They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus … Acts 13:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 21, 2017): Acts 13

Maybe one of the most quoted verses from the Bible this time of year arises out of Matthew 1. “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). For most Christians, the name of Jesus takes on special meaning and significance, and it is sometimes surprising to learn that Israel 2000 years ago was actually chock-full of Jesus’s. In our culture, Jesus is a rare name while John’s are plentiful, but in Canaan 2000 years ago the situation would have been reversed, John’s were rare while you probably couldn’t throw a stick without hitting someone named Jesus. Some of these Jesus’s had delusions of grandeur, like Jesus Barabbas, who the Jewish mob chanted in favor of his release, while they tried to persuade the Pilate to crucify Jesus of Nazareth. Or they were prophets like Jesus ben Ananias who, starting in 62 C.E., went around declaring to all who would listen that Jerusalem was about to fall. And the city would fall on August 3, 70 C.E. But during the Siege of Jerusalem, Jesus ben Ananias died. The prophet was struck by rock fired from a Roman catapult. According to the historian, Josephus, the last words the prophet uttered were "Woe once more to the city and to the people and to the temple, and woe to me also." There was a Christian in Rome whose name was Jesus but was called Justus, possibly as a way of distancing himself from the Holy name of the Messiah with which his parents had blessed him.

And then there was Bar-Jesus, or literally “the son of Jesus,” on Cyprus. It seems likely that, in order to capitalize on the fame of Jesus of Nazareth, or maybe to just be able to proclaim himself as a Messianic type figure, Bar-Jesus had stopped using his first name. He wanted all who met him to know him as Jesus. Bar-Jesus was a self-proclaimed prophet of the God of Israel, and on Cyprus, he wanted to be in charge of the religious agenda he had thrust upon the island.

But as the passage moves on, we find that Luke doesn’t seem to be able to bear to call this sorcerer Jesus, and instead opts for Elymas, which may have been Bar-Jesus’s first name or, more likely, a nickname. It is evident from the text that Bar Jesus opposed the ministry of Paul and Barnabas and the advancement of the Gospel of Jesus of Nazareth. On Cyprus, there was room for only one Jesus, and that was not Jesus of Nazareth. Paul and Barnabas represented a threat against Bar-Jesus’s agenda on Cypress, and that threat could not be tolerated.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 14