So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

Acts 13:4-12

Barnabas and Saul were sent by the Holy Spirit – Luke makes this quite clear.

What might the Holy Spirit be sending me to do? I think this is one of the important questions we should ask ourselves as we read Acts.

Their strategy is also clear: they will go to the synagogues to proclaim the word of God. Why? The simple answer is that their fellow Jews have the context for understanding Jesus as the fulfillment of the Messianic promises of the scriptures. Paul and Barnabas leveraged their training as interpreters of the Hebrew scriptures — as well as their own unique giftings through the Spirit — to show that Jesus was God’s long-awaited Anointed One.

But just because we are sent by the Holy Spirit doesn’t mean we will be unopposed. Paul and Barnabas face a magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. The fact that he dabbles in such dark arts immediately puts him in conflict with Torah and earns him the reputation as one who is “false.” At a narrative level, we note some striking parallels between Saul and the other dominant figure in the book of Acts, Simon Peter. Just as Simon Peter opposed the magician in Acts 8, here Paul faces the same challenge.

Paul’s speech to Elymas Bar-Jesus is indeed a bold one: “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness…” The name Bar-Jesus indicates that this false prophet is literally the son of one named “Jesus” (Yeshua in Hebrew, a common name among the Jews). But in this case, the name provides a contrast to the reality. Rather than being a son of the TRUE Jesus, Elymas is called “son of the devil.” Paul may have seen the light of Christ’s grace, but he is still a man of great zeal.

We might also see a bit of a parallel with Paulus, the proconsul who is referenced as a man of great intelligence. Our Apostle will also be revealed to be a man of striking intellect, and yet he will not be regarded with esteem moving forward. Indeed, as the story progresses, we will find Paul in chains, suffering greatly for responding to the call of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, he will see all of this through the eyes of faith, saying what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ (Phil. 1:12-13).