This story begins in Antioch, a truly remarkable church. If you go back to Acts 11:19-30, you get a picture of the first truly multiethnic, multiracial Christian congregation. It's where the name "Christian" originated.

A glance at the names of its leaders and teachers listed here tells the story. There's a black man, a rich man, a noble Arab, and several Jews. Not only did they all get along in this one congregation, but they had a passion to bring others to faith in Jesus Christ.

Saul and Barnabas have traveled back from their mission to bring an offering to the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem who were suffering from famine. The leaders have a feeling that the Spirit is stirring among them, and they have the sense to seek the Spirit's guidance through fasting and prayer. (It's remarkable how often fasting and prayer are mentioned together in Acts as a means of seeking God's guidance.)

During this time of fasting and prayer, the church sensed the Spirit's specific leading: "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them" (Acts 13:2). It seems likely that Saul and Barnabas had sensed God calling them to bring the gospel to a wider world, a calling that was then confirmed by the larger community through prayer and fasting. This also demonstrates for us the normal procedure for discerning a calling. While a calling may begin in a person's heart, it's best to have it confirmed by the larger community.

So Antioch became the "sending church" for the first gospel missionaries. But where? The text makes it clear that God's mission is first of all the Spirit's work, and the Spirit gave direction. They were soon bound for the relatively nearby island of Cyprus.

While the Antioch church was expanding, even among Gentiles, notice that Saul and Barnabas worked mainly in the Jewish synagogues. This was the natural starting place for at least two reasons. First, the synagogue was the place where people read the Scriptures and could therefore begin to understand the coming of the Messiah. Second, there were often a number of "God fearers" there, Gentiles who were deeply interested in the Jewish religion. (Notice how subtly Saul becomes Paul in verse 9 and from that point on. There's no reason given, but it's likely that he takes the name Paul to suit his growing Gentile audience.)

However, they didn't stick to the synagogue, but struck out traveling through the whole island. Somehow they ran into a "Jewish sorcerer" (what an oxymoron!) and a "false prophet" named Bar-Jesus (literally son of Jesus, Jesus being a common Jewish name). Bar-Jesus is also called Elymas in verse 8, which is the Hebrew for sorcerer. He was highly connected in the court of the Roman proconsul. The proconsul, "an intelligent man," wanted to hear more about the message they were proclaiming.

Elymas tried to turn the proconsul against the faith, probably by mocking or contradicting the testimony of Paul and Barnabas before the proconsul. Paul would not take it. Again, "filled with the Holy Spirit," he looked straight at the sorcerer and called him a "child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right." Not stopping there, he proclaimed that Elymas would become blind for a time. Immediately Elymas began to grope his way around.

The proconsul knew power when he saw it, and he believed. As so often happened, the proclamation of the gospel by Paul and the other apostles was accompanied by works of power that further commended the gospel to people who were struggling to believe.