Veni, Vidi, Vici

I came, I saw, I conquered

According to Plutarch, writing 150 years after the event, the message Julius Caesar sent to inform his friends in Rome that had decisively triumphed at the Battle of Zela, 47 BC—a decisive rout of the forces of Pharnaces II of Pontus in Northern Turkey

It was but a 5 day battle

In WWII, we had a similar catchy phrase, supposedly from a US Navy air unit, “sighted sub, sank same”

We could use a similar catchy thought for the first stage of this first missionary journey

They had “left the castle” and were entering the war zone, taking the message of the Gospel

They came to the Island of Cyprus; they proclaimed the Gospel to the people; the claimed a decisive victory for Christ on the Island

Noteworthy Notes

The sending force was the Holy Spirit

Though Antioch was the “sending church” as we might call it, it was the ministry of the Spirit—v. 4

That being the case, Paul was able to act in the power of the Spirit in pronouncing God’s judgment on Elymas

Cyprus is the 3rd largest island in the Med. Sea; about 140 miles E-W, 60 miles N-S

Mentioned throughout the OT

It had a high population of Jews; Barnabas was a native

One of the spots to which persecuted believers fled in 11:19, due to the persecution of Saul

They had John Mark with them; We met him in 12:12, and in 12:25, (John, also called Mark) when he travelled with Paul and Barnabas from Jerusalem to Antioch

Double naming not uncommon in that day (the same with Saulos, Paulos): A Jewish name for household use and a formal, Greek or Roman, name for business use

He was a cousin of Barnabas

Mark chose to leave them—likely the cause of a rift between Paul and Barnabas at a later date

Whatever the problem was, they got over it and Mark was favorably mentioned in Colossians;

He would become a travelling companion of Peter in later years

Almost undoubtedly the author of the second Gospel

They Came to the Island

Left the mainland from Seleucia,

Arrived at Salamis, preached in the synagogues—

Traveled, most likely along the southern coast, west to Paphos, at this time the major city of the island

They Proclaimed the Gospel

...preached in the synagogues of the Jews—no specific cities mentioned, no reports of any conversions, or even any conflict until...

They arrived at Paphos, and bumped into Elymas, AKA Bar-Jesus

Though by name, Jewish; by practice a pagan magician; Elymas may have been Arabic in origin, to mean magician

He seems to have been a person of influence in the life of Proconsul Sergius Paulus

Not an uncommon thing for a high-ranking politician, or other educated Roman, to have a sort of Spiritual advisor (soothsayer) on hand

A possibility that it was because of Sergius Paulus’ interest in the Jewish religion—even though he picked a poor example—a Jewish heretic: pseudoprohetes

A proconsul was a wise man who had served the Roman Republic in the office of Consul, and was then assigned to a role as governor of a province as a representative of the Emperor

Though 2 or 3 by that name are known from ancient inscriptions, we cannot be sure of the identity of this particular man

A smart man, he wished to hear the message of Saul and Barnabas, requested to see them, but the meeting was opposed by Elymas—trying to hold on to his influence with the Governor

We are not given the means by which Elymas opposed the message of the missionaries, only that it happened

Saul—here we get the name usage change—Paul faced him down, empowered by the Holy Spirit, called him out for what he was doing, and by the power of the Spirit, struck him with blindness

Interesting that when Saul encountered Christ, he was struck blind and when Elymas encountered Paul, he was struck blind; unlike Paul’s story, we have no account of repentance here

From this point on, Paul became the major player in the narrative of the book of Acts, under his Roman name, seemingly indicated that he had moved past his Jewish roots and was focused entirely on the mission to the Gentiles—even though he would generally start his work within the synagogues

They Claimed a Decisive Victory

The Conversion of the Proconsul by Raphael

With Elymas humbled, his authority debunked, Proconsul Sergius Paulus trusted in Christ

He has seen what happened and was “astonished at the teaching of the Lord”

The blinding of Elymas was likely the punctuation mark on the message Paul and Barnabas delivered

A quick stop here: Have you been astonished by the teaching of the Lord?

Astonished that the just, holy and righteous God would send His only one and only son to die for the sins of mankind…the sins of you…and the sins of me?

It would be wonderful to see from this that he went on to do great things for the Lord…but that would be pure speculation, not even “sanctified speculation” …so we leave the story there, and go into application

WITFM?

Before we wrap this up we remember that we’re dominantly preaching to believers here—those who have trusted Christ as savior and are moving into the realm of the battlefield

Comfort Zones

Though admittedly a bit speculative, we might sense that Cyprus was a logical place to go first since Barnabas was a native

There may be times God will allow you a measure of comfort in how and where He uses you; e.g., our first mission experience was to the law enforcement community, and Peggy worked with little kids, albeit in a nation that was totally foreign in both language and culture, thus with its own measure of stress

There have been more than a couple comfort zone violations in our history!

Proclaiming Requires Speaking

Stepping on some toes here, I’m sure

There was once a lot of talk about life-style evangelism

The concept being that living your life rightly will bring about conversions in those you meet

Not a new concept, St Francis of Assisi is cited as having said “Preach the Gospel always; when necessary, use words”

Lifestyle will open doors to conversation…and within this the proclamation of Word can occur…if people merely imitate the what of your life without knowing the why and the of your life, that good life is of no eternal significance

That said, you should be living your life as a light shining before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heave!

Long Periods Without Results

Though we have no definitive timeline, it must have been days or even weeks of going community to community, synagogue to synagogue preaching without recorded result…they didn’t stop and turn back

They understood their mission and kept working at it

At a later point in ministry, Paul would write in Philippians 3 14

Philippians 3:14 ESV

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

They understood the goal, to expand the Kingdom…and worked at it faithfully

We are never called to be successful, but to be faithful

Expect Conflict

Any preacher or church that promises the Christian life to be easy apparently has never read the NT…or has chosen to do the smorgas-Bible routine—take what you want and leave the rest

This event with Bar-Jesus was something rather low-level, compared to some of the other adventures

Whatever the conflict we hit, remember 1 John 4 4

1 John 4:4 (ESV)

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

All of us will encounter an Elymas here and there

It’s critically important to note that Paul recognized him for what he was NOT by his own power but by that of the Spirit;

Son of the devil

Enemy of all righteousness

Full of villainy and deceit

Making crocked the straight paths of the Lord

His sentence of blindness was also not of himself but of the same Spirit

There Will be Results

Stay the course, deliver the message Rom 1 16

Romans 1:16 (ESV)

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.

The simple truth of the Gospel: I am a sinner, I justly deserve the wrath of God, an eternity in Hell

God sent Jesus to die to pay that penalty; we must trust in Him, repent of our sins, …and follow Him