Acts 13:4-12 Saul and Barnabas
evangelize in Cyprus. The voyage from the port of Seleceucia near Antioch to
Paphos in Cyprus would have been approximately 190 km. Their first stop was in
some synagogues, but there is no discussion of the response of the Jews there
to the gospel. Paphos had a large enough Jewish population to have more than
one synagogue. Most likely they travelled overland from Paphos to Salamis, on
the far end of the island of Cyprus, a hike of perhaps 230 km. In Salamis we
have the first of many bizarre stories of things that happened to Paul on his
missionary journeys. First, we find that he was now called Paul, a name with
more Roman than Jewish connection. We should not forget that Paul was from
Tarsus, which had historically been important to the Romans and therefore he
was a Roman citizen by birth (see Acts 22:28).
The
Roman proconsul wanted to hear what Barnabas and Paul had to say. A Jewish
false magician wanted to turn this proconsul, Sergius Paulus, away from faith
in Christ. The comparison of Bar-Jesus or Elymas to Simon the sorcerer (Acts
8:18-25) leads to some questions. Did a lot of cities have men of Jewish
extraction who had turned to sorcery as a livelihood or an avocation? Perhaps
this was just symptomatic of the times. In Ecclesiastes 3:11, Solomon said that
God had put eternity in man's hearts. The false religions of the Greeks and
Romans provided no real substance for the soul; imagine trying to address
questions of eternity by reading Edith Hamilton's book on mythology! Judaism
had fallen into the hands of the Pharisees and priests who taught legalism; the
law was good and spiritual, but it could only bring death, not life, and it
could not fill the spiritual void. (Romans 7:5) But neither can false sorcery
fill the void in the soul than worship of nonexistent or false gods. If there
was some supernatural component to these men's wizardry, it doesn't really
address the eternal needs of men's souls, but it might give some glimmer of
connection to a world that all men sense but few touch. So it seems that men with false magical arts
stepped into the limelight to capitalize on this deep human need, but of
course, they could not meet it. Almost certainly they enjoyed and profited from
being in the limelight and preyed on the common people. Their marks, however,
most likely were aware that these false magicians did not offer anything to
meet their spiritual needs. Hence, Sergius Paulus wanted to hear what Barnabas
and Paul had to say. But Elymas the wizard didn't want to lose his position.
Paul,
under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, told Elymas that he would be blind for a
time. Interesting that this is essentially what happened to Paul back in Acts
9:8-9, and perhaps this was God's mercy in opening the door that Elymas might
also repent and turn to Jesus. That is not recorded in this passage. Sergius
Paulus believed, after seeing this happen, but he was amazed by the teaching of
Paul and Barnabas, presumably the presentation of the gospel message. And this
is the key point. Supernatural events may be from God or perhaps from other
sources. By themselves, even miraculous healings do not necessarily bring
people to Christ, although they may point the way, since the nature and
character of the miracles that God's witnesses bring reflect the nature and
character of God Himself. But it is the gospel, the introduction of a person to
Jesus Christ in faith, the establishment of a relationship between a person and
Jesus, that brings spiritual life, and addresses the hunger in each person's
heart for eternity. Nothing less will do. Even the Romans understood that.
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