Canvey Methodist Church Bible Studies - 4th August 2021

The Church At Antioch- Its Lesser Known Leaders

Reading - Acts 13.1–16 & 15.36-41

Acts 13:1-16 New International Version (NIV)
13 1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.


In Cyprus
 the two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.

6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked l at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

In Pisidian Antioch
13 From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. 14 From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.”

16 Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!



New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.


 

Acts 15:36-41 New International Version (NIV)
Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas
36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by  Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

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The reading from Acts 13 v1- 16 and 15 v 36-41, is the lesson for this coming Sunday. It covers the commissioning of Barnabus and Saul by the young Church at Antioch for the First Paul's Missionary Journey. Specifically on Sunday, we are looking at the work and relationships of Paul, Barnabus and John Mark. At the time of their commissioning, Paul and Barnabus were serving as prophets and teachers in the Church of Antioch alongside other lesser known characters, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. I thought for our Bible Study this week, we could dig a little deeper into the lives and identities of these other people to see what we could discover about them. I have included the sources for the information given.   So here goes.

 

1). Simeon called Niger

 

There are literally thousands of people mentioned in the Bible. Many of these individuals are well-known and have been studied throughout history because they played major roles in the events recorded throughout Scripture. Prominent Biblical characters include people such as Moses, King David, the apostle Paul, and so on.

 

But most of the people mentioned in the Bible are buried a little deeper within the pages, people whose names may not be recognized right away.

 

A man named Simeon, who was also called Niger, is one of these characters. Outside of some dedicated New Testament scholars, very few people have heard of him or know about his story. And yet his presence in the New Testament may signal some important facts about the early church of the New Testament, facts that point to some surprising implications.

 

Simeon, a Man Called Niger

So why is Simeon significant in this story? Because of that phrase added to his name in Acts 13:1: "Simeon who was called Niger."

 

In the original language of the text, the word "Niger" is best translated as "black." Therefore, many scholars have concluded in recent years that Simeon "who was called Niger" was indeed a black man. He is presumed to be an African gentile who had transplanted to Antioch and met with Jesus.

 

We can't know for sure whether Simeon was black, but it's certainly a reasonable conclusion. And a striking one, at that! Think about it: There's a good chance that more than 1,500 years before the American Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement, a black man helped lead one of the most influential churches in the history of the world.

 

That shouldn't be news, of course. Black men and women have proven themselves as capable leaders for thousands of years, both inside and outside of the church. But given the history of prejudice and exclusion demonstrated by the church in recent centuries, the presence of Simeon surely provides an example of why things should have been better — and why they still can be better.

 

Source:By Sam O'Neal

Updated February 06, 2019


Anonymous. Acts 13. Holman Bible Publishers, 2009, Nashville, Tennessee.

 

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Lucius of Cyrene (Greek: Λούκιος ὁ Κυρηναá¿–ος, romanized: Loukios o Kurenaios) was, according to the Acts of the Apostles, one of the founders of the Christian Church in Antioch, then part of Roman Syria. He is mentioned by name as a member of the church there, following the account King Herod's Death:

 

In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.

— Acts 13:1, NIV


 

The account in Acts 13 states that the group of prophets and teachers prayed and fasted, and were inspired to commission Barnabas and Saul to undertake missionary journeys further afield.

 

Lucius is indicated as a founder of the Antioch church by inference from an earlier passage:

 

Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.

— Acts 11:19,20 NIV


 

He is also considered to have been the first bishop of Cyrene.[1]

(1.Walsh, Michael J., (2007) A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West p. 372).

 

There is also a Lucius mentioned in Romans 16:21.( 21 Timotheus my workfellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you.). There is no way of knowing for sure whether this is the same person, but Origen* identifies the Lucius in Romans with the evangelist Luke (Comm. Rom. 10.39)

 

*Origen of Alexandria (c. 184 - c. 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria.He was a prolific writer who wrote roughly 2,000 treatises in multiple branches of theology, including textual criticism, biblical exegesis and biblical hermeneutics, homiletics, and spirituality.


Source: Wikipedia

 

To Summarise:  Lucius was a kinsman or fellow tribesman of St. Paul, (Romans 16:21) by whom he is said by tradition to have been ordained bishop of the church of Cenchreae. He is thought by some to be the same with Lucius of Cyrene.


Lucius of Cyrene is first mentioned in the New Testament in company with Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Manaen and Saul, who are described as prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch. (Acts 13:1) Whether Lucius was one of the seventy disciples is quite a matter of conjecture; but it is highly probable that he formed one of the congregation to whom St. Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, (Acts 2:10) and there can hardly be a doubt that he was one of "the men of Cyrene" who, being "scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen," went to Antioch preaching the Lord Jesus. (Acts 11:19,20)

Source: Smiths Bible Dictionary.

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St Manaen




A member of the Church of Antioch, foster-brother, or household-friend (syntrophos, Vulgate collactaneus), of Herod Antipas (who had St. John the Baptist put to death) and one of those who, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, laid hands upon Saul and Barnabas and sent the two Apostles on the first of St. Paul's missionary journeys (Acts 13:3). As St. Luke was an Antiochene (see Eusebius, Church History III.4), it is not at all unlikely that this influential member of "the prophets and doctors" of the Church of Antioch was one of the "eyewitnesses and ministers of the word" (Luke 1:2), who delivered unto Luke the details which that sacred writer has in regard to Antipas and other members of the Herodian family (see Luke 3:1, 19, 20; 8:3; 9:7-9; 13:31, 32; 23:8-12; Acts 12). St. Manahen may have become a disciple of Jesus with "Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward" (Luke 8:3). Antipas left for Rome, A.D. 39, in 

order to obtain the favour of Caligula, and received instead condemnation to perpetual exile (Jos., "Ant.", XVIII, vii, 2). At this time, the Church of Antioch was founded by Jewish Christians, who "had been dispersed by the persecution that arose on the occasion of Stephen" and had taught the Gospel also to the Greeks of Antioch, (Acts, xi, 19-24). It is quite likely that St. Manahen was one of these founders of the Antiochene Church. His feast is celebrated on 24 May.

 

Acta SS., May, V, 273.

 

WALTER DRUM.

 

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Silas or Saint Silas, also called Saint Silvanus, (born, possibly Rome—died AD 50; Western feast day July 13, Eastern feast day July 30), early Christian prophet and missionary, companion of the Apostle St. Paul.

 

It is generally believed that the Silas in Acts and the Silvanus in 2 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and 1 Peter are the same. Acts 15:22 first mentions him as one of the “leading men among the brethren” (i.e., the Christian community at Jerusalem); they sent him to Antioch (now Antakya, Tur.), where he is identified as a prophet (Acts 15:32) preaching to the Antiochene Christians.

 

He supposedly remained in Antioch until he was chosen to join Paul on his second journey. According to Acts, he replaced St. Barnabas, who had broken away from Paul. With Paul, Silas traveled through what is now Turkey, visiting Syria and Cilicia, whose churches they strengthened; from Derbe they went to Lystra where they were joined by St. Timothy. Their journey brought them to Galatia and Troas, from where they sailed to Macedonia.




At Philippi (near present-day Kavála, Greece), where Paul first preached the gospel in Europe, Silas and Paul were beaten and imprisoned for healing a slave girl possessed by “a spirit of divination.” After their release, they missioned in Thessalonica. Expelled, they went to Beroea, where Silas remained with Timothy while Paul traveled to Athens. He later rejoined Paul at Corinth. Silas and Timothy are mentioned in 2 Corinthians 1:19 as coworkers and in 1 and 2 Thessalonians as coauthors.

 

Nothing further is known about Silas’ work with Paul. Sometime later he apparently joined the Apostle St. Peter, whom he seems to have served as secretary; 1 Peter 5:12 suggests that he wrote this letter with Peter, and some scholars give him a prominent place among the New Testament writers. Subsequent legend designates him the first bishop of Corinth.

Source : britannica 

 

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I hope that you have enjoyed this study of the people involved in commissioning the Missionary Journeys of St Paul, and who thus set in motion the greatest expansion of the Christian Church ever seen. It was a culturally mixed leadership team, made up of people who had all come to faith in Jesus Christ and who expected God to answer their prayers. They were not afraid to seek his will seriously with fasting as well as prayer. Encouraging for me is that most of them were not high profile figures but instead they served faithfully in the background.

Who knows what God is going to achieve through your service and faithful witness and mine?

 

God Bless

 

Colin

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