📖 Matendo ya Mitume — Somo la Kina — Sehemu ya 6: Safari ya Kwanza na Baraza la Kwanza (Matendo 12:25–16:5)📖 Acts Intensive — Unit 6: The First Journey and the First Council (Acts 12:25–16:5)

I. Mikono Ilivyowekwa Juu Yao huko AntiokiaI. Hands Laid On in Antioch

Fungua Matendo 13. Antiokia sasa ni kitovu cha harakati hii mpya. Yerusalemu bado ina mitume na Yakobo ndugu yake Bwana, lakini mstari wa mbele umehamia maili mia tatu upande wa kaskazini. Wanaume watano wanaliongoza kanisa huko. Luka anawataja kwa mpangilio waliokaa chumbani. "Na huko Antiokia, katika kanisa lililokuwako, palikuwa na manabii na waalimu, Barnaba, na Simeoni aitwaye Nigeri, na Lukio Mkirene, na Manaeni, ndugu wa kunyonya wa Herode mfalme, na Sauli" (Matendo 13:1, SUV).Open Acts 13. Antioch is now the center of gravity in the new movement. Jerusalem still has the apostles and James the Lord's brother, but the cutting edge has moved three hundred miles to the north. Five men are leading the church there. Luke names them in the order they sat in the room. "Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul" (Acts 13:1, NKJV).

Simama uitazame orodha hiyo. Mlawi kutoka Kipro. Mwafrika mweusi aliyeitwa kwa jina la utani Nigeri. Mwafrika wa Kaskazini kutoka Kirene. Mtu aliyekulia katika jumba lenyewe la kifalme la Herode aliyemkata kichwa Yohana Mbatizaji. Na mtesaji wa zamani kutoka Tarso. Timu ya kwanza ya uongozi yenye makabila mengi na matabaka mbalimbali katika historia ya kanisa iliketi pamoja katika chumba kimoja huko Antiokia ikamsikiliza Roho Mtakatifu. Walikuwa wakifunga na kumhudumia Bwana. Na kisha Roho akanena. "Nitengeeni Barnaba na Sauli kwa kazi ile niliyowaitia" (Matendo 13:2, SUV). Ndugu zangu, jinsi Roho anavyowaita watu kwa kazi ya umisheni haijabadilika. Bado anawaita kutoka katika kanisa linaloomba, linalofunga, na linalohudumu.Stop and look at that list. A Cypriot Levite. A black African nicknamed Niger. A North African from Cyrene. A man who had grown up in the very palace of the Herod who beheaded John the Baptist. And a former persecutor from Tarsus. The first multi-ethnic, multi-class leadership team in church history sat together in one room in Antioch and listened to the Holy Spirit. They had been fasting and ministering to the Lord. And then the Spirit spoke. "Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them" (Acts 13:2, NKJV). Brothers, the way the Spirit calls people into missions has not changed. He still calls them out of a praying, fasting, ministering church.

Viongozi wa Antiokia walifunga, wakaomba, wakawawekea mikono Barnaba na Sauli, wakawaacha waende. Angalia jinsi Luka anavyoipanga sentensi inayofuata. "Basi hao, wakiisha kupelekwa na Roho Mtakatifu, wakashuka mpaka Seleukia" (Matendo 13:4, SUV). Antiokia iliwatuma. Roho Mtakatifu aliwatuma. Yote mawili ni kweli kwa wakati mmoja. Kila wito halali wa umisheni unathibitishwa kwa wima na kwa ulalo — kwa sauti ya ndani ya Roho na kwa uthibitisho wa nje wa kanisa la mahali. Jihadhari na mmisionari anayesema Mungu alimwita yeye binafsi na hakuwahi kuliruhusu kanisa lake kuthibitisha jambo hilo. Jihadhari na kanisa linalomtuma mmisionari ambaye Roho hajamwita kwanza. Uthibitisho huo miwili hukaa juu ya mwingine kama jiwe kuu la pembeni. Antiokia ilikuwa na yote mawili.The Antioch leaders fasted, prayed, laid hands on Barnabas and Saul, and sent them away. Notice how Luke phrases the next sentence. "So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia" (Acts 13:4, NKJV). Antioch sent them. The Holy Spirit sent them. Both are true at once. Every legitimate missionary call is endorsed both vertically and horizontally — by the inward voice of the Spirit and by the outward affirmation of a local church. Beware the missionary who says God called him personally and never let his church confirm it. Beware the church that sends out a missionary the Spirit has not first called. The two confirmations sit on top of each other like a cornerstone. Antioch had both.

II. Kipro na Mpambano na MchawiII. Cyprus and a Showdown with a Sorcerer

Barnaba na Sauli, pamoja na Yohana Marko kama msaidizi wao, walisafiri kwa merikebu hadi Kipro, kisiwa alichozaliwa Barnaba. Walihubiri katika masinagogi katika kisiwa chote mpaka walipofika mji wa magharibi wa Pafo, makao ya liwali wa Kirumi. Liwali huyo, Sergio Paulo, alikuwa mtu mwenye akili aliyetaka kulisikia neno la Mungu. Lakini mnajimu wa baraza lake, mchawi Myahudi aitwaye Bar-Yesu — aliyeitwa pia Elima, "mchawi" — aliendelea kuwazuia, akijaribu kumgeuza liwali aiache imani. Ndipo Sauli, ambaye tangu hapa Luka anamwita Paulo, akamkazia Elima macho akatamka mojawapo ya hukumu kali kuliko zote ambazo mtume yeyote aliwahi kutoa. "Ewe uliyejaa hila zote na uovu wote, mwana wa Ibilisi, adui wa haki yote, huachi kuzipotoa njia za Bwana zilizonyoka? Basi sasa, angalia, mkono wa Bwana u juu yako, nawe utakuwa kipofu, usilione jua kwa muda" (Matendo 13:10–11, SUV).Barnabas and Saul, with John Mark as their assistant, sailed to Cyprus, Barnabas's home island. They preached in the synagogues across the island until they came to the western city of Paphos, the seat of the Roman proconsul. The proconsul, Sergius Paulus, was an intelligent man who wanted to hear the word of God. But his court astrologer, a Jewish sorcerer named Bar-Jesus — also called Elymas, "the magician" — kept getting in the way, trying to turn the proconsul away from the faith. Then Saul, who from this point on Luke calls Paul, fixed his eyes on Elymas and pronounced one of the harshest sentences any apostle ever gave. "O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time" (Acts 13:10–11, NKJV).

Mkono ule uliomrudishia Paulo kuona kwake katika njia ya Dameski uliuondoa uwezo wa kuona kutoka kwa mtu aliyekuwa akiipinga injili. Ukungu na giza vikamwangukia Elima, akazunguka akitafuta mtu wa kumshika mkono na kumwongoza. Sergio Paulo, alipoona jambo hilo, akaamini. Gavana wa kwanza wa Kirumi kuokoka katika simulizi la Matendo aliokoka kwa sababu alimwona mchawi akipofuka. Mkono wa Bwana ni mkono ule ule katika kila karne, na wakati mwingine hufumbua macho kwa kuyafumba.The hand that had given Paul his sight back on the Damascus road took the sight away from the man who was opposing the gospel. Mist and darkness fell on Elymas, and he went around looking for someone to lead him by the hand. Sergius Paulus, watching this, believed. The first Roman governor to convert in the Acts narrative did so because he watched a sorcerer go blind. The hand of the Lord is the same hand in every century, and it sometimes opens eyes by closing them.

Angalia kwamba katika Matendo 13:13 Luka anaacha kuwaita "Barnaba na Sauli" na kuwaita "Paulo na wenziwe." Kuanzia hapo kwa kawaida anamtaja Paulo kwanza (13:43, 46, 50), ingawa huko Listra na huko Yerusalemu Barnaba bado anatajwa kwanza (14:14; 15:12, 25). Mshirika mkuu amerudi nyuma, na yule aliyeokoka karibuni kutoka Tarso sasa anaiongoza timu. Barnaba Mtiaji Moyo amefanya kile ambacho kila mlezi mkuu hatimaye hufanya — kumwachia mwanafunzi wake achukue uongozi. Na tuwe na neema ya kutosha kufanya vivyo hivyo siku hiyo itakapofika.Notice that at Acts 13:13 Luke stops calling them "Barnabas and Saul" and calls them "Paul and his party." From here on he usually names Paul first (13:43, 46, 50), though at Lystra and in Jerusalem Barnabas is still named first (14:14; 15:12, 25). The senior partner has stepped back, and the new convert from Tarsus is leading the team. Barnabas the Encourager has done what every great mentor eventually does — let the protégé take the lead. May we have grace enough to do the same when the day comes.

III. Kujitenga kwa Yohana MarkoIII. The Defection of John Mark

Kutoka Kipro timu ilisafiri kuelekea kaskazini hadi bara la Asia Ndogo ikashuka Perge. Na hapa Luka anaweka sentensi itakayouma baadaye. "Kisha Paulo na wenziwe wakang'oa nanga Pafo, wakafika Perge katika Pamfilia; Yohana akatengana nao akarudi Yerusalemu" (Matendo 13:13, SUV). Marko alirudi nyumbani. Luka hatuambii kwa nini. Labda Marko alikumbuka nyumbani. Labda alidhani misheni imechukua mwelekeo mbaya Paulo alipochukua nafasi ya binamu yake Barnaba kama kiongozi. Labda njia ya kupitia mabwawa ya malaria ya Pamfilia kwenda nyanda za juu za Pisidia ilionekana hatari mno kwa kijana kutoka nyumba yenye starehe huko Yerusalemu. Sababu yoyote ile, Marko aliacha.From Cyprus the team sailed north to the mainland of Asia Minor and landed at Perga. And here Luke drops a sentence that will sting later. "Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem" (Acts 13:13, NKJV). Mark went home. Luke does not tell us why. Maybe Mark was homesick. Maybe he thought the mission had taken a wrong turn when Paul replaced his cousin Barnabas as the leader. Maybe the road through the Pamphylian malarial swamps to the Pisidian highlands looked too dangerous for a young man from a comfortable Jerusalem home. Whatever the reason, Mark quit.

Nataka nisimame hapa, kwa sababu kushindwa kwa Marko kunakuwa mojawapo ya marejesho mazuri kuliko yote katika Agano Jipya. Sura mbili kutoka sasa Paulo atakataa kumchukua Marko katika safari ya pili, na kutokubaliana huko kutamtenganisha na Barnaba. Lakini mwisho wa hadithi ndefu ni tofauti. Miaka ishirini baadaye, akiandika barua yake ya mwisho kutoka gereza la Rumi na akingoja kuuawa, Paulo ataandikisha, "Mtwae Marko, umlete pamoja nawe; maana anifaa kwa utumishi" (2 Timotheo 4:11, SUV). Kijana aliyeacha huko Perge aliishia kuandika Injili ya pili na kufa kwa ajili ya Bwana ambaye alikuwa ameiacha kazi yake. Na njiani mtu fulani alipaswa kukataa kumkatia tamaa. Mtu huyo alikuwa Barnaba. Kuna kibanzi katika mguu wa Marko huko Perge, na kutakuwa na ujumbe ulioandikwa kwa mkono wake huko Rumi miaka ishirini baadaye, kwa sababu binamu yake hakukubali kumtupa. Kuna akina Marko wengi kandokando yako usiku wa leo. Usiwatupe.I want to stop here, because Mark's failure becomes one of the most beautiful recoveries in the New Testament. Two chapters from now Paul will refuse to take Mark on the second journey, and that disagreement will split him from Barnabas. But the long game ends differently. Twenty years later, writing his last letter from a Roman prison and waiting for his execution, Paul will dictate, "Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry" (2 Timothy 4:11, NKJV). The young man who quit at Perga ended up writing the second Gospel and dying for the Lord whose work he had walked out on. And along the way somebody had to refuse to give up on him. That somebody was Barnabas. There is a splinter in Mark's foot at Perga, and there will be a sermon written by his hand in Rome twenty years later, because his cousin would not throw him away. There are Marks all around you tonight. Don't throw them away.

IV. Mahubiri ya Antiokia ya PisidiaIV. The Pisidian Antioch Sermon

Paulo na Barnaba waliendelea mbele kuelekea bara hadi Antiokia ya Pisidia — Antiokia nyingine tofauti na kanisa lililowatuma, koloni la Kirumi katika nyanda za juu za katikati ya Asia Ndogo. Waliingia katika sinagogi siku ya sabato, na baada ya kusomwa kwa torati na manabii wakuu wa sinagogi walimkaribisha mgeni yeyote mwenye neno la kuonya awashirikishe. Paulo akasimama, akawapungia mkono, akahubiri mahubiri ya kwanza ya huduma yake yaliyoandikwa na Luka.Paul and Barnabas pressed on inland to Pisidian Antioch — a different Antioch from their sending church, a Roman colony in the highlands of central Asia Minor. They went into the synagogue on the Sabbath and after the reading of the Law and the Prophets the rulers of the synagogue invited any visitor with a word of exhortation to share. Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and preached the first sermon of his Luke-recorded ministry.

Mahubiri hayo yamepangwa karibu sawasawa na utetezi wa Stefano katika Matendo 7. Paulo aliwapitisha wasikilizaji wake katika historia ya Agano la Kale — mababa wa imani, Kutoka, jangwa, waamuzi, mfalme Sauli, mfalme Daudi, kisha mbele hadi kwa mwana wa Daudi aitwaye Yesu — ubatizo wake na Yohana, kukataliwa kwake na wakuu, kusulibiwa kwake, kuzikwa kwake, kufufuka kwake siku ya tatu, kuwatokea kwake wanafunzi. Paulo alimalizia kwa maneno yaliyoufupisha ujumbe wa mitume katika sentensi moja. "Basi, na ijulikane kwenu, ndugu zangu, ya kuwa kwa huyo mnahubiriwa msamaha wa dhambi; na kwa yeye kila amwaminiye huhesabiwa haki katika mambo yote ambayo kwa torati ya Musa hamkuweza kuhesabiwa haki" (Matendo 13:38–39, SUV). Msamaha ulihubiriwa. Kuhesabiwa haki kulitolewa. Milango miwili ambayo torati ya Musa haikuwahi kuifungua. Paulo aliifungua katika aya moja.The sermon is structured almost identically to Stephen's defense in Acts 7. Paul walked his hearers through Old Testament history — the patriarchs, the Exodus, the wilderness, the judges, Saul the king, David the king, then forward to a son of David named Jesus — His baptism by John, His rejection by the rulers, His crucifixion, His burial, His resurrection on the third day, His appearances to the disciples. Paul ended with the line that distilled the apostles' message into one sentence. "Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:38–39, NKJV). Forgiveness preached. Justification offered. Two doors the law of Moses had never opened. Paul opened them in one paragraph.

Watu wa sinagogi walimsihi Paulo ahubiri mambo hayo hayo sabato iliyofuata. Kufikia sabato iliyofuata karibu mji wote ulikuwa umetoka kuja kusikia. Viongozi wa Kiyahudi, walipoona makutano, walijawa na wivu wakampinga Paulo. Kwa hiyo Paulo akatangaza mgeuko mkuu wa huduma yake. "Ilikuwa lazima neno la Mungu linenwe kwenu kwanza; lakini kwa kuwa mnalisukumia mbali, na kujihukumu wenyewe kuwa hamkustahili uzima wa milele, angalieni, twawageukia Mataifa" (Matendo 13:46, SUV). Watu wa Mataifa wa Antiokia ya Pisidia waliposikia sentensi hiyo walifurahi. Luka anasema mojawapo ya mambo yenye ngurumo ya kimya kuliko yote katika Agano Jipya. "Na wote waliokuwa wamekusudiwa uzima wa milele wakaamini" (Matendo 13:48, SUV). Fundisho la uteule liko katika mwamba wa msingi wa kitabu cha Matendo. Bwana anawajua walio wake, naye huwaita injili inapopita mjini. Wakristo wa mapokeo ya Kireformed husoma Matendo 13:48 kama fundisho la uteule usio na masharti; Wakristo wa mapokeo ya Kiarminiani huuelewa kuhusiana na kujua kwa Mungu tangu awali na mwitikio unaowezeshwa na neema. Hizi ni tafsiri za mstari huu, si sharti la kukubali mfumo mmoja wa kimadhehebu. Eleza jinsi unavyousoma kutokana na maandiko yenyewe na muktadha wake.The synagogue begged Paul to preach the same things the next Sabbath. By the next Sabbath almost the whole city had come out to hear. The Jewish leaders, seeing the crowds, became jealous and contradicted Paul. So Paul announced the great pivot of his ministry. "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles" (Acts 13:46, NKJV). The Gentiles of Pisidian Antioch heard that sentence and rejoiced. Luke says one of the most quietly thunderous things in the New Testament. "And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48, NKJV). The doctrine of election is in the bedrock of Acts. The Lord knows His own, and He calls them when the gospel comes through town. Reformed Christians read Acts 13:48 as teaching unconditional election; Arminian Christians understand it in relation to God's foreknowledge and a response enabled by grace. These are interpretations of the verse, not a requirement to adopt one denominational system. Explain your reading from the text and its context.

V. Ikonio, Listra, Derbe — na Kupigwa kwa MaweV. Iconium, Lystra, Derbe — and a Stoning

Viongozi wa Kiyahudi waliwafukuza Paulo na Barnaba kutoka Antiokia ya Pisidia. Wamisionari hao wawili wakayakung'uta mavumbi ya miguu yao wakasafiri kuelekea mashariki hadi Ikonio. Mfumo ule ule ukajirudia. Kuhubiri katika sinagogi, Wayahudi na Wayunani wengi kuamini, upinzani kuinuka, jaribio la kuwapiga kwa mawe, na Paulo na Barnaba kuponyoka kabla mawe hayajaanguka.The Jewish leaders ran Paul and Barnabas out of Pisidian Antioch. The two missionaries shook the dust off their feet and traveled east to Iconium. The same pattern repeated. Synagogue preaching, many Jews and Greeks believing, opposition arising, an attempt to stone them, and Paul and Barnabas slipping out before the stones fell.

Huko Listra Paulo alimponya mtu aliyekuwa kiwete tangu tumboni mwa mama yake. Umati, ukiwatazama wageni wale waliokuwa wametoka kufanya jambo ambalo hakuna mtu wa Listra aliyewahi kuliona, uliamua kwamba Paulo na Barnaba lazima ni Herme na Zeu wanaotembea kati ya wanadamu. Kuhani wa Zeu alikuja mbio na mashada ya maua na ng'ombe ili kutoa dhabihu. Paulo na Barnaba wakararua nguo zao, wakarukia kati ya umati, wakapiga kelele, "Enyi watu, mbona mnafanya hayo? Sisi nasi tu wanadamu, wenye tabia moja na ninyi; nasi twawahubiri habari njema, kwamba mgeuke na kuyaacha mambo haya yasiyofaa, mkamwelekee Mungu aliye hai" (Matendo 14:15, SUV). Ilibidi wabishane na umati ili usiwaabudu. Kwa shida kubwa, Luka anasema, waliwazuia watu wasiwatolee dhabihu.At Lystra Paul healed a man who had been crippled from his mother's womb. The crowd, looking up at the foreigners who had just done what no Lystran had ever seen, decided Paul and Barnabas must be Hermes and Zeus walking among men. The temple priest of Zeus came running with garlands and oxen to offer sacrifice. Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes, ran into the crowd, and shouted "Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God" (Acts 14:15, NKJV). They had to argue the crowd out of worshiping them. With great difficulty, Luke says, they restrained the people from offering sacrifice.

Kisha upinzani ule ule wa Kiyahudi uliokuwa umemfuatilia Paulo kutoka Antiokia ya Pisidia ukafika Listra. Umati uliotaka kumvika taji kama mungu nusu saa kabla ulimgeukia ghafla, na mikono ile ile iliyoinua mashada ya maua ikaokota mawe. Paulo alipigwa kwa mawe, akaburutwa nje ya mji, akaachwa akidhaniwa amekufa. Soma sentensi inayofuata kwa makini. "Lakini wanafunzi walipokuwa wakimzunguka, aliondoka, akaingia mjini" (Matendo 14:20, SUV). Wanafunzi gani? Walioamini katika wiki chache zilizopita. Mtu waliyemdhania kuwa Herme alikuwa amelala katika rundo la mawe, na waamini wa Listra walimzunguka wakaomba, naye akasimama akarudi akitembea katika mji ule uliokuwa umetoka kujaribu kumwua. Siku iliyofuata yeye na Barnaba walikuwa njiani kwenda Derbe kuendelea kuhubiri. Hakuna dini nyingine duniani ambayo watendakazi wake wa mstari wa mbele wamefanya jambo la namna hii kwa miaka elfu mbili. Ukristo si jambo la kujifurahisha wakati wa mapumziko. Ni vita, na Bwana hutoa amri za mapigano na majeraha na ufufuo.Then the same Jewish opposition that had pursued Paul from Pisidian Antioch arrived in Lystra. The crowd that had wanted to crown him as a god half an hour earlier turned on him in a moment, and the same hands that had lifted garlands picked up rocks. Paul was stoned, dragged outside the city, and left for dead. Read the next sentence carefully. "However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city" (Acts 14:20, NKJV). What disciples? The new converts of the past few weeks. The man they thought was Hermes was lying in a heap of stones, and the Lystran believers gathered around him and prayed, and he stood up and walked back into the city that had just tried to kill him. The next day he and Barnabas were on the road to Derbe to keep preaching. There is no other religion on earth whose front-line workers have done this kind of thing for two thousand years. Christianity is not a hobby. It is a war, and the Lord supplies the marching orders and the wounds and the resurrections.

Kutoka Derbe Paulo na Barnaba waligeuka wakarudi njia ile ile — Listra, Ikonio, Antiokia ya Pisidia — kupitia miji ile ile iliyokuwa imewafukuza. Kwa nini kurudi? "Wakifanya imara roho za wanafunzi na kuwaonya wakae katika ile imani, na ya kwamba, 'Imetupasa kuingia katika ufalme wa Mungu kwa njia ya dhiki nyingi'" (Matendo 14:22, SUV). Gharama ya kuwa mwanafunzi ilihubiriwa katika kila kituo. Waliwachagulia wazee katika kila kanisa, wakaomba na kufunga, wakawaweka mikononi mwa Bwana, na hatimaye wakasafiri kwa merikebu kurudi nyumbani Antiokia ya Shamu. Luka anaeleza kwamba waliliarifu kanisa lililowatuma "mambo yote Mungu aliyoyafanya pamoja nao, na jinsi alivyowafungulia Mataifa mlango wa imani" (Matendo 14:27, SUV). Safari ya kwanza ya umisheni ilikuwa imekwisha. Mlango ulikuwa wazi. Na mlango ulikuwa karibu kujaribiwa.From Derbe Paul and Barnabas turned around and retraced their steps — Lystra, Iconium, Pisidian Antioch — back through the very cities that had thrown them out. Why go back? "Strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, 'We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God'" (Acts 14:22, NKJV). The cost of discipleship preached at every stop. They appointed elders in every church, prayed and fasted, commended them to the Lord, and finally sailed home to Antioch in Syria. Luke notes that they reported to the sending church "all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles" (Acts 14:27, NKJV). The first missionary journey was over. The door was open. And the door was about to be tested.

VI. Baraza la YerusalemuVI. The Jerusalem Council

Watu fulani kutoka Uyahudi walishuka Antiokia wakaanza kufundisha, "Msipotahiriwa kwa desturi ya Musa, hamwezi kuokoka" (Matendo 15:1, SUV). Sentensi hiyo ndiyo sentensi ya hatari kuliko zote iliyowahi kunenwa ndani ya kanisa la kwanza. Angalia maneno mawili yanayoua: hamwezi kuokoka. Wayahudishaji hawakuwa wakiwaomba waamini wapya wa Mataifa wawe Wayahudi kitamaduni kwa ajili ya ushirika. Walikuwa wakisema kwamba bila alama ya upasuaji ya torati ya Musa miilini mwao watu hawa wa Mataifa hawakuwa Wakristo kwa kweli. Paulo na Barnaba walikuwa na mashindano yasiyo madogo pamoja nao — Kiyunani kinasema walikuwa na stásis, fujo, mgongano wa hadharani. Kanisa la Antiokia lilipeleka suala hilo juu kwa viongozi. Paulo, Barnaba, na wengine walitumwa Yerusalemu kulitatua.Some men from Judea came down to Antioch and started teaching, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved" (Acts 15:1, NKJV). That sentence is the most dangerous sentence ever spoken inside the early church. Notice the two killer words: cannot be saved. The Judaizers were not asking the Gentile converts to be culturally Jewish for fellowship purposes. They were saying that without the surgical mark of the Mosaic law on their bodies these Gentiles were not actually Christians. Paul and Barnabas had no small dispute with them — the Greek says they had a stásis, a riot, a public clash. The Antioch church sent the issue up the chain. Paul, Barnabas, and others were dispatched to Jerusalem to settle it.

Baraza la Yerusalemu lililofuata ndilo baraza la kwanza la kanisa katika historia iliyoandikwa, karibu karne tatu kabla ya Nikea, la kwanza kati ya mabaraza ya kiekumene. Matendo 15 ni kumbukumbu zake za mkutano. Baada ya majadiliano mengi Petro alisimama akawakumbusha wote kwamba Mungu hakuweka tofauti yoyote kati ya Myahudi na mtu wa Mataifa Roho aliposhuka juu ya nyumba ya Kornelio. Kisha akauliza swali ambalo lingepaswa kumaliza mkutano ndani ya dakika tatu. "Basi sasa mbona mnamjaribu Mungu, hata mkatia kongwa juu ya shingo za wanafunzi, ambalo baba zetu wala sisi hatukuweza kulichukua?" (Matendo 15:10, SUV). Hata Wayahudi, Petro anasema, hawakuweza kamwe kuishika sheria ya Musa kikamilifu. Kumtaka mtu wa Mataifa kubeba kongwa hilo kama gharama ya kuingia ndani ya Kristo ni kumtoza ada ya kuingia iliyo kubwa kuliko ile ambayo Wayahudi walikuwa wamewahi kulipa.The Jerusalem council that resulted is the first church council in recorded history, nearly three centuries before Nicaea, the first of the ecumenical councils. Acts 15 is its minutes. After much debate Peter stood up and reminded everyone that God had made no distinction between Jew and Gentile when the Spirit fell on Cornelius's household. Then he asked the question that should have ended the meeting in three minutes. "Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" (Acts 15:10, NKJV). Even the Jews, Peter is saying, never could keep the Mosaic code perfectly. To require a Gentile to bear that yoke as the price of admission into Christ is to charge him a higher entrance fee than the Jews had ever paid.

Kisha Paulo na Barnaba wakaeleza yale ambayo Mungu alikuwa amefanya kati ya watu wa Mataifa katika safari ya kwanza. Na kisha, mwisho wa wote, Yakobo ndugu yake Bwana akasimama. Yakobo alikuwa mchungaji mkuu huko Yerusalemu. Yakobo ndiye aliyekuwa Myahudi mshika torati kwa ukali kuliko wote jukwaani. Yakobo ndiye ambaye jina lake la utani ndani ya kanisa lilikuwa Magoti ya Ngamia kwa sababu aliomba sana kwa ajili ya Israeli. Kama kuna mtu yeyote angesisitiza tohara, angekuwa Yakobo. Yakobo akafungua kinywa chake, akamnukuu nabii Amosi, akatamka uamuzi. "Basi, mimi naona kwamba tusiwataabishe watu wa Mataifa wanaomgeukia Mungu" (Matendo 15:19, SUV). Watu wa Mataifa hawakupaswa kulazimishwa kutahiriwa. Waliombwa wajiepushe na desturi chache ambazo zingefanya ushirika wa mezani na waamini Wayahudi usiwezekane — nyama iliyotolewa sadaka kwa sanamu, damu, nyama ya wanyama walionyongwa, na uasherati. Makubaliano manne madogo, si kongwa. Baraza liliandika barua, kanisa la Antiokia likaisoma likafurahi, na swali ambalo lingeweza kuugawa Ukristo kwenye mizizi yake likatatuliwa.Then Paul and Barnabas reported what God had done among the Gentiles on the first journey. And then, last of all, James the Lord's brother stood up. James was the senior pastor in Jerusalem. James was the most rigorously Torah-observant Jew on the platform. James was the one whose nickname inside the church was Old Camel Knees because he prayed so much for Israel. If anyone was going to insist on circumcision, it was going to be James. James opened his mouth, quoted the prophet Amos, and pronounced the verdict. "Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God" (Acts 15:19, NKJV). The Gentiles were not to be required to be circumcised. They were asked to abstain from a few practices that would make table fellowship with Jewish believers impossible — meat sacrificed to idols, blood, things strangled, sexual immorality. Four small concessions, not a yoke. The Council wrote a letter, the church at Antioch read it and rejoiced, and the question that could have split Christianity at its roots was settled.

VII. Paulo, Barnaba, na Mashindano MakaliVII. Paul, Barnabas, and the Sharp Disagreement

Matendo 15 inamalizika kwa mojawapo ya matukio yenye uchungu kuliko yote katika Biblia. Paulo alitaka kurudi kuyatembelea makanisa ya safari ya kwanza. Barnaba alitaka kumchukua Yohana Marko tena. Paulo alikataa — Marko alikuwa ameondoka huko Perge. Barnaba alisisitiza. Ugomvi huo, Luka anasema kwa kiasi chake cha kawaida, ulikuwa paroxysmos, mashindano makali. Watu wawili waliokuwa wameketi pamoja katika mkutano wa uongozi wa Antiokia, waliosafiri pamoja hadi Kipro, waliopigwa mawe pamoja, walioitetea injili pamoja huko Yerusalemu, walitengana. Barnaba alimchukua Marko akasafiri kwa merikebu kurudi Kipro. Paulo alimchukua Sila akaenda kwa njia ya nchi kavu kupitia Shamu na Kilikia.Acts 15 ends with one of the most painful scenes in the Bible. Paul wanted to go back and visit the churches from the first journey. Barnabas wanted to take John Mark again. Paul refused — Mark had walked out at Perga. Barnabas insisted. The dispute, Luke says with his usual restraint, was a paroxysmos, a sharp contention. The two men who had sat together in the Antioch leadership meeting, sailed together to Cyprus, been stoned together, defended the gospel together at Jerusalem, parted ways. Barnabas took Mark and sailed home to Cyprus. Paul took Silas and went overland through Syria and Cilicia.

Sijifanyi kujua ni nani kati yao aliyekuwa sahihi. Maandiko hayatuambii, na watu wema wamebishana pande zote mbili kwa miaka elfu mbili. Ninachojua ni kwamba Bwana alitumia kutokubaliana huko kuzidisha nguvu ya umisheni. Mahali palipokuwa na kikundi kimoja cha wamisionari, sasa palikuwa na viwili. Mahali mlezi mmoja alipokuwa akimmiminia mtu mmoja mpya, sasa walezi wawili walikuwa wakiwamiminia wawili. Hatimaye Marko akawa wa kufaa kiasi kwamba Paulo aliandika 2 Timotheo akimwomba. Bwana aligeuza ugomvi kuwa mara mbili zaidi. Bado anafanya hivyo. Ikiwa umetengana na ndugu katika huduma, usiache kuuombea uhusiano huo. Bwana aliwazika Paulo na Barnaba katika Biblia moja.I do not pretend to know which man was right. The text does not tell us, and good men have argued on both sides for two thousand years. What I do know is that the Lord used the disagreement to multiply the missionary force. Where there had been one missionary band, there were now two. Where one mentor had been pouring into one new man, two mentors were pouring into two. Mark eventually became useful enough that Paul wrote 2 Timothy asking for him. The Lord turned a quarrel into a doubling. He still does that. If you are estranged from a brother in ministry, do not give up praying for the relationship. The Lord buried Paul and Barnabas in the same Bible.

VIII. Timotheo na Kuimarishwa kwa MakanisaVIII. Timothy and the Strengthening of the Churches

Paulo, akiwa na Sila kando yake, alisafiri kupitia Shamu na Kilikia, kisha akapanda njia ya nyanda za juu kuingia katika miji aliyokuwa ameitembelea katika safari ya kwanza. Huko Listra — Listra ile ile ambako Paulo alikuwa amepigwa kwa mawe — mtume alikutana na kijana mmoja aitwaye Timotheo, mwana wa mwanamke Myahudi aliyeamini aitwaye Eunike na wa baba Myunani, aliyelelewa na bibi yake Loisi katika Maandiko ya Kiebrania. Timotheo alikuwa tayari akishuhudiwa mema na ndugu wa Listra na Ikonio. Paulo alitaka kumchukua pamoja naye. Alimtahiri Timotheo "kwa ajili ya Wayahudi waliokuwako pande zile" (Matendo 16:3, SUV) — si kwa sababu tohara sasa ilihitajika kwa wokovu; Baraza la Yerusalemu lilikuwa limetoka kulitatua hilo — bali ili wazazi wa Timotheo wa asili mbili tofauti wasiwe kikwazo kisicho cha lazima katika masinagogi. Paulo yule yule aliyekataa Tito atahiriwe kwa sababu za kitheolojia aliruhusu Timotheo atahiriwe kwa sababu za kimisheni. Paulo alikuwa hodari sana katika kuchagua ni vita gani apigane.Paul, with Silas at his side, traveled through Syria and Cilicia, then up the highland road into the cities he had visited on the first journey. At Lystra — the same Lystra where Paul had been stoned — the apostle met a young man named Timothy, son of a believing Jewess named Eunice and a Greek father, raised by his grandmother Lois on the Hebrew Scriptures. Timothy was already well spoken of by the brethren in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to take him along. He had Timothy circumcised "because of the Jews who were in that region" (Acts 16:3, NKJV) — not because circumcision was now required for salvation; the Jerusalem Council had just settled that — but so that Timothy's mixed parentage would not become a needless obstacle in the synagogues. The same Paul who had refused circumcision for Titus on theological grounds permitted it for Timothy on missionary grounds. Paul was a master at picking which battles to fight.

Matendo 16:5 inafunga sehemu hii kwa muhtasari wa sentensi moja ambao unapaswa kuwa lengo la kila huduma ya kichungaji duniani. "Basi makanisa yakatiwa nguvu katika ile imani, yakaongezeka hesabu yao kila siku" (Matendo 16:5, SUV). Yakatiwa nguvu. Yakaongezeka. Vitenzi viwili sahihi. Bwana na aviweke vyote viwili katika taarifa ya kila kanisa tunalolitumikia.Acts 16:5 closes the unit with a one-sentence summary that ought to be the goal of every pastoral ministry on the planet. "So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily" (Acts 16:5, NKJV). Strengthened. Increased. The two right verbs. May the Lord put both of them in the report of every church we serve.

IX. Masomo Matatu ya Kuchukua NyumbaniIX. Three Lessons Home

Kwanza, kazi ya umisheni huanza magotini. Utumaji wa kwanza wa umisheni wa kuvuka tamaduni katika historia ya kanisa ulitokea kwa sababu wanaume watano huko Antiokia walikuwa wakifunga na kuomba na Roho Mtakatifu akanena. Shirika la kwanza la umisheni lilikuwa mkutano wa maombi. Bwana bado anawaita watendakazi kutoka katika mikutano ya maombi. Omba kwa bidii kwa ajili ya watendakazi, na usishangae akikuita wewe.First, missionary work begins on its knees. The first cross-cultural missions sending in church history happened because five men in Antioch were fasting and praying and the Holy Spirit spoke. The first missions agency was a prayer meeting. The Lord is still calling out workers from prayer meetings. Pray earnestly for laborers, and do not be surprised if He calls you.

Pili, usiwatupe akina Yohana Marko wako. Marko aliondoka huko Perge. Barnaba alimchukua tena hadi Kipro. Bwana alimgeuza aliyeacha kuwa mwandishi wa Injili. Kuna watu katika kanisa lako walioshindwa hadharani, walioondoka, wanaokaa pembeni wakijiuliza kama kuna mtu yeyote atakayewanyooshea mkono tena. Kuwa Barnaba. Ufalme umejaa akina Marko waliorudi.Second, do not throw away your John Marks. Mark walked out at Perga. Barnabas took him back to Cyprus. The Lord turned the quitter into a Gospel-writer. There are people in your church who have failed publicly, who have walked away, who are sitting on the fringes wondering whether anyone will ever extend them a hand again. Be a Barnabas. The kingdom is full of Marks who came back.

Tatu, injili huokoa kwa imani na injili huokoa kwa imani peke yake. Baraza la Yerusalemu lilitatua katika aya moja kile ambacho kila matengenezo katika historia ya kanisa yamelazimika kutatua tena. Wokovu si Kristo pamoja na tohara. Si Kristo pamoja na sakramenti. Si Kristo pamoja na kadi ya uanachama wa dhehebu. Ni Kristo peke yake, anayepokewa kwa imani peke yake, na wenye dhambi peke yao. Chochote zaidi ya hapo ni kongwa ambalo baba zetu wala sisi hatukuweza kulichukua. Mababa wa Baraza walikataa kongwa hilo kwa ajili ya watu wa Mataifa. Na tulikatae kwa ajili yetu wenyewe na kwa ajili ya kila mtu ambaye Bwana anamleta kwenye mimbari zetu.Third, the gospel saves by faith and the gospel saves by faith alone. The Jerusalem Council settled in one paragraph what every reformation in church history has had to settle again. Salvation is not Christ plus circumcision. It is not Christ plus the sacraments. It is not Christ plus a denominational membership card. It is Christ alone, received by faith alone, by sinners alone. Anything more is the yoke neither our fathers nor we are able to bear. The Council fathers refused that yoke for the Gentiles. May we refuse it for ourselves and for everyone the Lord brings into our pulpits.

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