Barnabas and Saul Commissioned
1 Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2 While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
v.1: The leadership team at Antioch is extraordinary in its diversity. Barnabas is a Levite from Cyprus (4:36). Simeon called Niger (“Black”) was likely a dark-skinned African; some have speculated he is Simon of Cyrene who carried Jesus’s cross, though this is uncertain. Lucius of Cyrene is from North Africa (modern Libya). Manaen (Μαναήν, the Greek form of the Hebrew Menahem) had been “brought up with” (σύντροφος, syntrophos — “foster-brother,” “childhood companion”) Herod Antipas, the tetrarch who beheaded John the Baptist and mocked Jesus. A childhood friend of the Herod family is now a leader in the church. And Saul, the former persecutor from Tarsus. The list spans Africa, the Middle East, the Jewish establishment, the Roman political elite, and the former opposition. No single church leader in the New Testament could have assembled this group. Only Antioch — the cosmopolitan, boundary-crossing, mixed community — could produce this leadership.
λειτουργούντων τῷ κυρίῳ (leitourgountōn tō kyriō) — v.2: “Ministering to the Lord” — the verb λειτουργέω (leitourgeō, from which we get “liturgy”) is a formal worship term. In the Septuagint it describes the priestly service in the temple. The Antioch leaders are engaged in worship and fasting when the Spirit speaks. The missionary impulse arises out of worship, not out of strategic planning. The Spirit’s command is direct: “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul.” The pronoun “for me” (δή, dē — emphatic) claims ownership of the mission: this is the Spirit’s work, and they are the Spirit’s chosen instruments. The phrase “the work to which I have called them” implies a prior calling now being activated — Saul’s commission on the Damascus road (9:15) and Barnabas’s lifelong trajectory of obedience are now converging.
v.3: The commissioning follows the pattern established throughout Acts: fasting, prayer, and the laying on of hands (cf. 6:6). But the nature of this commissioning is striking. The Antioch church does not send Barnabas and Saul on its own initiative; it responds to the Spirit’s command. And it does not send them as employees under church authority; it releases them for work the Spirit has defined. The church’s role is confirmation and support, not control. The missionaries are accountable to the Spirit who called them, through the community that confirmed the call.
On Cyprus: Bar-Jesus the Magician
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
5 When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper.
6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus,
7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.
8 But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
9 But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him,
10 and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?
11 Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.
12 Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.
v.4: Luke attributes the sending to the Holy Spirit, not to the Antioch church: “sent out by the Holy Spirit.” The church laid hands on them (v.3), but the Spirit sent them (v.4). The distinction matters: the mission belongs to God. They sail first to Cyprus — Barnabas’s home island (4:36). The choice is logical: start in familiar territory with existing connections.
v.5: They begin in the synagogues. This will be Paul’s consistent pattern throughout his mission: go to the synagogue first, preach to Jews and God-fearers, and then turn to the wider Gentile population when the synagogue rejects the message. The pattern fulfills the principle of Romans 1:16: “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” John Mark accompanies them as “helper” (ὑπηρέτην, hypēretēn — “assistant,” “attendant”).
vv.6–7: At Paphos, the western capital of Cyprus and seat of the Roman governor, they encounter Bar-Jesus (“Son of Jesus/Joshua” — an ironic name for a false prophet opposing the real Jesus). He is a Jewish magician attached to the court of Sergius Paulus, the Roman proconsul. Luke’s description of Sergius Paulus as “a man of intelligence” (ἀνδρὶ συνετῷ, andri synetō) is significant: the proconsul is not a gullible fool taken in by magic but a thoughtful man who actively seeks to hear the word of God. The Sergii Pauli are attested in Roman inscriptions from both Cyprus and Pisidian Antioch, lending historical plausibility to Luke’s account.
Σαῦλος δέ, ὁ καὶ Παῦλος (Saulos de, ho kai Paulos) — v.9: “Saul, who was also known as Paul” — this is the moment of the name transition, and Luke handles it with characteristic understatement. He does not explain the change; he simply introduces the Roman name alongside the Hebrew one. Many Jews of the diaspora carried both a Jewish name and a Roman or Greek name. Saul (שָׁאוּל, Sha’ul) was his Jewish name; Paul (Paulus) was his Roman name, possibly chosen for its phonetic similarity to Saul or possibly a family name connected to Roman citizenship. From this point forward, Luke will use only “Paul.” The shift coincides with his engagement with the Roman world: as he confronts a Roman official on a Roman island, his Roman identity comes to the fore. The persecutor Saul has become the apostle Paul.
v.9: Note also the change in order: until now, Luke has written “Barnabas and Saul”; from this point forward, it will typically be “Paul and Barnabas.” The leadership has shifted. Barnabas was the senior figure; Paul is now taking the lead. The transition happens without announcement, drama, or conflict — Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement, yields gracefully to the partner he recruited.
vv.10–11: Paul’s denunciation of Elymas is fierce and concentrated: “full of all deceit and fraud” (πλήρης παντὸς δόλου καὶ ρἁδιουργίας, “full of every guile and villainy”), “son of the devil” (υἱὲ διαβόλου), “enemy of all righteousness” (ἐχθρὲ πάσης δικαιοσύνης). The accusation of “making crooked the straight ways of the Lord” echoes Isaiah 40:3–4 and Hosea 14:9 — the false prophet is distorting the path God has straightened. The punishment is blindness — “for a time” (ἄχρι καιροῦ, achri kairou), suggesting it is corrective, not permanent. Paul, who was himself blinded on the Damascus road and then given sight, now pronounces blindness on a man who opposes the truth. The parallel is not accidental: Paul knows what blinding revelation feels like, and the temporary blindness is an invitation to the same transformation.
v.12: The proconsul believes. This is the first recorded conversion of a Roman official in Paul’s ministry. Luke notes that he was “amazed at the teaching of the Lord” — not primarily at the miracle but at the teaching. The sign confirms the message, but it is the message that produces faith.
Arrival at Pisidian Antioch
13 Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.
14 But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.
15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”
ἀποχωρήσας ἀπ’ αὐτῶν (apochorēsas ap’ autōn) — v.13: “John left them and returned to Jerusalem.” Luke records the departure without explanation. The verb ἀποχωρέω (apochorēō, “to withdraw,” “to depart”) is neutral, but Paul will later characterize this departure harshly enough to refuse to take Mark on the second journey (15:38, where the word is ἀποστάντα, apostanta, “deserted”). Why Mark left is never stated. Possible reasons: homesickness, fear of the dangerous terrain ahead (the journey from Perga to Pisidian Antioch crossed the Taurus Mountains, notorious for bandits), discomfort with the shift toward Gentile ministry, or the change in leadership from his relative Barnabas to Paul. Whatever the reason, this departure will cause the Barnabas-Paul split in 15:36–40, one of the most painful moments in the apostolic era.
v.14: Pisidian Antioch (not the same as Syrian Antioch) was a Roman colony in the province of Galatia, in the highlands of central Turkey. It was a military and administrative center situated on the Via Sebaste, the major Roman road through the region. The journey from Perga on the coast to Pisidian Antioch was approximately 100 miles through rugged mountain terrain, climbing over 3,600 feet in elevation. Paul’s later reference to “dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers” (2 Corinthians 11:26) may include this journey.
v.15: The synagogue service provides the setting for Paul’s sermon. The standard Sabbath liturgy included readings from the Torah (the Law) and the Prophets (the Haftarah), followed by an invitation for visiting teachers to offer a “word of exhortation” (λόγος παρακλήσεως, logos paraklēseōs — the same phrase used in Hebrews 13:22 for the entire letter to the Hebrews). The synagogue officials (ἀρχισυνάγωγοι, archisynagōgoi) extend the customary invitation to the visiting Jews. They have no idea what they are about to hear.
Paul’s Sermon: Israel’s History
16 Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:
17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm he led them out from it.
18 For a period of about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.
19 When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he distributed their land as an inheritance — all of which took about four hundred and fifty years.
20 After these things he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
22 After he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, concerning whom he also testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’
23 From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior — Jesus,
v.16: Paul addresses two groups: “Men of Israel” (ethnic Jews) and “you who fear God” (οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν θεόν, God-fearers — Gentile sympathizers who attend the synagogue). The double address is repeated in v.26. Paul is speaking to a mixed audience, and his sermon will move from the particular (Israel’s history) to the universal (salvation for all who believe).
vv.17–22: Paul’s historical survey is compressed compared to Stephen’s in chapter 7, covering from the patriarchs to David in seven verses. The trajectory is purposeful: each stage leads closer to the climactic figure. Egypt, exodus, wilderness, conquest, judges, Saul, David — and then from David, in a single sentence, to Jesus (v.23). The entire history of Israel is presented as a straight line pointing to one destination.
ἐτροποφόρησεν (etrophorēsen) — v.18: “He put up with them” — the best manuscripts read ἐτροποφόρησεν (etrophorēsen, “he bore with their ways,” “he endured their conduct”). A variant reading, ἐτροφοφόρησεν (etrophoforēsen, “he nourished/cared for them”), differs by a single letter and has the opposite tone: patient endurance versus tender care. Both readings capture aspects of God’s relationship with Israel in the wilderness. The textual ambiguity may be intentional: God both endured Israel’s rebellion and nourished them through it.
ἄνδρα κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν μου (andra kata tēn kardian mou) — v.22: “A man after my heart” — Paul quotes a composite of Psalm 89:20, 1 Samuel 13:14, and Isaiah 44:28. David is the crucial link: God testified about David, and from David’s line comes the Savior. The phrase “who will do all my will” (ὃς ποιήσει πάντα τὰ θελήματά μου) describes David but points beyond him: David’s greater son will fulfill God’s will completely.
v.23: The arrival of Jesus is stated with deliberate understatement: “From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior — Jesus.” The whole history of Israel has been building to this name. “According to promise” (κατ’ ἐπαγγελίαν, kat’ epangelian) anchors Jesus in the covenant promises made to Abraham, Moses, and David. He is not an innovation; he is a fulfillment.
Paul’s Sermon: The Death and Resurrection of Jesus
24 after John had proclaimed before his coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
25 And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose I am? I am not he. But behold, one is coming after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’
26 “Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.
27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him or understand the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.
28 And though they found no ground for putting him to death, they asked Pilate that he be executed.
29 When they had carried out all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.
30 But God raised him from the dead;
31 and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now his witnesses to the people.
32 And we proclaim to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers,
33 that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that he raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’
34 As for the fact that he raised him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, he has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’
35 Therefore he also says in another Psalm, ‘You will not allow your Holy One to undergo decay.’
36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers, and underwent decay;
37 but he whom God raised did not undergo decay.
vv.24–25: Paul introduces John the Baptist as the herald who preceded Jesus. John’s testimony is significant for a synagogue audience because John was widely recognized as a prophet. Paul uses John’s own disclaimer — “I am not he” — to point beyond John to Jesus. The witness of a recognized prophet provides credibility for the claim that follows.
v.27: Paul’s handling of the crucifixion is carefully calibrated for a diaspora audience: “Those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers” did this — they, not you. The guilt is placed on the Jerusalem establishment, not on the Jews of Pisidian Antioch. But the irony is devastating: by condemning Jesus, the Jerusalem leaders “fulfilled” (ἐπλήρωσαν, eplērōsan) the very prophecies they read every Sabbath. They heard the Scriptures week after week and failed to recognize their own role in the story. The reading of Scripture became the script for their unwitting obedience to it.
v.29: “They took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.” Paul compresses the narrative: the “they” who buried Jesus are presented as the same “they” who condemned him, though historically it was Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who performed the burial. The compression serves Paul’s rhetorical purpose: everything the opponents did to Jesus — all of it — was “all that was written concerning him.” Their hostility fulfilled prophecy.
v.30: “But God raised him from the dead.” The adversative “but” (ὁ δὲ θεός, ho de theos — “but God”) is the hinge of the sermon, as it was the hinge of Peter’s sermons. Humans condemned; but God raised. The pattern is identical to Peter’s Pentecost sermon (2:23–24) and Solomon’s Portico speech (3:15). It is the earliest and most fundamental structure of Christian preaching: you killed him; God raised him.
υἱός μου εἶ σύ, ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε (huios mou ei sy, egō sēmeron gegennēka se) — v.33: “You are my Son; today I have begotten you” — Paul quotes Psalm 2:7, interpreting the “begetting” as the resurrection. The “today” of the psalm is the day of resurrection — the moment when Jesus is declared Son of God in power (cf. Romans 1:4). Paul does not apply this to Jesus’s eternal preexistence or his birth; he applies it specifically to the resurrection, which is the public, definitive declaration of Jesus’s identity.
vv.34–37: Paul’s argument from Psalm 16:10 (“You will not allow your Holy One to undergo decay”) follows exactly the same logic Peter used at Pentecost (2:25–31). David died and decayed; therefore David was not speaking about himself. David spoke prophetically about someone who would die but not decay: Jesus, whom God raised before decomposition could begin. The argument is cumulative: Psalm 2 (the Son), Isaiah 55:3 (the sure blessings of David, v.34), and Psalm 16 (no decay) all converge on the resurrection of Jesus. Paul’s sermon is a web of Scripture pointing to a single event.
Paul’s Sermon: Forgiveness and Warning
38 “Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,
39 and through him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.
40 Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you:
41 ‘Behold, you scoffers, and marvel, and perish; for I am accomplishing a work in your days, a work which you will never believe, though someone should describe it to you.’”
v.38: “Through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you” — Paul arrives at the application. The historical narrative, the scriptural arguments, and the resurrection testimony all converge on this announcement: forgiveness is available through Jesus.
ἀπὸ πάντων ὡν οὐκ ἠδυνήθητε ἐν νόμῳ Μωϋσέως δικαιωθῆναι (apo pantōn hōn ouk ēdynesthe en nomō Mōyseōs dikaiothēnai) — v.39: “Everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.” This is the most Pauline verse in any of Paul’s speeches in Acts. The verb δικαιόω (dikaioō, “to justify,” “to declare righteous,” “to free”) is the key term of Romans and Galatians. Paul is saying that faith in Jesus accomplishes what the Law of Moses could not: complete justification, total freedom from guilt. The Law could diagnose sin but could not cure it. The Law could reveal the standard but could not provide the power to meet it. Jesus does what the Law could not do. This sentence is the seed of everything Paul will later write to the Galatians and the Romans.
v.41: Paul closes with a warning from Habakkuk 1:5 (following the Septuagint). The original prophecy warned that God was about to do something unbelievable — raising up the Babylonians as instruments of judgment. Paul applies it to his own moment: God is doing something unbelievable again (raising the dead, including Gentiles in the covenant), and the danger is not that the audience will disagree but that they will simply refuse to believe it. The warning against being “scoffers” who “perish” gives the sermon a sharp edge: the good news is real, but rejection has consequences.
The Response: Acceptance and Rejection
42 As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them the next Sabbath.
43 Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in the grace of God.
44 The next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord.
45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming.
46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.
47 For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the end of the earth.’”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
49 And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region.
50 But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.
51 But they shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
52 And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
vv.42–44: The initial response is enthusiastic: the crowd begs for more, many follow Paul and Barnabas for further instruction, and the following Sabbath “nearly the whole city” shows up. The interest is massive. But this very success triggers the opposition.
ζήλου (zēlou) — v.45: “Filled with jealousy” — the same word (ζῆλος) used of the Sadducees in 5:17 and of Joseph’s brothers in 7:9. The pattern is consistent: religious insiders become jealous when outsiders respond to God’s message. The synagogue leaders are not primarily troubled by Paul’s theology; they are troubled by the crowds of Gentiles streaming into their community. The threat is social as much as theological: if Gentiles can receive salvation without becoming Jewish, the distinctiveness of the Jewish community is undermined.
v.46: Paul’s declaration is one of the most programmatic statements in Acts: “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first.” The word “necessary” (ἀναγκαῖον, anankaion) reflects the theological priority of Israel: the gospel comes to the Jew first (Romans 1:16). But since the synagogue rejects it, Paul and Barnabas turn to the Gentiles. The phrase “you judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life” (οὐκ ἀξίους κρίνετε ἑαυτοὺς) is powerfully ironic: they have not been judged unworthy by God; they have judged themselves unworthy by rejecting the message.
φῶς ἐθνῶν ... σωτηρίαν ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς (phōs ethnōn ... sōtērian heōs eschatou tēs gēs) — v.47: Paul quotes Isaiah 49:6, one of the Servant Songs: “I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the end of the earth.” The original prophecy addressed the Servant of the Lord. Paul applies it to himself and Barnabas as participants in the Servant’s mission. The phrase “to the end of the earth” (ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς) echoes Acts 1:8, where Jesus said the disciples would be his witnesses “to the end of the earth.” The programmatic verse of Acts 1:8 is being fulfilled through Paul’s Gentile mission.
ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον (hosoi ēsan tetagmenoi eis zōēn aiōnion) — v.48: “As many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” The verb τάσσω (tassō) means “to arrange,” “to assign,” “to appoint.” The passive voice (τεταγμένοι, tetagmenoi) implies that someone did the appointing, and that someone is God. This is one of the strongest predestination statements in Acts: belief is not presented here as purely autonomous human choice but as the response of those whom God had appointed. Luke states both divine appointment and human belief without resolving the tension between them — exactly as he does throughout Luke-Acts.
v.50: The opposition mobilizes through social networks: “devout women of prominence” (likely God-fearing Gentile women connected to the synagogue and married to influential men) and “leading men of the city.” The synagogue uses its social connections to the civic elite to instigate official persecution. This pattern — religious opposition leveraging political power — will recur throughout Paul’s journeys.
v.51: “Shook off the dust of their feet” — a Jewish gesture of disassociation, treating the place as pagan territory (cf. Jesus’s instruction in Luke 9:5, 10:11). Paul and Barnabas move on to Iconium, 80 miles to the southeast. The rejection at one city launches the mission to the next.
v.52: The chapter’s final verse is striking: “the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” Not the missionaries — the disciples, the new converts left behind in Pisidian Antioch. Paul and Barnabas have been driven out, but the church they planted is thriving. The preachers can be expelled; the community they created remains, full of joy and the Spirit. The word, once planted, survives the departure of the planter.
General Notes on the Chapter
Acts 13 marks the beginning of the second half of Acts. The first half (chapters 1–12) was centered in Jerusalem with Peter as the dominant figure. The second half (chapters 13–28) is centered in the Gentile world with Paul as the protagonist. The transition is complete: the church at Antioch commissions the mission (vv.1–3), Paul takes the lead from Barnabas (v.9), and the synagogue rejection at Pisidian Antioch establishes the pattern that will define Paul’s entire career — preach to Jews first, then turn to Gentiles when the synagogue rejects the message.
Paul’s sermon at Pisidian Antioch (vv.16–41) is the first of his major speeches in Acts and serves as the template for his synagogue preaching. The structure is clear: (1) a historical survey leading to Jesus (vv.17–23), (2) the death and resurrection of Jesus supported by multiple scriptural citations (vv.24–37), and (3) the offer of forgiveness and a warning against rejection (vv.38–41). The speech shares much with Peter’s sermons in chapters 2–3 — the same basic structure, the same Psalm 16 argument about David’s decay, the same “you killed him / God raised him” pattern. But Paul adds a distinctly Pauline element in v.39: justification by faith beyond what the Law could accomplish. The core gospel is shared; the theological development is Paul’s own.
The turn to the Gentiles in v.46 is the decisive moment of the chapter and one of the most consequential declarations in Acts. Paul does not abandon Jewish ministry entirely (he will continue going to synagogues in every new city), but he establishes the principle: when the synagogue rejects the gospel, the missionaries turn to the Gentile population. The Isaiah 49:6 quotation provides the scriptural basis: the Servant’s mission was always intended to reach the Gentiles and extend to the end of the earth. The Jewish rejection, painful as it is, becomes the occasion for the fulfillment of the prophets’ own vision.
The Antioch leadership list (v.1) deserves final reflection. A Cypriot Levite, a Black African, a North African, a foster-brother of a Herod, and a former persecutor from Tarsus. This is the community that launched the Gentile mission. The diversity of the sending church anticipated the diversity of the churches that would be planted. The gospel came from the most cosmopolitan church of its era, carried by leaders whose own backgrounds demonstrated that every boundary had already been crossed. The missionary impulse grew from the soil of a community that had already experienced what it was about to proclaim: that in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, but one new humanity.