Acts 13:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we have God’s own warrant and commission for Barnabas and Saul to go and preach the gospel among the Gentiles, that is, the nations who were not Jews. We also see their ordination to that service, carried out with the laying on of hands, fasting, and prayer.

First, Luke tells us about the church at Antioch, which was founded earlier (Acts 11:20). It was well supplied with good ministers. There were there certain prophets and teachers (Acts 13:1), men marked out by gifts, grace, and usefulness. Christ, when he went up on high, gave some to be prophets and some to be teachers (Ephesians 4:11), and these men were both.

Agabus appears to have been a prophet, not a teacher, and many teachers were not prophets. But those named here were sometimes given direct messages from God, which gave them the name prophets. At the same time, they were regular teachers in the church’s meetings. They explained the Scriptures and opened up Christ’s doctrine with suitable applications. These were the prophets and teachers Christ promised to send (Matthew 23:34), fully fitted for the work of the Christian church.

Antioch was a large city, and the believers there were too many to meet in one place. So they needed many teachers, each leading different gatherings and delivering God’s message to them. Barnabas is named first, likely because he was the oldest, and Saul last, likely because he was the youngest. Later, however, Saul became the most prominent in the church. Three others are also mentioned.

Simeon, or Simon, was called Niger, meaning “the Black,” likely because of his dark hair. Lucius of Cyrene may, some think, have been the same Luke who wrote Acts. If so, he was originally from Cyrene and had likely been educated there before receiving the gospel at Jerusalem. Manaen seems to have been a man of some rank, because he had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, a ruler under Rome. He had been close to Herod from childhood, with every chance of honor at court, yet for Christ’s sake he gave it all up. Like Moses, he chose suffering with God’s people over royal privilege.

They were also well employed. They were ministering to the Lord and fasting (Acts 13:2). Faithful teachers truly minister to the Lord. Those who teach Christians serve Christ himself. They honor him and help advance his kingdom. Those who pray and preach serve the church for Christ’s sake, and they must keep their eyes on him and expect their reward from him.

Ministering to the Lord should be the regular work of churches and their teachers. Time should be set apart for it, and in a real sense it already is. Christians and ministers have one main duty: to serve the Lord Christ (Colossians 3:24; Romans 14:18). Religious fasting also helps in this work, both as a sign of humble repentance and as a way of practicing self-denial. The disciples did not fast as much while the Bridegroom was with them as John’s disciples and the Pharisees did. But after he was taken away, they practiced it more, showing they had learned to deny themselves and endure hardship.

Then the Holy Spirit gave orders for Barnabas and Saul to be set apart while they were engaged in public worship, with the ministers of the different congregations joined together in one solemn fast, or day of prayer. The Holy Spirit said, either by a voice from heaven or by a strong inward leading given to those among them who were prophets, “Set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” He did not name the work itself here, because Barnabas and Saul already knew it.

Paul had already been told that he must carry Christ’s name to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15), and that he must be sent to the Gentiles (Acts 22:21). The matter had also been settled earlier at Jerusalem, that Peter, James, and John would labor among the circumcised, while Paul and Barnabas would go to the nations (Galatians 2:7-9). Barnabas likely knew he was meant for this work as well. Yet they would not rush into the harvest, however ready it seemed, until they received orders from the Lord of the harvest.

Christ, by his Spirit, chooses his ministers. The Spirit gives them some measure of ability for his service, turns their hearts toward it, and frees them from other cares that would keep them from it. Some people the Holy Spirit has set apart for Christ’s service, marking them out as men who willingly offer themselves for temple work. Those who are able to judge their gifts and sincerity are then told, “Set them apart.”

Christ’s ministers are set apart to him and to the Holy Spirit. The command is, “Set them apart for me.” They are to work in Christ’s service and under the Spirit’s guidance, all for the glory of God the Father. Everyone set apart to Christ as a minister is also set apart for work. Christ keeps no servants who are meant to sit idle. If a man wants the office of a bishop, or overseer, he is asking for a good work. He is set apart to labor in teaching and in doctrine, to take pains, not to enjoy status.

The work of Christ’s ministers is already settled. It is the same work to which all Christ’s ministers have been called from the beginning, and the work they themselves first received by outward call and chose to follow.

Their ordination followed these instructions. This was not an ordination to the ministry in general, because Barnabas and Saul had already been ministers for some time. It was a setting apart for a particular task in ministry, one that had its own special purpose and needed a fresh commission. God chose to give that commission through these prophets and teachers, so the church would learn this pattern: teachers should ordain teachers. We are no longer to expect prophets in the same way, but those entrusted with Christ’s message should, for the good of later generations, pass it on to faithful people who will also be able to teach others (2 Timothy 2:2).

So Simeon, Lucius, and Manaen, faithful teachers in the church at Antioch, fasted and prayed, laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul, and sent them off (Acts 13:3), according to the directions they had received. Notice first that they prayed for them. When good people go out to do good work, they should be solemnly and especially prayed for, above all by their fellow workers and fellow soldiers in the faith. Notice also that they joined fasting with their prayers, as they did in other acts of ministry (Acts 13:3). Christ himself taught this by staying awake through the night before he sent out his apostles, spending that time in prayer.

They also laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul. By this, they gave them their release from the work they had been doing in the church at Antioch, showing that they went with full consent and honor, and with a good reputation. They also asked God to bless their new work, to be with them, and to give them success. In doing this, they prayed that they would be filled with the Holy Spirit for the task. This is explained in Acts 14:26, where it says that Barnabas and Paul were recommended by the church at Antioch to the grace of God for the work they completed.

It was a mark of humility in Barnabas and Saul that they accepted the laying on of hands from men who were their equals, or perhaps even below them in rank. It was also a mark of the good spirit of the other teachers that they did not resent the honor given to Barnabas and Saul. Instead, they gladly entrusted them with the task and prayed warmly for them. Then they sent them off quickly, caring about the countries where they were going to begin breaking up the hard ground.