§40 Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15:36–41)

The outcome of the council naturally gave added impetus to the spread of the gospel. Paul and Barnabas would have had no doubts that their earlier decision to go to the Gentiles had been the right one, but to have the approval now of the other apostles and the elders of the church in Jerusalem must have been as encouraging for them as for their converts. A “second missionary journey” was therefore proposed. But they were destined not to make it together. A difference of opinion between them led to each going his separate way. Barnabas went to Cyprus, and we hear no more of him in Acts. Paul remains the focus of attention as he returns to Galatia and then embarks on a new enterprise.

15:36 / Some time later, probably as spring approached and it again became possible to travel, Paul suggested to Barnabas that they should revisit the brothers in all the towns of their previous journey. Nothing more than this is suggested, but it may already have been Paul’s intention to start a new work once this visitation was done.

15:37–39 / But when it came to planning the journey, they could not see eye to eye on whether Mark should go with them again. Barnabas wanted to take him (aorist tense), Paul did not want to take him [present tense, i.e., as a continuing member of the missionary team, liable at any time to desert them], because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work (v. 38). In the original account of Mark’s defection (13:13), a different word is used—a neutral term that means simply “to go away.” The expression here (from the Greek word, we get “apostate”) has more the sense of “disloyalty.” A sharp disagreement ensued (v. 39, Gk. paroxysmos) that resulted in the two friends parting company. It is possible that there was more to the quarrel than Luke has told us. The incident of Galatians 2:11–14 may have occurred at this time, in which Barnabas as well as Peter vacillated on the question of eating with Gentile believers. The matter seems to have been quickly settled (but see Dunn, Unity, p. 254), but the memory of it may have remained to exacerbate this present dispute.

So it was that two missionary expeditions instead of one set out from Antioch (cf. Ps. 76:10). The work of visitation was divided between them, with Barnabas going to Cyprus and taking Mark with him. His concern in this incident was probably for Mark’s welfare; whereas Paul’s concern was for the work, and he was afraid that Mark might be a hindrance. Happily the breach between them was healed in time. Paul refers to Barnabas in friendly terms in 1 Corinthians 9:6 and Colossians 4:10 and in a way that implies that Barnabas was known to those churches. Perhaps the two worked together again, though Acts makes no mention of it. Similarly with Mark: Paul later speaks of him with approval as one of the few who had helped him (Col. 4:10f.; Philem. 24), and it was Mark (together with Timothy) that he wanted close to him at the end of his life (2 Tim. 4:11).

15:40–41 / In place of Barnabas Paul took with him Silas, and with the church’s blessing (cf. v. 40 with 14:26), they set out by land for the cities of southern Galatia. Silas now assumed the role of “supporting cast” that Barnabas had played, though he would never attain the stature of Barnabas. He is never called an apostle (cf. 14:14). He may have commended himself to Paul for two reasons: his readiness to deal sympathetically with the Gentile believers and his possession (implied in 16:37) of Roman citizenship. That no mention is made of Barnabas and Mark being similarly sent out with a blessing means nothing except that Paul is now the center of Luke’s attention.

As they journeyed to Galatia, Paul and Silas had the opportunity to visit as many churches of Syria-Cilicia as lay on their route, some of which Paul himself may have had a hand in establishing (see disc. on 9:30; 11:25). Luke again uses the word that suggests that this was a “preaching tour” (v. 41; see disc. on 8:4), and in this way (together with the reading of the letter from the council) these churches were strengthened (cf. v. 32; 14:22). Thus, by way of Tarsus and the Cilician Gates the missionaries made their way westward.