The church at Antioch was growing well under the capable leadership of 5 prophets and teachers including Saul (now called Paul) and Barnabas. The Holy Spirit informed the church as a whole that these two men were called to a special work, which as we discover is to go and preach the gospel to Gentiles. The Spirit had already spoken to the two, but their call had to be confirmed by the church. This seems to tell us that itinerant self-appointed preachers are an anomaly in the church, something that ought not to be. Preachers, teachers and leaders ought to be raised up from the local body of believers and either be appointed for local ministry or commissioned to go to foreign or domestic mission fields.
Up to the point Barnabas and Paul left for Cyprus and Asia Minor their ministry had already been among Jews as well as Gentiles who had some understanding of the Jewish faith. They would continue this ministry for they would begin preaching in the local synagogues as their local base of operations. But now they would encounter people who were outright pagans with little or no knowledge of the god of the Jews. As we see in the incident in Cyprus and Antioch of Pisidia the disciples received overwhelming responses Jews but also from people who were transformed by the message of a loving Savior, which to them was certainly a completely novel concept in a harsh and brutal world filled with competing philosophies, religions as well as capricious and cruel deities. Paul and Barnabas were well equipped to handle this challenge and the opposition.
Meditate & Apply: Why do you think John Mark deserted the missionary trip and went home?
