# Acts Chapter 13 --- ## Summarrium At the Church in Antioch the spirit says that Saul and Barnabas should be set apart. They fast and pray and are eventually sent down to Cyprus ending up in Paphos where they come across a magician; a false Jewish Prophet. Saul is sent for by the proconsul Sergius Paulus who wishes to hear the word of God. The Elymas the magician seeks to mislead and Saul responds in the power of the spirit proclaiming that Elymas will be blind. The proconsul subsequently believes Paul then arrives at Perga where he preaches in the synagogue and lays out the historical context of the Gospel up until the arrival of Jesus. Many devout Jews and converts follow Paul and Barnabas and the next Sabbath the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. The Jews oppose Paul and Barnabas and stirring up persecution against Paul and Barnabas they are driven out of the district and travel to Iconium being filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. ## Meditatio There are a couple of interesting things that appeared to me within this passage. Firstly I noticed a transition in the name for Barnabas's companion from Saul to Paul. This begins in verse 9 and (according to ChatGPT) Saul is then consistently referred to as Paul thereafter. This is an interesting transition and we might ask the question as to the significance of verse 9. Perhaps there is something within Paul that has shared kinship with Elymas. His comment in verse 10 "*You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?*" seems rich coming from a man that had metaphorically held the beers of those responsible for the first Christian martyr. However in some way this makes perfect sense. This was a chance, a public opportunity, for Paul to adopt and enact his new identity and to stand in opposition to the very things he had formerly stood against. As to the question why, it should be noted that Saul was a Hebrew name, whilst Paul was a Roman name. As Paul's ministry becomes more focussed on the gentiles it would probably be natural that he would adopt a name that was more relatable. Consistent with his view of becoming all things to all men[^1]. It is also consistent with a transformed identity; one who was formerly a persecutor of Christ now taking the gospel to his former enemies. [Verse 39](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+13%3A39&version=ESV) also struck me as being profoundly important. As the heart of the gospel message it must have been received as absolutely outrageous. Bearing in mind Paul is speaking in a Synagogue on the Sabbath to Jews and Jewish converts. He is telling followers of a behaviourist[^2] religion that not only was the law insufficient to offer freedom. But further still that *in* him (Jesus), this resurrected messiah he purports to follow, is the freedom the law failed to win. We can see why the Jewish authorities might seek to drive Paul and Barnabas from the district even if the people were receptive to the message. It strikes at the heart of Jewish belief and tradition. Indeed it remains a thematic pattern within Acts that the Gentiles are consistently more receptive to Jesus and the Gospel of the Kingdom than their Jewish counterparts. This transition to 'Paul' then makes significant contextual sense. [^1]: See [1 Corinthians 9:19-23](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+9%3A19-23&version=ESV) for the full context of what I mean here. [^2]: To be clear I am using Behaviorist here in the psychological sense. Where enacted behaviours are the focus of study, rather than internal mental states like thoughts or feelings. This is one of the main contrasting points between Judaism and Christianity.