Acts 13:4-12

You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy… (v. 10) I chuckle every time I read Paul’s description of Elymas. I’m sure Paul was referring to his deeds, not his actual person, but he has harsh words, nonetheless! Recall that Peter had met up with a magician/sorcerer named Simon back in chapter 8 and Peter had properly chastised him – much less harshly than Paul’s words to Elymas. And with Simon we saw some hint of repentance; we don’t see any of that with Elymas. He is struck blind and that’s where the text leaves him, being led about by the hand. But Sergius Paulus, the proconsul believed, and Elymas was his friend; maybe Elymas also turned to faith. We can only hope!

But Saul, who was also called Paul… (v. 9) Here we have the first occurrence of Saul’s name being changed to Paul – and Paul never again being referred to as Saul. We also see a change from here on (except while in Jerusalem) of the listing of “Barnabas and Saul” changing to “Paul and Barnabas”. Paul, in fact, is the lead figure for the entire rest of the book of Acts. The proconsul may have been Paul’s first convert – and that conversion may have forever changed Paul. GLORY!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 13:1-3

That’s quite a diversity of prophets in Antioch – hailing from Cyprus, Crete, Tarsus, Lybia?, and Judea?!

We have not heard much about Saul since his visit to Jerusalem and his going back home to Tarsus (9:26-30). It’s now been about ten years since his conversion. We saw that Barnabas went to Tarsus to bring him back to Antioch (11:25-26) and that they have now been there for a year or so, including their trip to Jerusalem to bring famine relief to the disciples in Jerusalem (11:29, 12:25). Now, from this point forward most of the rest of this book will be devoted to Saul.

My Study Bible pointed out that this missionary trip to which the disciples were sending Barnabas and Saul was not the result of a planning meeting – not a “vision, goals, and objectives” retreat – but the Holy Spirit responding to their worshiping, praying, and fasting. A model for all of us, for all time, for all ways…!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 12:20-25

Luke is fond of his “summary verses” (v. 24 today). We’ve already seen them in Acts 2:43-47, 4:32-35, 5:42, and we’ll see more in Acts 16:5, 19:20, 28:31.

(From yesterday: “He’ll get his.”) Today, Herod got his! An awful, excruciatingly painful five days (Josephus), then death. I know that Jesus loved him to the end, but I wonder at Jesus’ meeting with him at Herod’s personal judgment day. How does Jesus show love when one of our number has chosen to reject Him? Again, sad…

Earlier in this chapter we saw the first occurrence of the young man named “John Mark”, when Peter went to his mother’s house upon his miraculous escape from prison. We see him again today in verse 25: And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark. So here Mark begins his role as a traveling companion to Saul and his cousin, Barnabas. More on that in the next few days…

Slava Bohu!

Acts 12:11-19

…he <Peter> went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark. (v. 12) A footnote in my Study Bible indicated that Mary was Barnabas’ aunt – with a reference to Colossians 4:10. Looking there I find Paul referring to Barnabas and Mark as cousins. That lends some understanding to Paul and Barnabas splitting in Acts 15:36-39 when Paul heads off on his second missionary journey. Barnabas wanted to take his cousin, Mark along, but Paul refused; he and Barnabas then went off in different directions. There is substantial evidence later in Paul’s letters that their split was not permanent, but healed over time.

At the beginning of this chapter, Herod (Agrippa) has James killed and Peter imprisoned. Now later in the chapter an angel rescues Peter and Herod has the prison guards killed because his soldiers could not find Peter in the prison. Seems excessively harsh to me, but that was the nature of the man. He’ll get his.

Slava Bohu!

Acts 12:5-10

I’m wondering this morning if a movie has ever been made of Peter’s life. Think about it – a successful, prosperous fisherman, possibly with a number of employees, has his own comfy house in a leading Galilean city. Gets called by and follows Jesus and is in His company for one to three years; becomes a part of Jesus’ closest three who are witnesses to the Transfiguration and other miracles. Witness to Lazarus being raised, Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, and Gethsemane. Denies Jesus three times – absolute low point…!! Then the Resurrection and a number of appearances, again with Peter at the center of the activity. After the Ascension, Jesus is now gone and the Acts story centers on Peter for most of the first twelve chapters. Pentecost; Peter and John and the lame beggar before the Council; Ananias and Sapphira; imprisonment and release; he and John to Samaria; he and James meeting Paul; raising Dorcas; Cornelius and visions and conversions and all that; now again prison and release. And a few more appearances in Acts before non-Biblical sources finish out his life. What a story!!

Slip on his sandals and walk in his shoes for a while. Better yet, slip on your own shoes and walk back your own life. Thank the Lord for where He has taken you and to where He has brought you. We each have his or her own “glory story”. Tell it!!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 12:1-4

Luke writes a lot in these four verses: James is killed; the Jews are happy; Peter is imprisoned; and the disciples are praying (oops, one verse too many!). Here we see an identification for one of the three “James” names – this one the brother of John and son of Zebedee. We had already seen in Paul’s conversion in chapter 9 another “James” name, when Paul visited Jerusalem and met with Peter and “James, the Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:19). The third James is listed in the Gospels as “James, the son of Alphaeus” (Matthew 10:2, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15). If you will, there is also possibly a fourth, “James, the Lesser”, mentioned in all three Synoptic Gospels in conjunction with his mother Mary at the cross and resurrection (i.e., “…Mary, the mother of James, the Lesser and Joses”; Mark 15:40). So Luke unravels this mystery a bit – but only a bit!

He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (vv. 2-3) What bothers me here is “…he saw that it pleased the Jews…”. The Jewish leaders’ antagonism toward the Christians must have been very strong. Then later we have Herod …intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. (v. 4b) Sounds like a replay of Pilate bringing Jesus out before the people – who then denounced Him. Sad.

Only four verses, but again a lot packed in there…

Slava Bohu!

Acts 11:19-30

(Barnabas) …he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord. (v. 23b) Here we see Barnabas again encouraging the believers as he did when he gave proceeds from the sale of land (4:36-37) and when he affirmed Paul to the Jerusalem church (9:27). One of my favorite Bible characters…!

Barnabas was sent to Antioch by the Jerusalem leaders. When he arrived and surveyed the situation he immediately determined that he should find Saul and bring him. This again reflects Barnabas’ confidence in Saul’s conversion and his knowledge of Paul’s gifts. Paul was entirely literate, probably conversant in Greek and Aramaic, and was raised in the Roman city of Tarsus (modern Turkey). So he would have been well qualified to meet with those Hellenistic Christians in Antioch – a cosmopolitan city, third only to Rome and Alexandria in the Roman Empire. It’s amazing how God puts the people he needs in the places where they are needed. So ask yourself about yourself…? Are you where you are needed?

Slava Bohu!

Acts 11:1-18

In today’s reading Luke retells the Cornelius incident from the previous chapter, this time from Peter’s perspective as he related the incident to the Jerusalem faithful. I have often found it strange that Luke repeated the incident in such detail, even word-for-word quotations in verses 7-9 and in verse 13. On considering that today, I thought further in the book of Acts how often Luke focuses on the apostles’ mission to the Gentiles. We saw Philip’s ministry in chapter 8, now Peter’s ministry in Acts 10-11, and Paul and his companions’ ministry in Acts 13, ff. It’s an important item for Luke, and I began to wonder at his origin, wondering if he had been a Gentile himself. The Encyclopedia Britannica confirmed the likelihood of that possibility (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Luke). That will be something to watch for as we move forward.

Another item that struck me today was the Jerusalem apostles’ ready acceptance of Peter’s story and God’s work among the Gentiles. They seem completely confident of Peter’s leadership and their trust in God working through him. Our spiritual leaders today also need that affirmation – the challenges they face from within and from without are substantial. They need our prayers and support!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 10:34-48

Peter: Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him. (vv. 34-35) Obvious question: Gandhi…? My Study Bible goes on to point out that Cornelius “qualified” under this guideline, but that was not enough – He “lacked faith in Christ”. But they don’t go on to explain that caveat. I think my Study Bible notes were written by Baptists! I’d have rather they explained what was meant by “acceptable to Him”. But this item is a longer theological discussion…!!

God raised Him on the third day and made Him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. (vv. 40-41) The Gospels only report on Jesus’ appearances with His disciples, but in reading about these appearances I had never thought about Jesus not appearing to others beyond His disciples. But Peter makes it clear here that Jesus appeared only to His disciples, which begs the question – why did Jesus not appear to anyone except His disciples? I’m imagining the impact He might have had if He had appeared to Pontius Pilate or to Annas or Caiaphas or other influential Jewish leaders. Look at the impact He had on Paul – and on the entire Christian Church to this day – when He appeared to him. But please bear with me – with all that, it is always clear to me that I am not God!! He did what He did for His purposes. It was just an intriguing item that I had not considered before – why Jesus appeared only to His disciples…

And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. (v. 45) This is a striking outcome, completely unexpected by Peter and his friends. I posted yesterday about Cornelius’ “expectant faith” – his expectation that things would be done according to what he believed God was doing. So here we have an example of an “un-expectation” – God “showed up” in the form of the Holy Spirit and surprised Peter and his friends. So yesterday I posted about “expectant faith”. Now today we need to also consider “unexpectant faith” – God can and will show up when we least expect Him. That is, when there are “hard cases” out there where we don’t see any possibility for God to act – He can! I have two in mind right now and I will be praying for them as soon as I post this! Thank you, Lord!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 10:24-33

Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. (v. 24b) There are a couple of interesting items about this statement. First, Cornelius gathered all of those closest to him. So, (a) he must have had every expectation that Peter would come when he sent for him, and (b) he must have been expecting something special to occur when Peter arrived. The fact that an angel had appeared to him probably made it easier for him to have that confidence in Peter’s arrival and to bring his family and friends to his house.

Second, a bit of geography. Caesarea is about 30 miles north, up the coast from Joppa. Cornelius’ vision occurred around 3:00 pm and he sent his couriers out soon thereafter. They probably had a few hours travel that day and into the afternoon the next day before getting directions and arriving at Peter’s. Peter decided that it was too late to start back that same day so he gave the couriers the night to rest, taking off the next morning. They probably got most of the way to Caesarea that day and arrived probably mid- to late-morning or early afternoon at Cornelius’ house. So, reading between the lines, not only did Cornelius expect that Peter would answer his call, but he had every expectation of Peter’s relatively urgent response and fully expected the entourage to arrive sometime midday the fourth day, enough so that he could have his family and friends there when Peter arrived.

What I am pointing out with these observations here is more than simple faith on Cornelius’ part – it was EXPECTANT faith!! Cornelius fully expected that God would do whatever He would and that He would do it with little time lost. Cornelius went from God-fearing to God-trusting to God-active in his life. Cornelius sets a good example for us – so where is our expectant faith?

Slava Bohu!