Untitled Sermon (2)

opening statement

Acts 12:25 ESV

And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.

Acts 13:1–3 ESV

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 13

Luke now transitions away from the church in Jerusalem to focus on Saul’s missionary activity. The Holy Spirit commissions Barnabas and Saul at Antioch, initiating his first missionary journey. Saul will later be called Paul—the same Paul who wrote the NT letters.

The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) Chapter 13

Simeon … called Niger. His second name means “black” in Latin and he may have come from Africa. He may be the same as Simon of Cyrene (Luke 23:26), whose sons, Alexander and Rufus, were among the Christians at Rome (Mark 15:21; cf. Rom. 16:13).

Lucius of Cyrene. Cyrene was the capital of the Roman province of Cyrenaica (in modern Libya, North Africa). The ethnic variety among the church’s leadership at Antioch reflected the city’s demographic diversity.

a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch. Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, had beheaded John the Baptist and mocked Jesus, but the gospel captured the heart of one of his childhood companions, whose family must have been prominent in Roman Palestine.

13:2 the Holy Spirit said. He probably speaks through one or more of those worshiping and fasting prophets.

13:3 laid their hands on them. They officially place their hands on Barnabas and Saul in recognition of what the Holy Spirit has already done (v. 2) and what He is going to do in sending them out (v. 4; cf. 14:23; 1 Tim. 4:14), and to symbolize the solidarity of the church and its leaders with those now sent out from their midst to carry the gospel into new regions.

13:4 Seleucia. The port of Antioch, sixteen miles (26 km) west of Antioch.

Cyprus. An island in the Eastern Mediterranean, then inhabited largely by Greeks but also by many Jews.