The eMinistry Letter : February 2008

Ministry for the Minister

by Ricky Cain

This article is the third in a series that I plan to publish as a book in late 2008 or early 2009. Subscribers of the eMinistry Letter will be the first to read it. Your feedback will be invaluable to me as I continue to develop it.

My goal is to capture - as much as possible - the life, message, and ministry of the man, Paul of Tarsus. To do that accurately, I think it is important to capture the life and culture of the peoples of the 1st century Roman Empire that he was peaching to.

I don't want you to simply take my word for this story. I would be thrilled if you would join me in the journey by doing your own research. I am developing a church history section in the VAWW bookstore found here. Take note of the books I put there. These are books I love and use in my research (and many others that are no longer in print). Go to your local or church library and check them out, or buy them from my bookstore. There is no story more important than the story of Jesus Christ and the early church.

Saul and Barnabas set sail for Cyprus

46 a.d.

The three men travel to a seaport in Seleucia, 16 miles from Antioch. From there they sail to the Island of Cyprus 60 miles offshore. Cyprus is Barnabas’ home land.

It is most likely March in 46 a.d. The three men board a small freighter at Seleucia harbor. It is one of the first ships to sail this season. The water is simply too choppy and the winds too dangerous to sail any earlier in the year. And it is still dangerous in March. But some captains are willing to start making short voyages in March. The journey from Seleucia to Cyprus is only about a six hour crossing.

Cyprus is 140 miles long from east to west. Its population is primarily Greek, but there is a large Jewish presence as well. And these are Barnabas’ people. He knows the way they think and the kinds of things they will accept and what they most likely will reject.

They come to the town of Salamis on the eastern coast of Cyprus, where there is a large Jewish community and several synagogues.

Salamis

Saul and Barnabas learn that half of the people attending the synagogue are Christians. Some of the non-believing Jews are somewhat annoyed over it, but have not caused a big stir, and all of them – believers and unbelievers – continue to keep the Mosaic Law. The leader of the synagogue is open to the gospel and appreciative of hearing Barnabas and Saul share.

The Jewish meeting in the synagogue, still attended by most of the believers, is held on the Sabbath. The Christians meet together for their own meetings in the synagogue on the first day of the week.

It appears that there are no Gentiles in the church in Salamis. Saul and Barnabas spend several days encouraging the brethren, but anxious to move on to see what the other churches on the island were like and to minister to them.

The three men traverse the island from east to west. They preach in the synagogues and strengthen the churches that have been transplanted during the Jerusalem dispersion. But they are discouraged to find not one gentile in all the churches, and <>the Christian meetings are virtually the same as the synagogue meetings. When the men ask about Gentiles, they receive curious stares.

As they near Paphos on the western end of the island, they continue to minister among the believers and preach in the synagogues. As they get closer to Paphos they deliberate where they will go from here. Saul makes it clear that he wants to preach the gospel where it has never been spoken before.

Two major events will take place here on the western end of the island that will be instrumental in determining where these men go from here.

Paul’s first scourging

The first event is somewhat of a question mark. We’re not sure exactly how it happened. Our best guess is that Saul ran into major opposition in one of the synagogues near Paphos. The synagogue leader or a prominent member of the synagogue got local authorities involved and, in order to keep the peace in their town, they take the foreign trouble-maker, Saul, and tie him to a pillar to be scourged before the local magistrates office. Maybe Saul and Barnabas had separated in order to cover more territory and preach in different synagogues. We don’t know the details. But Saul receives thirty-nine lashes from a Roman lictor.

Even today you can travel to the location where Saul was beaten and the locals will point out to you the very pillar he was tied to.

After his scourging, he is untied and carried to the prison where he must wait until Barnabas and John Mark come for him and promise to take him from their town, never to return.

No doubt, this makes a huge impression on John Mark. He is horrified. How can this happen?

Barnabas and John Mark take Saul to Paphos and get him into the home of one of the believers where he can rest and heal.

Local believers are surprised and somewhat dismayed at the disruption to their community. They are supportive of Barnabas, but aren’t exactly sure about Saul. Why does he have to cause trouble? John Mark begins to have second thoughts about traveling with Saul. He wonders what he has gotten himself into? Is this indicative of what’s to come?

When the three men had been in Paphos only a few days, they were visited by a messenger sent from the proconsul’s palace. Sergius Paulus was requesting the presence of Saul of Tarsus. He had heard of their travels throughout Cyprus, and had heard of the stir that Saul had caused nearby and the scourging he had received, and wanted to hear the word they were speaking.

Saul and Barnabas could not have been more surprised. They had no idea that anyone of consequence had taken notice of them. But Saul was delighted at the prospect of being able to deliver the gospel to a Roman proconsul.

John Mark was terrified. Nothing good could come from such a meeting.

So only a few days after his first beating, Saul summoned all his physical strength together and stood upright and walked to the palace with Barnabas and John Mark.

Sergius Paulus

The palace of the Proconsul was magnificent. Statues of the gods and Roman legionnaires stood in protective stances around it.

Sergius Paullus was the governor of the island. He answered directly to the Roman Senate. He was known as a brilliant man with a scientific mind. But he had an interest in the supernatural and was enticed by superstition. So Saul and Barnabas were not very surprised to learn that among his associates was an infamous rebel Jew named Bar-Jesus who claimed to be a prophet of the living God and a Magi (wise man of the east).

It appears that Bar-Jesus also went by the name, Elymas, when it suited him. We are not sure where the name, Elymas, comes from. Some commentators believe it is more a title than a name. The name may mean magician, or be a title that a magician is rewarded.

Sergius Paullus asked Saul and Barnabas to deliver their message to him. He wanted to hear what they were teaching on his island. So Saul and Barnabas shared the story, beginning with Abraham and intending to carry it all the way to Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection. It was going very well, and the proconsul was fully engaged in the story.

But Elymas was silently becoming enraged. After some time, he could contain himself no longer. In defiance of protocol, he suddenly interrupted and launched an attack against the two preachers in an attempt to warn the proconsul from listening any longer.

“You hear them speak of an almighty God who has power and authority, yet these men have no power at all.” Speaking to the governor, he shouts, “You’ve seen my power. You’ve seen my magic. You’ve seen how I can do things no other man can do. Don’t listen to them any longer! They lie and should be flogged for their deceit!”

The proconsul was surprised by the outburst, but looked at Saul and Barnabas, as if waiting for a response.

Saul sensed the Holy Spirit fill him, and immediately spoke with authority. He fixed his eyes on Elymas. “You son of the devil,” he began. “You enemy of all goodness, full of deceit and fraud. Isn’t it time you stop lying about the ways of God?”

Elymas was startled at Paul’s boldness. As he struggled to regain his composure, Saul spoke again.

“Look now! The hand of the Lord strikes you. You will be blind and not able to see the sun for a time.”

Immediately, Elymas’ eyesight faded, then failed. He reached out for a servant standing next to him to get his balance.

It was obvious to Sergius Paulus that he had just witnessed a supernatural event. He was astonished. Nothing could have convinced him more certainly than what just happened. He became a believer, deeply impressed by what he had seen and heard.

For both Saul and Barnabas, this was a sign that God would open a door to the Gentiles through their ministry.

But the men knew it was time for them to move on. They would carry the gospel of Jesus Christ where it had never been preached before. Sergius Paulus had relatives in a land called Pisidia in the province of Galatia. He would encourage Barnabas and Saul to visit Pisidia to share Christ with them.

So the three men decide to head due north. And Saul decides that his Latin name will better serve him from this point on. So Saul becomes Paul.

But before they could leave the island, they first had to buy passage aboard a ship heading to Pamphylia. It was very early in the year, so ships were only just beginning to sail north from Paphos. And many ship captains were still waiting for the weather to improve.

Passenger ships did not exist in the first century. To travel by ship, one had to find a merchant sailing ship or a cargo ship that has space and negotiate a price to board ship and sail. The bigger the ship, the safer the voyage. The biggest ships are grain ships and would, of course, also be more comfortable to travel in since they would be more stable in choppy seas.

Except for emergencies, no sailing is done during the winter months due to inclement weather. It was simply too dangerous. The prime sailing season ran from the end of May until mid-September. The seas were considered treacherous during the winter, and considered hazardous, but sailable, during the spring, from mid-March till the end of May.

Regardless of what time of the year it was, the pagan sailors would always wait for an omen from the gods before they would set out to sea. To set out without a sign from the gods would be folly. It would offend the very gods whose favor they need to cross the seas, and – even worse – give them an excuse to interfere with their journey and endanger their enterprise.

Typically, a sacrifice would be made beforehand and the entrails of the animal are read to determine if sailing is favorable.

The men are able to buy passage aboard a cargo vessel, and the captain has decided that the gods have given him the omen he needs.

So the ship sails with its cargo and crew and three Hebrew men bound for the port of Attalia in Pamphylia. The voyage starts out without incident, but some time in the night, a cold wind began to blow from the north. Quickly the winds grew. Then a full-blown storm, including howling winds and rain, began to pound the ship.

Saul’s first shipwreck

Some time during the night or in the next day, the ship was lost. Miraculously the three brothers survived, but only after they spend all day and all the next night in the water clinging to wreckage of the ship. They are eventually rescued by the crew of another ship.

Paul becomes deathly ill. He had already suffered greatly with the 39 lashes across his back, but now he has spent a day and a night in the cold, salty Mediterranean Sea. He is running a fever and shaking uncontrollably.

John Mark is okay, but he’s experienced enough adventure. This missionary work is not for him. He’s trying to decide how he is going to break the news to his uncle.

Barnabas is also okay, but very concerned for Paul. He finds a local doctor who eventually sees Paul and assures the men that he will recover. They stay in an inn in Attalia for several days so Paul can heal and regain his strength.

When Paul can walk, the three men make the nine mile trek from Attalia to Perga where they learned a church existed.

The three men stay for a week in Perga with the believers, who care compassionately for them, especially for Paul, who is still very sick. Barnabas tells them all that has happened in Judea and Syria. And he ministers to them. The small church is greatly encouraged.

Eventually John Mark breaks his silence and begs his uncle to reconsider continuing on to Pisidia.

“Paul is too sick, and it is only going to get worse! You don’t know what is ahead.”

“We are not turning around, young John Mark,” states Paul. “We have not yet begun to preach the gospel to the heathens.”

“I cannot go on,” states John Mark, looking only toward Barnabas. “I am going to buy passage back to Caesarea, and from there go back home to Jerusalem.”

Both men are stunned. Paul makes it clear that he considers John Mark’s decision as abandonment. But John Mark has made up his mind. He will leave them the next day.

After several more days, Paul is well enough to travel, and he is anxious to get to Antioch, Pisidia. But the brethren in the church of Perga have much to say about the journey these two brothers insist on taking.

The Journey to Pisidian Antioch

Antioch of Pisidia is 3600 feet above sea level and nearly 200 miles from Perga.

The men must cross over the Taurus Mountains on the Augustan Road, built by slaves for the Roman Empire. At times the Augustan Road was extremely steep. Parts of it were too steep for chariots and carts.

In Paul’s day, Roman roads were safer than at any other time in the Roman Empire’s existence, but Paul and Barnabas were about to travel one of the very few regions of the Roman Empire that the Romans did not control. It was known as the wildest, most dangerous stretch of road in the empire.

And robbers and wild tribesmen held positions all along the road between Perga and Pisidia. Hundreds of them made their living robbing and killing. And because winter had just ended and these robbers were low on food and money, they would be more active than at any other time of year, and more dangerous. Only now were a few people beginning to travel north again. Until now, it had been impassable from winter’s snow.

Even Roman soldiers avoid the road to Pisidia at this time of year unless they are traveling with a garrison. Paul and Barnabas would have to wait for a caravan to travel with. To go alone would almost certainly mean failure, even death.

In addition, the weather often turned quickly and was unpredictable. Flash floods raging down the gullies of the mountain were common at this time of year. The flooding waters used the road as a riverbed, sweeping people to their death in an instant. It would be a very dangerous journey… but nothing was going to deter these men from bringing the gospel to Pisidia.

Fortunately for Paul and Barnabas, they are able to join up with a caravan leaving Perga for Antioch of Pisidia. They were soon on the road.

Paul knew that under the best of conditions, they would cover approximately 20 miles in a day. He was hoping to make 15 miles a day on this journey to the Pisidian plateau, and hoping to get there in about two weeks.

Each night a huge fire would be kept alive and all in the caravan would sleep round it in an effort to stay warm. Everyone would take a turn on watch. Before dawn they would break camp, eat olives and goat’s cheese and, if cold, could drink mulled wine. They would get on the road right at sunrise to use the cool of the day. The pace was a steady plod, and they walked with occasional halts until midday when it was too hot to continue. Then they would cook their meal, sleep in the shade, and oil themselves. If the garrison needed to get to their destination quickly, they would travel for an hour or two in the late afternoon. More often, though, they would wait until the next morning, avoiding night travel because it was too dangerous.

The caravan would pass by an inn or a way station every day, but they would not stop for it was well known in this region that the inns were filthy, the beds were laden with lice, and the inn-keepers themselves were often thieves.

At some point in this journey, I believe that Paul and Barnabas get separated from their caravan. Maybe they were attacked by a band of robbers. Maybe a sudden storm caused a flashflood that swept away a number of the caravan.

I agree with the commentators who say that Paul is talking in this passage primarily about his first journey to Pisidian Antioch. He may well have been exposed to these dangers elsewhere, but he was definitely exposed to these dangers on this first journey.

For the remainder of the journey to Antioch, Paul and Barnabas would have to travel at night and in silence. Robbers would have hiding places all along the road. Paul and Barnabas would have to find a high and dry place in the forest far off the road to sleep during the day. And they would have to always be listening for the roar of rushing water, and get off the road and to high ground as quickly as possible if they do.

Eventually (probably between two and three weeks from the time they departed Perga), Paul and Barnabas arrive in Pisidian Antioch… exhausted and looking very rough, but alive.

By this time, Barnabas must have thought Paul to be the most determined man he had ever known.

But the adventure was only just beginning. The two men arrive in early May of 46 a.d.

Pisidian Antioch

In all of the Roman Empire, over half of the inhabitants at the time of Paul were slaves, owned by the other half. In the Galatian region, it is closer to eighty percent that are slaves. And beyond that, the poor are very poor. The towns and villages are especially poor. And because most people are slaves, you will find very few people who can read and write. Most who can are Greek and Hebrew merchants.

The largest people group in Galatia at this time are called Phrygians. We will be introduced to them in a few minutes.

Pisidian Antioch was a Roman colony of approximately 12,000 people, a walled and fortified city built and owned by Rome.

When Rome took over a particularly unruly province, it would sometimes literally build a new city in a strategic location in the province and colonize, often – but not always – over an existing city.

To do this, it would enslave thousands of the conquered people, send a Roman construction crew to oversee the work and force the slaves to build the city, which could take anywhere from 10 to 20 years to complete. When the new Roman colony was completed, it would have fully constructed marketplaces, homes, gardens, fountains, streets, theatres, barracks, etc., but would be empty, except for the Roman soldiers protecting the city.

Then Roman citizens – usually from Rome – would be transported in to populate the town. When they arrived, they would find all the conveniences of Rome (on a much smaller scale) without all the stench and crime, but unfortunately, surrounded by an unhappy, conquered people.

In a matter of months after construction is completed, there would grow up a miniature of the city of Rome, with collonades, statues, and soldiers marching through the streets in uniform. The troublesome inhabitants of the surrounding area would have Rome literally in their midst. They would be hearing Latin, the Roman language, spoken in the marketplaces and throughout the city. The Roman culture would literally be imported into their land, to tame them... and assimilate them. That is how Rome conquered and colonized their frontiers.

Caesar Augustus had so much trouble with the region of Galatia that he had six colonies built there. Pisidian Anitoch had already existed as an important town. But Caesar Augustus had it re-built in 25 b.c. as a Roman colony, some 70 years before Paul and Barnabas arrive.

At the time, Paul and Barnabas arrive, Antioch was the administrative center of the Galatian province, and there are three main groups of people living there.

The first, of course, are the Romans. They are less than 10% of the population but they occupy 1/3 of the city with large lavish homes and gardens. They hold all the administrative positions, and they are the city’s elite.

The second group in the city are what we might call today the middle class. These are the Greeks. What culture there is in Pisidian Antioch is because of the Greeks. What commerce and trade is carried on in the city is done by the Greeks. At most, they make up 1/4 of the population.

So that leaves the majority of the population to the third group: the Phrygians. They were a people who had been enslaved for centuries to other races. It was a rare thing in that day to find a Phrygian who was not a slave. Few of them were ever set free by their owners. In fact, few wished to be set free. In general the freed men in Galatia lived a harsher life than the slaves, who at least were fed by their owners.

But you and I should really be introduced to the Phrygians. Because it is this illiterate, uneducated people who give you and I such hope.

In Paul’s day, the Phrygians were regarded only slightly higher than cattle. They were a commodity. Anywhere in the Roman Empire, a slave may just as commonly be called a Phrygian. The term slave and Phrygian had become synonymous.

In Galatia, the great majority of the Phrygians had never been more than a few hundred yards from their thatched roof shanty. They spoke their own dialect and were extremely ignorant. Not stupid, but without any education. None of them had received any formal education of any kind. Many of them could speak some Greek simply because they had to in order to communicate with their masters. But they spoke their Phrygian dialect among themselves. All of the physical labor in the city was done by the Phrygians.

There were, of course, a few Jews in the city as well. Less than 1%. Most of them were wealthy bankers or merchants. The Jews, both in Jerusalem and elsewhere, oversee the largest network of banks in the Roman Empire next to Rome itself. They were almost universally disliked, but most would rather bank with them than anyone else because they were dependable and trustworthy with money.

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Paul and Barnabas entered the walled city of Antioch through a large, unguarded gate, into the lower level of the city. The city was naturally divided into two parts, an upper level and a lower level. Pisidian Antioch may have been the only city in the empire with two forums. The Forum of Tiberius was located on the lower level, and the Forum of Augustus on the upper level.

In the Forum of Augustus was the temple to their local god. His Latin name is Men – a god that is half man and half bull. Not far away was the Jewish synagogue where no more than fifty people would gather on the Sabbath.

The men find an inn and rest and clean up and recover from their journey… and wait for the Sabbath.

This is the third article in a series about the life and ministry of Paul the Apostle. The fourth in this series will appear in the February 2008 issue of the eMinistry Letter. If you are not a subscriber, it is free and easy to join. Enter your email address in the box at right.

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