BRUCE C WEARNE looks at what Acts 12 tells us about how the Holy Spirit was working among people in places other than Jerusalem…
But the word of God still grew and multiplied. And when Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem having fulfilled their mission, they brought John along with them, the one whose other name was Mark. –Acts 12:24-25/transliteration by Bruce C Wearne
AND SO THE SPIRIT SPREADS: Bruce C Wearne says Acts 12 shows how “new centres of activity developed from which…new ventures and missions could be undertaken”. PICTURE: www.freeimages.com
IN A NUTSHELL
Barnabas, the Levite, and Saul the Pharisee, returned to Antioch with Mark.
The word “from” has been replaced in some very ancient manuscripts by the word “to” as in “to Jerusalem”. If “to” is right then Saul and Barnabas, with Mark, had a mission somewhere else. That does not square with what Luke has written and it is most likely a copyist’s error caused by an assumption in the earliest days of the church that all movement revolved around Jerusalem.
In fact, it didn’t, and Luke seems to go to some length in explaining why. Often the Christian mission has been viewed as from Jerusalem to other centres. In such a view it is not easy to understand how other places had a mission to Jerusalem. But Luke is telling us just that. As God’s Spirit was poured out, so new centres of activity developed from which, under the same Spirit’s guidance, new ventures and missions could be undertaken. The “mission” of Saul and Barnabas consisted in coming up to Jerusalem from Antioch, bringing with them the resources collected to help their fellow believers in that time of famine.
At the end of chapter 11 Luke tells us they did this in response to the prophecy of Agabus; at the end of chapter 12, their return to Antioch is noted. It is fair to assume that during their time in Jerusalem, Agrippa murdered James and arrested Peter. So it is not far-fetched to suggest that they were present when Peter knocked on the door of the house of Mark’s mother after the angel had engineered his escape from prison.
John Mark was the nephew of Barnabas, a Levite from Cyprus. Luke seems to be indicating to his readers how his two books are related to the Gospel of Mark. The believers in Antioch, Jew and Gentile, stood in need of well-documented eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ ministry among His disciples. And so did Barnabas and Saul. Mark was very useful to them in a number of ways.
When Luke says, “they returned from Jerusalem”, it seems Luke is giving us the “Antioch point of view”. He then recounts how the church there commissioned Saul and Barnabas to take the Good News throughout that Gentile region. Luke has also just recounted how the Antioch church supported the Christians in Judea. We also have heard of Peter’s disciplined explanation of his attitude to Gentile believers after the Holy Spirit’s outpouring at the house of Cornelius.
Later, when Saul had changed his name to Paul, he and Barnabas returned to Jerusalem to address the circumcision controversy in their churches. It seems clear that Paul was referring to Acts 15 in Galatians 2:9-10, but it is possible that as they left Jerusalem for Antioch they had even then been sent with Apostolic approval for their mission to the Gentiles. Maybe, just maybe, they had briefly met Peter in Mark’s mother’s house that night.
It was the Holy Spirit’s guidance which helped Luke write his books. Mark’s Gospel was also an important document for the ongoing work.
OPEN BOOK – HINTS FROM THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS: SAUL AND UNCLE BARNABAS TAKE MARK
BRUCE C WEARNE looks at what Acts 12 tells us about how the Holy Spirit was working among people in places other than Jerusalem…
But the word of God still grew and multiplied. And when Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem having fulfilled their mission, they brought John along with them, the one whose other name was Mark. –Acts 12:24-25/transliteration by Bruce C Wearne
AND SO THE SPIRIT SPREADS: Bruce C Wearne says Acts 12 shows how “new centres of activity developed from which…new ventures and missions could be undertaken”. PICTURE: www.freeimages.com
IN A NUTSHELL
Barnabas, the Levite, and Saul the Pharisee, returned to Antioch with Mark.
The word “from” has been replaced in some very ancient manuscripts by the word “to” as in “to Jerusalem”. If “to” is right then Saul and Barnabas, with Mark, had a mission somewhere else. That does not square with what Luke has written and it is most likely a copyist’s error caused by an assumption in the earliest days of the church that all movement revolved around Jerusalem.
In fact, it didn’t, and Luke seems to go to some length in explaining why. Often the Christian mission has been viewed as from Jerusalem to other centres. In such a view it is not easy to understand how other places had a mission to Jerusalem. But Luke is telling us just that. As God’s Spirit was poured out, so new centres of activity developed from which, under the same Spirit’s guidance, new ventures and missions could be undertaken. The “mission” of Saul and Barnabas consisted in coming up to Jerusalem from Antioch, bringing with them the resources collected to help their fellow believers in that time of famine.
At the end of chapter 11 Luke tells us they did this in response to the prophecy of Agabus; at the end of chapter 12, their return to Antioch is noted. It is fair to assume that during their time in Jerusalem, Agrippa murdered James and arrested Peter. So it is not far-fetched to suggest that they were present when Peter knocked on the door of the house of Mark’s mother after the angel had engineered his escape from prison.
John Mark was the nephew of Barnabas, a Levite from Cyprus. Luke seems to be indicating to his readers how his two books are related to the Gospel of Mark. The believers in Antioch, Jew and Gentile, stood in need of well-documented eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ ministry among His disciples. And so did Barnabas and Saul. Mark was very useful to them in a number of ways.
When Luke says, “they returned from Jerusalem”, it seems Luke is giving us the “Antioch point of view”. He then recounts how the church there commissioned Saul and Barnabas to take the Good News throughout that Gentile region. Luke has also just recounted how the Antioch church supported the Christians in Judea. We also have heard of Peter’s disciplined explanation of his attitude to Gentile believers after the Holy Spirit’s outpouring at the house of Cornelius.
Later, when Saul had changed his name to Paul, he and Barnabas returned to Jerusalem to address the circumcision controversy in their churches. It seems clear that Paul was referring to Acts 15 in Galatians 2:9-10, but it is possible that as they left Jerusalem for Antioch they had even then been sent with Apostolic approval for their mission to the Gentiles. Maybe, just maybe, they had briefly met Peter in Mark’s mother’s house that night.
It was the Holy Spirit’s guidance which helped Luke write his books. Mark’s Gospel was also an important document for the ongoing work.
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