and in the plenitude of that power which he possessed from the Holy Ghost, sternly rebuked him for thus seeking to pervert the right ways of the Lord, and denounced an instantaneous judgment: the hand of the Lord should be upon him, and he should be blind, nor see the sun for a season. This privation, which the Apostle had himself experienced, was instantly inflicted on the sorcerer, and he had to seek the aid of others in going from place to place (Acts xiii. 11). Such a vivid exhibition of miraculous power produced a deep impression upon the proconsul, and he believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord (Acts xiii. 12).

From Paphos the three sailed in a north-westerly direction to the harbour of Attaleia872 in Pamphylia873, and thence up the river Cestrus 6 or 7 miles inland to the town of Perga874 (Acts xiii. 13). Here Mark, either yearning after the home he had left at Jerusalem, or affrighted by the perils he was likely to encounter875, departed from his companions, and returned to Jerusalem, while the others pressed on alone to Antioch in Pisidia, a town of considerable importance, having been built by the founder of the Syrian Antioch876, and since then advanced by Augustus to the dignity of a Roman colony877.

The population of the Pisidian Antioch was mixed, consisting of Greeks, Romans, and native Pisidians, but the influence of the Jews was considerable, and they had succeeded in making not a few converts. Having waited, therefore, for the ensuing Sabbath, Paul and Barnabas repaired to the synagogue, and after the regular service878 were bidden by the president of the synagogue, if they had any word of exhortation, to address those assembled (Acts xiii. 15).

Thereupon Paul rose up, and beckoning with his hand delivered his first address of which we have any record. Like the discourse he had himself heard from the lips of Stephen879, it was based on the history of the Jewish nation. The call of Abraham, the Wanderings in the wilderness, the occupation of Canaan, the period of the Judges880, the election of the first King, the accession of David; all these important events were touched upon in their order (Acts xiii. 16–22). Of David’s seed, he then proceeded, God had promised (2 Sam. vii. 12) to raise up a Saviour, and this promise he had fulfilled. Duly heralded by His predicted Forerunner (Acts xiii. 24, 25), the promised Saviour had appeared in the person of Jesus. The rulers, indeed, of Jerusalem, not knowing Him, or the real meaning of the words of the prophets read in their ears every Sabbath-day, had constrained Pilate to put Him to death, had crucified, and laid Him in a sepulchre; but God had raised him from the dead, and He had been seen after His resurrection881, not by strangers, but by those familiar with His person, who had been His companions from Galilee to Jerusalem (Acts xiii. 26–31), who were His witnesses to the people of Israel. By His death and resurrection He had truly accomplished the ancient prophecies882, which could not refer to their forefather David (who was dead, and had long mouldered in the tomb); and now through Him was offered to all the forgiveness of sins, even of those from which they could not have been delivered by the Law of Moses883.

Such was the purport of the Apostle’s first recorded sermon. Its immediate effect was a deep impression upon those who heard it. As they left the synagogue many884 besought the Apostles that these words might be repeated in their hearing on the next Sabbath, and not a few, both Jews and proselytes, accompanied them from the synagogue, and listened to their exhortations that having received the word they would not let it slip, but continue steadfastly in the grace of God (Acts xiii. 43).

Accordingly when the next Sabbath came round almost the whole city was assembled to hear the word, multitudes of Gentiles pressing in with the Jews and proselytes. This was more than the stricter section of the Jews could bear, and filled with envy at the assembly of so many strangers, they made an uproar, and opposed the word spoken by Paul with contradictions and even blasphemy (Acts xiii. 45).

Their opposition only nerved the Apostles with still greater boldness, and they openly proclaimed the course they would now adopt. In accordance with their Master’s directions, they had addressed themselves first to members of their own nation, but since they despised their message, and deemed themselves unworthy of eternal life, they would turn to the Gentiles885. This declaration many of the latter then present received with joy, and became believers, so that the word of the Lord was published abroad through the whole region (Acts xiii. 49).

This success provoked still greater opposition. Through the female proselytes in the city the Jews gained the ear of the chief authorities, and succeeded in raising a storm of persecution against the Apostles, and expelling them beyond the limits of the colony (Acts xiii. 50). They did not leave it, however, without a solemn protest against the impiety of its inhabitants. In obedience to their Master’s directions886, they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and while, in spite of the persecution that had been raised, the little band of Christians were filled with joy and the Holy Ghost (Acts xiii. 52), they proceeded to cross the barren uplands887 which separate Antioch from the plain of Iconium.