The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 13-15:35
Summary
Chapter 13
Barnabas and Saul (&John Mark) sail to Cyprus where the First Mission begins. They continue across the Mediterranean to Galatia. Paul preaches in a synagogue in Pisidian Antioch. Paul and Barnabas address the Gentiles.
Chapter 14
Paul and Barnabas preach in Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. Paul heals a cripple. They have mixed receptions from Jews & Gentiles - the people are divided and frequently violent.
Chapter 15
Paul and Barnabas return to Jerusalem due to increasing controversy in the church. The ‘Council’ of Jerusalem is held. The early church resolves its first major crisis. Peter and James address the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. Representatives take a letter to the Gentile community.
An extract from chapter 13 vv1-3 The Mission sent out
In the church at Antioch the following were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. One day while the were offering worship to the Lord and keeping a fast, the Holy Spirit said, ‘I want Barnabas and Saul set apart for the work to which I have called them’. So it was that after fasting and prayer they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
- How do we discern our mission in life and does this always stay the same?
- Should we leave evangelisation to people with a special calling like Barnabas and Paul?
- Are we called to evangelise? If so, how do we go about fulfilling this in our every day lives?
An extract from chapter 13 vv44-47 Paul & Barnabas preach to the pagans
The next Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of God. When they saw the crowds, the Jews, prompted by jealousy, used blasphemies and contradicted everything Paul said. Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly. ‘We had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you have rejected it, since you do not think yourselves worthy of eternal life, we must turn to the pagans. For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said: ‘I have made you a light for the nations, so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.’
- Does the strong language Paul uses mean that God has abandoned the chosen people because of their unbelief? (That interpretation has been the first step of Christian anti- Semitism).
- When we have doubts, do we feel that God has abandoned us ?
An extract from Chapter 14 vv8-18 Healing of a cripple
…..Seeing that the man had the faith to be cured, Paul said in a loud voice, ‘Get to your feet-stand up’, and the cripple jumped up and began to walk. When the crowd saw what Paul had done they shouted ...“These people are gods who have come down to us disguised as men.’ They addressed Barnabas as Zeus, and since Paul was the principal speaker they called him Hermes…When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening they tore their clothes, and rushed into the crowd, shouting, ‘Friends, what do you think you are doing? We are only human beings like you. We have come with good news to make you turn from these empty idols to the living God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that these hold’… Even this speech, however, was scarcely enough to stop the crowd offering them sacrifice.
- The crowd has put Paul and Barnabas on a pedestal. Do we do this with people today?
An extract from chapter 15vv1-12Controversy at Antioch & Jerusalem. Peter’s address.
Then some men come down from Judea and taught the brothers, ‘Unless you have yourselves circumcised in the tradition of Moses you cannot be saved.’ This led to disagreement, and after Paul and Barnabas had had a long argument with these men it was arranged that Paul and Barnabas and others of the church should go up to Jerusalem and discuss the problem with the apostles and elders. All the members of the church saw them off… When they arrived in Jerusalem…The apostles and elders met to look into the matter, and after the discussion had gone on a long time Peter stood up and addressed them.
‘My brothers,’ he said ‘you know perfectly well that in the early days God made his choice among you: the pagans were to learn the Good News from me and so became believers. In fact God, who can read everyone’s heart, showed his approval of them by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he had to us. God made no distinction between them and us, since he purified their hearts by faith. It would only provoke God’s anger now, surely, if you imposed on the disciples the very burden that neither we nor our ancestors were strong enough to support? Remember, we believe that we are saved in the same way as they are: through the grace of the Lord Jesus.’ This silenced the entire assembly, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul describing the wonders God had worked through them and among the pagans.
- This was the first major crisis of the fledgling church. How serious was the problem?
- What recent experience is likely to have influenced Peter’s stance?
An extract from chapter 15 vv 13-31 James’ speech & the apostolic letter
When they had finished it was James who spoke. ‘My brothers’, he said listen to me. ‘Simeon has described how God first arranged to enlist a people for his name out of the pagans. This is entirely in harmony with the words of the prophets, since the scriptures say: “ After that I shall return and rebuild the fallen House of David; I shall rebuild it from its ruins and restore it. Then the rest of mankind, all the pagans who are consecrated to my name, will look for the Lord, says the Lord who made this known so long ago.” ‘ I rule, then, that instead of making things more difficult for pagans who turn to God, we send them a letter telling them merely to abstain from anything polluted by idols, from fornication, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood’….Then the apostles and elders decided to choose delegates to send to Antioch with and Barnabas; the whole church concurred with this. They chose Judas known as Barsabbas and Silas, both leading men in the brotherhood, and gave them this letter to take with them: ‘The apostles and elders, your brothers, send greetings to the brothers of pagan birth in Antioch ,Syria and Cilicia .We hear that some of our members have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds. They acted without any authority from us; and so we have decided unanimously to elect delegates and send them to you with Barnabas and Paul, men we highly respect who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accordingly we are sending you Judas and Silas, who will confirm by word of mouth what we have written in this letter. It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burdens beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols; from blood, from meat of strangled animals and from fornication. Avoid these and you will do what is right.. Farewell’. ….The community read it and were delighted with the encouragement it gave them.
1. What key recommendations did James suggest to resolve the crisis? Do these rules still apply to Christians today? 2 How skilful was James’ contribution in achieving reconciliation between the two communities? Have we anything to learn from his approach to resolving conflict ? 3 As Catholics what are the main ‘rules and rituals’ we need to hold on to as essential in our faith. 4 What restrictions do we impose on others which prevent Christian inclusion?