13:8
Elymas the sorcerer knew that the gospel threatened his magic, so he opposed Saul and Barnabas, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. The gospel threatens society for it will demand changes, but it does not do this in the way that Islam threatens a society. For Islam works by law and force. The gospel changes men’s hearts, and they begin to see what is truly good and beneficial. When Christians seek to impose godly standard by force they have gone far off the rails.
13:9
We now get the first use of the name Paul. This was an example of a Roman extra name given to Roman citizens. Paul was not a change of name, but was an extra name, and was now used predominantly by Paul as his mission was increasingly to the Gentiles. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and then addressed Elymas directly, both in looking at him and in what he said. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will inspire someone to speak words of judgement, as here. We have a very poor conception of what it means to be Christlike at times. Elymas is addressed as a son of the devil, and is told that he is perverting the ways of the Lord.
13:10-12
But Paul did not use words only, he then declared that Elymas would become blind, and indeed he did. Now that is a gift of the Spirit that isn’t much on display these days! Of course it isn’t a gift as such, but this is a clear operation of the Holy Spirit, and again goes against our popular conceptions of how the Spirit operates. You don’t get many sermons on this side of the Spirit’s work. We do need to bear in mind that this is not a common means of operation of the Spirit, but it is part of His operation. This also led to the proconsul believing. His belief arose out of both a clear demonstration of the Spirit’s power and clear presentation of gospel teaching. The two are not opposed, but are supposed to work together.
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