Paul’s first missionary journey
From The New Moody Atlas of the Bible by Barry J. Beitzel (©2009). Published by Moody Publishers. Used by permission.
If you are feeling tired and therefore in need of a spiritual tonic, go to the book of Acts.
—MARTYN LLOYD-JONES1
Perhaps to set the scene for Saul’s dramatic conversion, Luke records Saul’s support of Stephen’s execution, which showcases his commitment to destroying the Gospel in its crib. He goes from house to house ravaging the Church and dragging men and women to prison. The Jewish authorities have shifted into full-blown persecution mode, ending any semblance of tolerance for this upstart religion. Stephen’s death triggers a wave of persecution against the Church in Jerusalem, which results in the dispersion of most Christians into the regions of Judea and Samaria, though the apostles and some other believers remain in Jerusalem.2 This faintly echoes Jesus’ admonition, “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next” (Matt. 10:23). God’s sovereignty is on display again, however, as this persecution leads directly to the outworking of Christ’s command to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), with Philip preaching the Gospel to receptive audiences in Samaria. This is not the Apostle Philip, but a Greek-speaking Jew—one of the seven selected to distribute food to the Church in Jerusalem.3 Philip performs signs and exorcises and heals many, to the great joy of all who witness these events.
One recalcitrant Samaritan named Simon is a sorcerer who claims to have divine powers. Unable to resist Philip’s Gospel message, Simon’s followers become believers and are baptized. Simon himself, amazed by Philip’s miracles and signs, becomes a believer and joins him. When reports of these conversions reach the apostles in Jerusalem, they send Peter and John to Samaria to pray for the people to receive the Holy Spirit.
Usually, the Holy Spirit indwells people at the moment of conversion, but this is apparently one of the few exceptions that occur at the very beginning of the Church era. Some commentators speculate that God delayed the delivery of the Spirit to the Samaritans until the apostles could preside over the event, to help unite the Samaritan and Jewish Churches, given the historical conflict between Jews and Samaritans.4 The Jews loathed the Samaritans, whom they viewed as a mixed race who distort their Scriptures, and the Samaritans deeply resented the Jews’ hostility to them.5 Emblematic of the divide between the two peoples, the Samaritans had a separate holy site, Mount Gerizim, thus rejecting the Jews’ Holy Place in Jerusalem.
Although there is no formal hierarchy in the Church at this time, and approval of every facet of local Church procedure isn’t required, Church leaders still don’t want ethnic conflict to impede the Gospel’s advancement, so Peter and John personally handle this unique situation.6 Exceptional circumstances warrant exceptional solutions.
When Peter and John lay their hands on the new Samaritan believers, they receive the Holy Spirit. Witnessing this, Simon offers them money to get the “power” to give the Holy Spirit to others, revealing that his purported faith was probably just a ruse to exploit people. Peter rebukes Simon and tells him to repent and be delivered from his “bitterness” and “bond of iniquity.” Simon asks that they pray for him, but it’s unclear whether he is sincerely repentant or merely terrified by their awesome power.7 Their work completed, Peter and John return to Jerusalem, preaching the Gospel to many Samaritan villages along the way.
An angel of the Lord tells Philip to go southward to the road leading from Jerusalem to Gaza. On his way, Philip encounters an Ethiopian eunuch, a treasury official of Ethiopian Queen Candace. Returning from Jerusalem, where he was worshipping Israel’s God as a God-fearing Gentile,8 the eunuch is in his chariot reading the Prophet Isaiah. The Spirit tells Philip to join the Ethiopian, so Philip approaches him and asks if he understands what he’s reading. Admitting that he doesn’t, the eunuch invites Philip to sit with him and they read this passage: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth” (Isaiah 53:7, 8). The eunuch asks Philip whether Isaiah is talking about himself or someone else. Philip, beginning with that Scripture, explains the Gospel of Jesus Christ, reminiscent of Jesus opening the Scriptures for the disciples on the Emmaus Road, interpreting “to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). This eunuch is probably the first Gentile convert to Christianity.
I am particularly moved by this and similar passages that fully demonstrate the Christ-centered nature of the Old Testament, the unity of all Scripture, and the theme of God’s salvation history coursing through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. In my book The Emmaus Code, I detail the countless Old Testament prophecies, covenants, foreshadowings, types, portraits, offices, and appearances that point to Christ and are fulfilled in Him in the New Testament. Many Christians overlook the Christ-centered nature of the Old Testament and thereby miss an essential part of God’s salvation history that enriches our understanding. A person recently asked me on Twitter, “What does the Old Testament have to do with Christianity?” Well, everything, that’s what. God’s sovereign preparation of this eunuch with a psalm predicting Christ’s passion is a striking example.
Philip and the eunuch continue along the road. When they come to some water, Philip fulfills the eunuch’s request to be baptized. After they emerge from the water, the Spirit of the Lord carries Philip away, and the eunuch goes on his way rejoicing. Philip ends up in Azotus (which is Ashdod, one of the ancient Philistine capitals located less than three miles inland from the Mediterranean, some twenty miles north of Gaza).9 While passing through the area, he preaches the Gospel to all the towns until he arrives in Caesarea, a major port city of Herod the Great on the Mediterranean coast with a substantial Gentile population.10
This chapter is a major turning point in the book, as it describes the conversion of Saul, who is transformed from a notorious persecutor of Christians to Christianity’s foremost ambassador and God’s chosen evangelist to the Gentiles. Saul, who God surely chose, in part, because of his unrivaled passion, is making murderous threats against members of the Way—followers of Christ. So intense is his antipathy for these blasphemers that he requests authority from the high priest to go on a six-day walking journey to Damascus to round them up from the synagogues and return them to Jerusalem. Widespread Christian worship services in the synagogues show that Christianity is closely connected to Judaism at this time.11
But why are the Jews so adamantly against the Christian movement? One reason is that they regard the Way not as a new religion but a perversion of Judaism. They must stop these heretics from coopting their faith. The Jews, with their zeal for the Law, are particularly offended by the Christians’ attitude toward it.12 Jesus said He came to fulfill the Law, and He preached a Gospel of grace based on faith in Him—not on the works of the Law. This is anathema to the Jews.
As Saul approaches Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly shines around him. He falls to the ground and hears a voice asking, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul replies, “Who are you, Lord?” The voice answers, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” Jesus tells Saul that in persecuting Christians, he is really persecuting Him. The men with Saul are speechless, as they hear Jesus’ voice but cannot see Him. Blinded, Saul is led by the hand into Damascus, where he remains without sight for three days and has nothing to eat or drink.
Saul, later known as Paul, goes on to record the event in his epistle to the Corinthians, asking, “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” (1 Cor. 9:1). In recounting Jesus’ resurrection appearances, He includes his own Damascus road experience, saying, “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me” (1 Cor. 15:8). Likewise, he writes to the Galatians, “But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles…” (Gal. 1:15–16). In a later chapter of Acts, Luke supplies additional details of Paul’s conversion, citing Paul’s defense before Agrippa. At that trial, Paul relates that Jesus told him, “I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me’ ” (Acts 26:16–18). Jesus is clear here: He is sending Paul to the Gentiles so they may receive forgiveness of sins through their faith in Him.
While Saul is still blind in Damascus, he sees a vision of a man named Ananias coming to him and laying his hands on him to restore his sight. Meanwhile, Jesus appears in a vision to Ananias, a disciple in Damascus, and tells him to go to Judas’ house on Straight Street to look for Saul of Tarsus. Ananias is apprehensive, having heard of Saul’s evil deeds against Christians in Jerusalem and knowing of Saul’s written authority from the chief priests to arrest Christians in Damascus. Jesus tells Ananias to assure Saul that he is His chosen instrument to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles and to the kings and the children of Israel, “for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:16). Formerly the Gentile believers’ worst nightmare, Saul would now become their specially anointed witness of the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ. He has inflicted much suffering on believers but now will suffer on their behalf and for all to whom he will spread the message.
Ananias goes to Saul, lays hands on him and, addressing him as “Brother Saul”—indicating He accepts Jesus’ assurance that Saul is now a believer—tells him Jesus has sent him to help Saul regain his sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. At once something like scales fall from Saul’s eyes and he can see. He rises and is baptized, then eats and strengthens his body. Luke later adds an important detail about this event: Paul relates that Ananias also told him, “The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard” (Acts 22:14–15). Though Saul surely understands this already from his conversion experience, it couldn’t have hurt to hear again that Jesus, Who has caused his conversion and is now enlisting him for service, is not some new God. “Jesus was one with ‘the God of our fathers,’ the only true God, the one who had revealed himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the patriarchs of his chosen people,” writes Werner Franzmann. “He had made his covenant of grace with them. It centered in the promise of a coming Messiah.”13
After spending some days with the believers in Damascus, Saul begins proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God in various synagogues there. Those who hear him are shocked, as they are aware of his reputation for persecuting Christians. His conversion is one of the most remarkable events in Christian history, serving as a powerful apologetic in its own right. How could anyone so committed to destroying Christianity instantly reverse his position unless he truly encountered the living God? Saul now applies the same vigor promoting the Gospel as he did when suppressing it. While later admitting he is unworthy to be called an apostle because he persecuted the Church, he says he worked harder than any of the other apostles following his conversion, though he gives all the credit and glory to God working through him (1 Cor. 15:9–10). His conversion demonstrates God’s boundless capacity for grace and forgiveness.
As he grows in strength, Saul confounds the Jews in Damascus by proving that Jesus is their long-awaited Messiah. It isn’t long before he receives some of his own medicine, going from persecutor to persecuted. After “many days had passed,” Jews in Damascus plan to kill Saul for his ostensible betrayal.14 Saul learns of their plot—they are watching the city gates day and night to catch him, so his disciples help him escape the city by lowering him in a basket through an opening in the wall. Paul corroborates this event in his second epistle to the Corinthians (11:32–33).
When Saul returns to Jerusalem he tries to join the disciples there, but they are afraid and doubt he actually converted. Barnabas, however, takes him to the apostles and describes his Damascus road conversion and subsequent bold preaching of the Gospel. Saul begins preaching the Gospel in Jerusalem, and in one instance, argues with the Hellenists (in this case, Greek-speaking Jews), who want to kill him. When the Christians hear about this, they bring him to Caesarea and then send him to Tarsus. Paul separately verifies these events, writing, “Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia” (Gal. 1:21). In the meantime, the Church is growing and functioning in peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria.
Before returning to the narrative and Peter’s activities, let’s look at certain chronological issues concerning Saul’s early travels that have long interested scholars. In Luke’s version in Acts, after regaining his sight with Ananias, Saul spends “some days” with the disciples and proclaims Jesus in the synagogues (9:19–20). A few verses later Luke writes, “When many days had passed,” the Jews in Damascus plot to kill Saul, but he escapes the city (9:23–25). In the next verse, Saul is in Jerusalem to join the disciples (9:26).
The wrinkle is that in his epistle to the Galatians, Paul says that immediately after his conversion, he spent three years in Arabia and returned to Damascus before going to Jerusalem to visit Peter for fifteen days (1:17–18). Luke, however, mentions nothing about Saul’s trip to Arabia. Most commentators believe Saul went to Arabia after briefly preaching in the Damascus synagogues, confounding the Jews there, and regaining his strength (Acts 9:19–22). So Luke’s phrase “when many days had passed” (Acts 9:23) is interpreted as a vague reference to the roughly three-year period Saul spends in Arabia and then back in Damascus.15 It is unknown how much of this period is spent in Arabia and how much in Damascus, but most commentators assume the lion’s share is in Arabia.16 Other scholars theorize that Saul’s escape in a basket occurs during his first stay in Damascus, shortly after his conversion. He then goes to Arabia for three years before going to Jerusalem (9:26), and so the three years in Arabia happen between verses 9:25 and 9:26, instead of 9:23 (“when many days had passed”).17 Under either theory, at least three years pass between Saul’s conversion and his trip to Jerusalem.18
Luke returns to the narrative focusing on Peter, who continues to evangelize throughout the area, including in Lydda—a town about nine miles east of Joppa, on the road from the seaport to Jerusalem19—where he encounters a paralyzed man named Aeneas who has been bedridden for eight years. Peter says, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” Immediately Aeneas rises, and as a result of his miraculous healing, all the residents of Lydda and Sharon—a segment of the coastal plain bordered on the west by the Mediterranean Sea and on the east by the Samarian mountains20—turn to the Lord.
In the ancient port city of Joppa, there is a disciple named Tabitha (also called Dorcas). A woman of good works and charity, she becomes ill and dies, and is washed and placed in an upper room. The disciples hear that Peter is in nearby Lydda and send two men to urge him to come to them immediately. When Peters arrives, they take him to the upper room where all the widows are weeping as they display tunics and other garments Dorcas made. Peter sends them outside, kneels down, prays, turns to the body, and says, “Tabitha, arise.” She opens her eyes and sits up when she sees Peter, who gives her his hand and raises her up. He presents her alive to the saints and widows, and word of this resurrection spreads throughout Joppa, causing many to believe in Jesus.
Peter remains in Joppa for many days, staying with Simon, a tanner. Some scholars see symbolic significance in Luke’s mentioning of the tanner because leatherworkers are deemed unclean under Jewish Law due to their contact with dead animals, and Luke is about to shift his focus to the Gentiles, who are considered unclean21 and don’t follow Jewish religious practices.22 It is perhaps a foreshadowing of Peter’s vision described in the next chapter.
With both healings, Peter is emulating Jesus’ healing process. Just as Jesus told the paralytic to “get up, take up your bed, and walk” (John 5:8), Peter tells Aeneas, “rise and make your bed.” And just as Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter after sending people out of the room and commanding her to rise (Mark 5:40–41), Peter clears the room and commands Tabitha to rise (Acts 9:40). Furthermore, Peter works solely through Jesus’ power and not his own—he tells Aeneas, “Jesus Christ heals you,” and before healing Tabitha, he kneels and prays for healing power.23
As we’ve seen, the Gentile barrier has already been broken, as Philip presented the Gospel message to the Ethiopian eunuch. But this was not the Apostle Philip, and in fact, no apostle has yet evangelized a Gentile. God is grooming Peter for that mission. Significantly, He prepares both the evangelist Peter and his subject Cornelius for this encounter by providing each with a visionary experience.
Cornelius, a centurion, lives in Caesarea, a beautiful spot on the Mediterranean Sea and the center of government for the Roman administration of Judea.24 He and his family are worshippers of the Jewish God, though probably not full converts to Judaism. F. F. Bruce states that such God-fearers, as they are called, form the nucleus of the Christian community in many cities Saul visits on his missionary journeys.25 So it’s natural that the first Gentiles to accept Jesus—the Ethiopian eunuch and Cornelius—worship the God of Israel. They believe in the God of the universe, but probably aren’t as steeped in the Law as the Jewish people, and thus are less resistant to the new Christian religion that dispenses with some of its provisions.
In the middle of the afternoon, Cornelius has a vision of an angel of God who declares, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” It appears that God intends to reward Cornelius for his faithfulness and charity. When the angel leaves, Cornelius sends two of his servants and a devout soldier to Joppa.
Around noon the next day, as Cornelius’ men are approaching Joppa, Peter goes to the housetop to pray. Falling into a trance, he sees the heavens open and a great sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. The sheet contains all kinds of animals, reptiles, and birds, and a voice says to Peter, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” Peter says he cannot do that because he has never eaten anything either common or unclean. The voice replies, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” After this happens three times, the sheet is taken up to heaven. (Though Peter is already converted to Christianity, this vision shows he is still reluctant to violate Jewish dietary laws. That is understandable, seeing as the rules were implemented for sound health reasons, and no authority has yet commanded Peter to abandon them. The dream also brings to mind Jesus’ admonition to the Pharisees and scribes: “It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person” [Matt. 15:11]).26
While Peter is pondering the meaning of the vision, Cornelius’ men approach his gate and ask if Peter is lodging there. The Spirit then informs Peter that three men are looking for him, and he should go down to greet them at once. Peter goes down, identifies himself, and asks what the men want. They tell him an angel has directed Cornelius, a God-fearing man who is well respected by the Jewish people, to send for him to come to his house and hear what he has to say. The men surely include these details to entice Peter to return with them. Peter invites them in as his guests and the next day leaves with them to Caesarea along with some of his fellow believers from Joppa. Expecting them, Cornelius has gathered some of his close friends and relatives. When Peter enters, Cornelius falls at his feet and worships him. Peter quickly lifts Cornelius up and tells him that he is only a man—not someone to be worshipped. After all, idolatry is strictly forbidden in the Jewish religion, a principle enshrined in the Ten Commandments and demonstrated throughout the Old Testament in God’s dealings with Israel.
With this gesture, Peter is affirming the Christian principle that all believers are equal before God.27 He tells the many people gathered that although it’s unlawful for a Jew like himself to associate with or visit anyone of another nation, God has shown him that he should not call any person common or unclean. From the Old Testament, Peter also knows that God “shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands” (Job 34:19). Christ’s grace and peace is open to all, not just the elite. Paul endorses this principle in his epistle to the Romans: “But glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality” (2:9). Similarly, James writes, “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory” (James 2:1).
This is why, Peter explains, he came without objection. It has now become clear to him that, through the angelic vision, God was teaching him that no human beings are beyond cleanliness because their hearts can be cleansed by faith. The vision applies to the cleanliness of animals but can also be understood parabolically as applying to men—there is no longer any barrier between believing Jews and Gentiles or between God and people because of Christ’s sacrifice (Romans 5:1).28 Peter asks Cornelius why he has sent for him. Cornelius replies that when he was praying four days ago, an angel appeared to him in a vision and said that his prayer had been heard and his alms remembered before God, so he was to send for Peter. They are all now waiting before God, continues Cornelius, to hear what He has commanded Peter to do. Just as God has served up the Ethiopian eunuch on a platter, ripe for Philip’s Gospel message, He has primed Cornelius to be fully receptive to the forthcoming Gospel message from Peter.
Peter reiterates that he now understands that God shows no partiality, and that anyone who fears Him and does what is right, regardless of his nationality, is acceptable to Him. Peter tells Cornelius that the God who delivered the Gospel message to Israel is the God of all people. He then briefly reviews the Gospel events and message, saying that after John the Baptist came, God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power, and He did good works and healed those who were oppressed by the devil. Peter reports that he and his apostles are witnesses to all that Jesus did in Jerusalem and throughout Judea. Jesus was crucified, but God raised Him on the third day, and He appeared to him and the other people whom God had chosen as witnesses and who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. Jesus commanded Peter and the apostles to preach to the people, testifying that Jesus was appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. Peter assures Cornelius and the others gathered that Jesus is the One Whom the prophets pre-announced, and that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness through His name (Isaiah 52:13–53:12; Ezek. 36:25–26).
While Peter is speaking, the Holy Spirit falls on all who hear His message. The Jewish believers who have come with Peter are amazed to see the Holy Spirit being given to the Gentiles, who are speaking in tongues and praising God—just like the converts at Pentecost. “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” declares Peter. He commands that they be baptized in Jesus’ name.
Through the Spirit’s power, God puts an exclamation point on this momentous occasion. He leaves no doubt among the Jewish believers that the conversion of these Gentiles is authentic and Spirit-filled. This is God’s work, not the work of Peter or any other apostle or believer, who are merely His instruments. The glory goes to Jesus Christ.29 This is a dramatic turning point in Christian history. Bruce Barton comments, “Peter’s words marked a great change in the life of the church—the door of the gospel was swinging wide open to the Gentiles.”30
Afterward, Cornelius asks Peter to remain for some days. We should not lightly skip over this seemingly inconsequential invitation. Cornelius is transformed and moved, glowing in the experience, and he doesn’t want the moment to end suddenly. As a new believer, his world has been turned upside down—in a good way. He has discovered the true God and wants to drink in everything he can while Peter is there. This reminds us that we should always strive to grow in our Christian walk, seek God in prayer, and study His word to plum the unfathomable depths of His riches.
This apostle-led conversion of Gentiles sends shockwaves throughout Judea. Peter gets an earful when he goes to Jerusalem, where Jewish Christians demand to know why he broke bread with Gentiles and communicated the Gospel to them. How dare he? Why would he risk becoming ceremonially unclean? Instead of debating, Peter simply explains what has happened—from his vision in Joppa to the Spirit-led conversion of Cornelius and his group in Caesarea. In telling the story, Peter supplies a detail that was not in the Chapter 10 narrative: The angel had told Cornelius that Peter would proclaim a message by which Cornelius and his entire household would be saved.
Peter strongly emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit in the conversion, saying the event reminds him of Jesus’ words that John the Baptist baptized with water, but the apostles would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And if God gave these Gentiles the gift of the Holy Spirit when they became believers, just as He had done for the Jewish converts at Pentecost, who was Peter to stand in His way? If Peter, an apostle, would not oppose God, his detractors better wise up and realize their opposition is not directed at him but at God. Peter doesn’t need to defend himself personally; his actions were at God’s direction, and he defends himself as God’s agent. As God makes no distinction between Jews and Gentiles, who is Peter to do so?31
The Jewish Christians have to be shamed into realizing this isn’t about them but something much bigger. The Holy Spirit descended on Cornelius and the other Gentiles just as He had the Jews. And why would it be any other way? This silences the critics, who come to their senses, realizing God initiated these conversions. They glorify God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” Notice the immediate effects of God working in these people. Their ethnic jealousy and opposition has turned to joy for the Gentiles’ salvation. This won’t settle the matter for all Jewish believers, as we shall soon see, but it’s an important step in advancing God’s plan to save the Gentiles.
Now the Gospel is about to spread north beyond Judea and Samaria, as Christ had commanded (Acts 1:8). The Jewish Christians who escaped Jerusalem after Stephen’s execution have migrated as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, and most of them evangelize only fellow Jews. Some, however, spread the Gospel in Antioch to Hellenists (in this instance, Greek-speaking Gentiles).32 So the Gospel is spreading both geographically and culturally33—as Luke puts it, “The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.” When the Christian Church in Jerusalem hears about this, it sends Barnabas to Antioch in Syria. Arriving joyfully, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith, he encourages the community to remain committed to their purpose.
As more people come to Christ, the job is apparently too big even for the enthusiastic Barnabas, so he goes to Tarsus to locate Paul. Barnabus knows him well, having been with him and vouched for him with the apostles in Jerusalem following his conversion (Acts 9:27–28). From his interactions with Paul, Barnabas is aware that Christ has commissioned him to evangelize to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15). By now, Paul has been whisked out of Jerusalem by his fellow believers and moved on to Tarsus by way of Caesarea because his former Jewish colleagues wanted to kill him for his betrayal (Acts 9:30). His exact whereabouts after that are unknown. But scholars, aware that Paul was a relentless missionary to the Gentiles, surmise that he was evangelizing in that region during this period.34 (This assumption is based on Luke’s later reference to Paul’s building up churches in Syria and Cilicia [Acts 15:41], which Paul also mentions [Gal. 1:21].) Upon finding Paul, Barnabas brings him back to Antioch, where they meet with believers and teach many people for a full year. It is in Antioch that the disciples are first called Christians.
During this time, prophets come from Jerusalem to Syrian Antioch, which is about sixteen miles from the Mediterranean and about 300 miles north of Jerusalem. Today, it is a decaying town in Turkey called Antakia;35 it was perhaps the third most important city in the Roman Empire, after Rome and Alexandria. When the prophet Agabus predicts a worldwide famine (Luke parenthetically notes that this famine occurred during the reign of Claudius, who ruled from 41 to 54 AD [Acts 11:28]),36 the disciples determine, according to their respective means, to send relief to believers in Judea, to be delivered by Barnabas and Paul. Thus, from the very beginning, Christians have been charitable, taking to heart Christ’s teachings and Paul’s revelation that “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7).
Obediently following Christ’s commission to spread the Gospel, the apostles have earned rich dividends, with thousands of conversions in Jerusalem as well as the conversions of the Samaritans, the Ethiopian eunuch, the Gentile centurion Cornelius and his group in Caesarea, and the various people in Antioch. However, in the midst of these successes, Luke details King Herod’s escalated persecution of the Church. Charles Ryrie notes that this is the fifth time the young Church has been persecuted, including Peter and John’s appearance before the Sanhedrin (Chapter 4); the Sadducees’ arrest of the apostles for preaching the resurrection (Chapter 5); Stephen’s trial and execution (Chapter 6); and Saul’s vigorous persecutions (Chapter 8).37
King Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, reigns from 37 to 44 AD. After incurring debts in Rome, he fled to Palestine. Emperor Tiberius imprisoned him for making careless comments, but he was released following Tiberius’ death.38 Gaius Caligula, who succeeded Tiberius in 37 AD, delegated the former tetrarchies of Philip and Lysanias in Southern Syria to Herod (Luke 3:1) and made him king over those areas. When Caligula was murdered in 41 AD, Claudia became emperor—with Herod’s help—and made Herod the ruler of Judea and Samaria. Because of his uncertain position with Rome, Herod seeks to ingratiate himself to the Jews by persecuting Christians.39
Herod orders the death by sword of the Apostle James, the brother of John (not to be confused with the brother of Jesus and author of the Book of James). James thus becomes the first apostle to be martyred (Stephen was martyred earlier, but he was not an apostle), having been accused by Herod of leading the city of Jerusalem to serve false gods.40 As this pleases the Jews, Herod arrests Peter, the leader and chief spokesman of the apostles, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread—the weeklong feast following Passover. He imprisons Peter and assigns four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending to put Peter on trial after the Passover feast has ended. While Peter is in prison, the Church earnestly prays to God for his deliverance.
Bound with two chains, Peter sleeps between two solders, with sentries standing guard at the door. His calm is a testament to his complete transformation from the coward who denied Jesus three times to a pillar of faith. Later, the Apostle Paul will show similar tranquility in Philippi when, instead of sleeping, he sings hymns to God (Philip. 16:25). Church father Chrysostom, in his commentary on this story, compares the two events. After explaining why God didn’t rescue Paul from prison as he does Peter here—because God arranged for Paul to convert the jailer—he observes, “It is beautiful that Paul sings hymns, whilst here Peter sleeps.”41
An angel of the Lord appears next to Peter and a light shines in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, the angel tells him to get up quickly. The chains fall from Peter’s hands, and the angel instructs him to get dressed, put on his sandals, wrap himself with his cloak, and follow him. Peter complies, though he isn’t sure whether this is real or he’s having a vision. After passing the guards, they approach the iron gate to the city, which opens by itself. They go out along the street when the angel disappears. Realizing God has sent his angel to rescue him from Herod and the Jews, Peter goes to the home of Mary, the mother of John (sometimes called Mark), where many are gathered and praying. Some commentators surmise that this Mary contributes to the growth of the early Church by frequently opening her home for fellowship, which is probably why Peter goes there.42
When he knocks on the door, a servant girl named Rhoda recognizes his voice. She runs joyfully to report his presence instead of letting him in. The people tell her she’s out of her mind, claiming it’s Peter’s angel, not Peter himself. When Peter continues knocking, they open the door and are amazed to see him. Signaling to them with his hand to be silent (a detail that lends authenticity to the account),43 Peter describes how God has freed him from prison and tells them to relate these events to James (Jesus’ brother, now leader of the church in Jerusalem) and the brothers, and then he departs. At sunrise, chaos ensues among the soldiers over Peter’s absence. Unable to find him, Herod examines the guards, orders their execution, and then leaves Judea for Caesarea.
Some interpreters, probably predisposed against belief in the supernatural, suggest that a human messenger, working with sympathetic or bribed guards, facilitated Peter’s escape from prison.44 But why would guards risk their lives to conspire in Peter’s escape? How do critics explain the flash of light that Luke describes in the cell when the “messenger” appears? How do they account for Luke’s painstaking description of Herod’s tightened security measures to ensure Paul won’t escape? How about the automatic opening of the gate? Finally, what else could Peter mean when he explicitly instructs those at Mary’s home to tell James and the brothers “how the Lord had brought him out of the prison”? It was no human being. God superintended Peter’s escape.
Meanwhile, Herod is angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, who come to him and ask for peace because they depend on his country for food. In his royal robes, Herod later delivers a speech to the people from his throne. The people respond as if he is a god, whereupon the angel of the Lord strikes him down—because he hasn’t given glory to God—and he is eaten by worms. Thereafter the word of God multiplies, and Barnabas and Saul return from Jerusalem bringing John (also known as Mark) with them.
While some may regard Luke’s description of Herod’s death fantastical, Jewish historian Josephus independently confirms the event with strikingly similar details. Josephus relates that Herod had adorned himself with “a garment made wholly of silver, and of a contexture truly wonderful,” and notes that “the silver of his garment [was] illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun’s rays upon it.” It “was so resplendent as to spread a horror over those that looked intently upon him; and presently his flatterers cried out, one from one place, and another from another … that he was a god; and they added, ‘Be thou merciful to us; for although we have hitherto reverenced thee only as a man, yet shall we henceforth own thee as superior to mortal nature.” Herod neither rebuked them nor rejected “their impious flattery,” says Josephus, “but, as he presently afterwards looked up, he saw an owl sitting on a certain rope over his head, and immediately understood that this bird was the messenger of ill tidings, as it had once been the messenger of good tidings to him; and fell into the deepest sorrow. A severe pain also arose in his belly, and began in a most violent manner. . . . And, when he had been quite worn out by the pain in his belly for five days, departed this life.”45
Apart from this interesting occurrence, we should not lose sight of Luke’s summary statement capping the story: “But the word of God increased and multiplied.” Rev. Werner Franzmann captures the essence of these events. “The persecuting, blasphemous Herod was struck down by the avenging hand of the Lord,” writes Franzmann, “but he held his hand in blessing over the proclamation of his gospel-word, so that it kept on entering more and more dark, perishing souls and bringing to them the light of God’s never-failing favor and the life which endures eternally.”46
This chapter marks a shift in the action, both geographically and biographically. Geographically, the Christian witness began in Jerusalem, then spread to Judea and Samaria in Chapter 8, to Antioch in Chapter 11, and now moves “to the end of the earth,” all in accordance with Christ’s command in Acts 1:8. Additionally, the first twelve chapters roughly focus on Peter, whereas now the action shifts to the missionary work of the Apostle Paul. This latter section of Acts features Paul’s three missionary journeys in which he establishes himself as the greatest evangelist to the Gentiles. It also chronicles the Council at Jerusalem, where certain conflicts among the believers are resolved; Paul’s captivity in Jerusalem; and his voyage to Rome, with his two periods of captivity there that sandwich an intervening period of freedom.
Saul, as he is still called at this time, launches his first missionary journey from Antioch in Syria to the island of Cyprus, then to the mainland cities of Perga, Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. When completing his work in Derbe, Saul returns to the cities he visited on the way, eventually arriving in Antioch. The term “journey” may be slightly misleading in that the trips involve far more than traveling. Saul’s practice is to enter cities and plant stable churches there before moving on. Barnabas accompanies Saul on the first journey, and John Mark is with them for part of the mission.47
There are some key early Christian teachers, prophets, and other heavyweights in the church at Antioch, including Saul and Barnabas, Simeon (called Niger), Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, a lifelong friend of Herod Antipas the tetrarch, who ruled Galilee and Peraea from 4 BC to 39 AD.48 While the men are worshipping and fasting, the Holy Spirit tells them to set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which He has called them. The men fast and pray, then lay their hands on the two and send them off.
Paul’s first missionary journey
From The New Moody Atlas of the Bible by Barry J. Beitzel (©2009). Published by Moody Publishers. Used by permission.
Though Luke says the church members send Barnabas and Saul, he makes clear in the next verse that the Holy Spirit is the moving force. The pair travel from Antioch a short distance down to Seleucia, the port city, and from there they sail to the port city of Salamis on the east coast of the island of Cyprus, where they proclaim God’s Word in the Jewish synagogues. Saul and Barnabas present the Gospel first in the Jewish synagogues of each city on their journey, conforming to the maxim Paul would announce in his epistle to the Romans: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (1:16).49 The Jews, as we’ve seen, have been scattered throughout the Roman empire, providentially setting the stage for the apostles’ missionary work in the synagogues of these regions. John (John Mark) assists Saul and Barnabas on their journey.
After they’ve traveled about ninety miles to Paphos, the seat of the Roman government on Cyprus50 on the western part of the island, they encounter a false Jewish prophet and magician named Bar-Jesus. With him is the Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man who summons Barnabas and Saul because he wants to hear God’s Word. But Luke has something more in mind than native intelligence in describing Sergius Paulus as intelligent. He recognizes him as wise—possessing a hunger for spiritual enlightenment. He seeks to know God, and the Bible teaches that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding” (Psalm 111:10).
We know God blesses those who seek His wisdom (James 1:5). When God asked him what He could do for him, Solomon didn’t ask for “possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you.” He didn’t even ask for a long life, but for wisdom and knowledge to govern wisely, and so God granted his request (2 Chron. 1:7–12). We should apply this lesson to our own lives, staying daily in the Word and prayer, seeking to know the heart and wisdom of God, and He will bless those efforts.
The magician Bar-Jesus, also called Elymas, tries to sabotage Saul’s effort to evangelize. Saul, who Luke now begins to call Paul,51 is filled with the Holy Spirit and responds forcefully. “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?” Paul declares, “And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately, the sorcerer is blinded, and others lead him by the hand. How fitting that God uses a true miracle to punish Elymas, exposing the impotence of this charlatan’s “magic.”
Paul’s choice of words is interesting. In accusing the sorcerer of making the Lord’s straight paths crooked, he condemns him for doing the opposite of what John the Baptist instructed as he was preparing the nation for the coming Messiah. John said, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight … and the crooked shall become straight” (Luke 3:4–5; see also Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3). God wouldn’t have sent John as a forerunner had it been unnecessary. He called people to repentance, insisting they reorient their minds and spirits toward Jesus, Who was about to begin His ministry. Elymas implements this process in reverse, attempting to poison Sergius Paulus against the Word, which earns Paul’s special contempt. John Stott says Elymas “was guilty of causing ‘perversion,’ instead of ‘conversion.’ ”52 It is one thing for a person to be skeptical himself, but it is egregious for him to drag others down with him—to proselytize against God, for what could be worse than leading another to eternal damnation? As Paul repeatedly warns Christians, we should not be stumbling blocks to others (1 Cor. 8:12; Romans 14:13).
Despite Elymas’ nefarious efforts, the proconsul becomes a believer, both because he sees what God has done and because of the sheer awesomeness of the message. In Luke’s words, “He was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.” This is the same pattern we observed before, with Jesus and the apostles using miracles to ready people for the Gospel message (Acts 3:11; 4:4). Notably, Luke describes Paul’s message as “the teaching of the Lord,” reminding us again that the message is from God and the apostles are His instruments, preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit (John 14:25–26). Sergius Paulus’ conversion marks a turning point in the apostles’ mission. Though he isn’t the first Gentile convert, he is the first recorded one with no background in Judaism. Paul here begins to implement his plan to approach the Gentiles directly with the Gospel message.53
Paul and his group sail from Paphos north to Perga in Pamphylia, and John Mark leaves them and returns to Jerusalem. They go north from Perga to Pisidian Antioch, in the Roman province of Galatia (not to be confused with Antioch in Syria, where they began their journey—see map). On the Sabbath, they enter the synagogue and sit down. After the customary reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue rulers invite them to speak “a word of encouragement for the people,” as visiting rabbis or teachers would frequently be asked to address the congregation.54 Paul stands up and addresses both the “men of Israel” and “you who fear God.” He intends to include both the ethnic Jews and those who have converted to Judaism or believe in the God of the Jews.
Paul’s speech, like Stephen’s, masterfully interweaves important lessons from the Old Testament into the Gospel message. He discusses the roughly 450-year period starting with the sojourn in Egypt (400 years), through the wilderness wanderings (forty years), until the conquest of Canaan under Joshua and the distribution of the land (ten years). He affirms that God chose Israel and protected the Israelites when they were in Egyptian captivity, where they multiplied. Then He led them out of Egypt, and they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. During the wilderness years, God “put up with” Israel, meaning He patiently endured their disobedience and remained with them. To prepare the land He had promised them, God destroyed the seven nations in Canaan. These nations are identified in Deuteronomy 7:1: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.55 Throughout, Paul emphasizes God’s sovereignty, identifying Him, not the people, as the Moving Force. God, not the Israelite army, defeated the Canaanites.56
This was followed by the period of the judges, until the prophet Samuel came onto the scene. The Israelites asked for a king and God gave them Saul, who reigned for forty years. Then God raised up David who was “a man after my heart, who will do all my will.” Interestingly, Paul doesn’t mention the third king of united Israel, David’s son Solomon, because his purpose here is to trace Jesus’ lineage back to David. So Paul declares that God brought to Israel from King David’s offspring “a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.” Paul is referring to the promise God made to David through His prophet Nathan, who said, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:12–16).
This promise was part of what theologians call the Davidic Covenant, in which God reaffirmed His promise to Abraham that his descendants will rule in Israel forever, and that He will establish a kingdom for Israel under kings in David’s line (Gen. 17:6–16; 35:11). With the Davidic Covenant, God provided the means by which the Abrahamic blessing will be fulfilled57—the Messiah would come from David’s line and God would establish His rule forever (cf. Isaiah 9:1–7, 11:1–5; Jer. 30:4–11; Ezek. 34:23–24, 37:24–25; Amos 9:11–15).
Other New Testament writers also identify Jesus as the eternal king who fulfills this promise. Matthew begins his Gospel describing Jesus Christ as “the son of David, the son of Abraham” (1:1), and other Gospel writers affirm it too. This theme is carried forward through the Book of Revelation, in which Christ is identified as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David … [who] has conquered …” (5:5). More important, Jesus identified Himself as such. In Revelation, He proclaimed, “I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star” (Rev. 22:16). Moreover, during His earthly ministry, Jesus said He would sit on His glorious eternal throne (Matt. 19:28–29) and that He possesses an imperishable kingdom (Luke 22:29–30; John 18:36).58
Paul proclaims that John the Baptist, who called the people of Israel to repentance, preceded Jesus. John identified himself as a prophet, expressly denying he was the Messiah. Surely having their rapt attention, Paul identifies with his audience and reels them in, addressing them as “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God.” He says that God has sent them—the Jews—the message of salvation, which is a distinct privilege. They missed it entirely, because they didn’t recognize the Messiah or understand the words of their own prophets, which are read every Sabbath. But in condemning Jesus, they fulfilled those prophecies themselves. Though they found Jesus innocent, especially of any offense warranting the death penalty, they asked Pilate to execute Him. After Jesus died at their hands, as the prophets foretold, they took Him down from the tree and buried Him. But God raised Him from the dead, and He appeared for many days to those who had accompanied Him during His earthly ministry and who are now His witnesses to the people.
This is the heart of Paul’s sermon, encapsulating the early Christian confession (or creed) that Paul includes in his first epistle to the Corinthians: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” (15:3–5).59 Throughout his sermon, Paul strives to connect with his audience, always demonstrating the continuity of God’s story and that Jesus is the One the prophets promised.
In the middle of his speech, as noted, Paul identifies with his audience by addressing them as “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.” He is not just being polite. He wants them to know they are the targets of God’s gift of salvation, and their eternal destiny depends on grasping this message. Now he invokes this message, saying, “And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’ ” Paul further quotes David (Psalm 16:10) predicting the resurrection: “You will not let your Holy One see corruption.”
Paul here echoes Peter’s words in his sermon at Pentecost, which we discussed earlier. David could not have been referring only to himself in this psalm because he, a mere mortal, did die, was buried, and his body decomposed.60 As Paul explains, “David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Let it be known to you, therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed from the law of Moses.” Sin enslaves us, and the Law cannot liberate us from its stranglehold or bring salvation, which can only come through faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul discusses this theme further in his epistle to the Galatians: “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith” (3:24–26). He further declares, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (5:1). Likewise, in his epistle to the Romans, Paul writes, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (8:1–4).
Paul closes his speech with a stern warning: “Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about: ‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’ ” These Old Testament prophets warned the people that unless they returned to God, they would be judged. Accordingly, after many chances, God finally exiled them to Babylon. Paul is adapting that message to his audience’s current predicament: God is offering them His grace, mercy, and forgiveness, but they must accept it or they will face His judgment and be spiritually exiled. Paul is plainly presenting them with the Gospel message: they must either believe or be judged.61
The people, deeply moved by the message, beg Paul to deliver the same message to them the next Sabbath. After the synagogue service is over, many Jews and Jewish converts follow Paul and Barnabas, who urge them to continue in God’s grace. Word of Paul’s sermon circulates among the people, and on the next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathers to hear God’s word. But the Jews, seeing the crowds, jealously begin to contradict and revile Paul. Undeterred, Paul and Barnabas speak out boldly, declaring that the Gospel first had to be given to the Jews. Since they rejected it, however, they have judged themselves unworthy of eternal life, and so Paul and Barnabas are now turning to the Gentiles. Note that they control their own fate, as if they have the keys to their jail cell of damnation. Hearing this, the Gentiles rejoice and glorify God’s Word, and many become believers.
The Gospel continues to spread throughout the entire region, but the recalcitrant Jews stir up hostility against Paul and Barnabas and drive them out of their district. Paul and Barnabas shake the dust from their feet against them and go on to Iconium. Paul is just doing what Jesus commanded of his disciples: “And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town” (Matt. 10:14; Luke 9:5; Mark 6:11). The disciples, beside themselves with gratitude, “were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”
The conversion of Gentiles marks a profound moment in the evolution of Christianity, immediately enabling the wider and faster spread of the Gospel. But this success comes at the price of stoking resistance among some early believers. The apostles work hard to navigate the resulting challenges, which will soon grow even more severe. Nevertheless, with Saul’s conversion, the Church has gained a powerful new voice to settle disputes, establish the faith’s doctrine, and spread the word of Jesus far and wide. Led and inspired by Paul’s indefatigable evangelism, the apostles are well on their way to fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission to spread the Gospel throughout the world.