Barnabas and the Church at Antioch

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Peter's Report

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The first 18 verses of Chapter 11 deal with the problems in Jerusalem because Peter had gone into a Gentiles house, the home of Cornelius. The preaching of the Gospel to Cornelius was something that we Gentile sinners have reason to reflect on with joy and thanksgiving. There are four points that we want to look at in these verses.

1. The speed with which word got back to Jerusalem concerning Peter's visit to the home of Cornelius. ( some by phrase, some by gossip )
2. The offence that was taken by the believing Jews in Judeah.
3. Peter's full and accurate report of the whole matter.
4. The acceptance of the Jews of Peter's explanation.

Lets look at the first of these. Word got back to Jerusalem that Peter had gone into a Gentiles house and actually ate with them. Caesarea was approximately 72 miles from Jerusalem yet word got back very quickly of Peter's visit. We do not know how this was accomplished or who was responsible, but we do know that their report was accurate. They not only told of Peter's visit but they also reported that the Gentiles had "received" the Word of God. Not only did they receive the Word, but they also received Christ as their Lord and Savior. Now they realized that the only way these Gentiles could have done that was that someone had to preach to them.

But even that possibility, didn't seem logical, because in their prejudices, they could not conceive of any Apostle preaching to them, and even if one would, it was unlikely that Gentiles would ever receive Christ because they were not "inclined" to religion. So the Jews in Jerusalem had many questions to ask Peter. They knew that Peter had been up there, surly he could shed some light on this question.

Our second point deals with the offence that the Jews took to everything that happened in Caesarea. Notice who in particular it was that took offence, those who belonged to the Circumcision Party, a Christian group who had carried this "sign" of the covenant that was in the Old Testament, over into the Christian Era. This group still held on to the Laws concerning unclean things. To them, for Peter to enter and eat with a Gentile was grounds for taking from him his Apostleship.

Now certainly Peter was as accountable as anyone else would have been. Peter never made any claims of being infallible. Peter must have foreseen this problem when he responded to the Lord's call and went to Caesarea, and he tried to protect himself by taking along with him, 6 witnesses. Matthew Henry says there are two things that we can learn from this:

1. From the Jews we can learn that we can do much damage to the Church when we try to exclude people who are different then we are.
2. From Peter, we who are Teachers or Ministers as well as leaders in the Church must expect to be held accountable even censored by our friends as well as our enemies. This is good when given a proper chance to respond.

Our third point is Peter's opportunity to respond, to prove his point, and I think he did quite well. Notice he was not like Paul, not that there was anything wrong with Paul, we all react differently to criticism, Paul took offence to it, Peter liked the opportunity to explain his actions that brought on the criticism. He explained the whole story to them and showed by doing this, that he had faith in their understanding and believed that when they were made aware of the whole matter that they would not only agree with what he did but would actually commend him.

Notice He doesn't bring any pressure to bear because of what we assume to be his position as head of the Apostles. Weather or not Peter still enjoyed this position, we are not sure. But certainly, he had much influence in the ranks of the Apostles. However if this was true, there was no evidence that he brought this to bear in his defense of his actions. No, Peter realized that what he had just done was contrary to his previous position toward the Gentiles, and needed an explanation.

Thus Peter explained by telling them the whole story from the beginning where he was in Joppa praying and had a vision, to the end, where he went to the home of Cornelius and the Holy Spirit came and converted all who heard his words and how, at that moment, he remembered what Jesus had said that John was baptizing with water and how they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. "Now if God gave them the same 'gift' that He gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus, who was I to stop God?" Now to Peter and these early Christians, the "gift" of the Spirit was clearly a sign of God's approval. The baptism of the Holy Spirit upon these Gentiles was undeniable, so those whom God has accepted into the Church, no one should reject. "What was I", Peter said, "that I could withstand God?"

How did the Jewish Brothern respond? What could they say? This brings us to the fourth point, even though these Brothern were Orthodox Jews like Peter, even though they also thought that Gentiles were "unclean", in spite of all their prejudice and previous training, when they heard the explanation that Peter gave, they kept their peace and phrased God saying that God had given repentance to the Gentiles also. It is not likely that these Jews completely understood what had happened, but they could not deny the truth in Peter's experience.

Two gifts were evident to these Jewish brothern which made them arrive at their decision. First, God had opened the door for Christian ministers to witness to Gentiles and second, He had given them the Holy Spirit, the One who convicts, convinces and converts. Even though they probably did not understand it, they knew it was so. So we see in these verses the door of Christianity opening up to the Gentiles.

Preaching Fugitives

In verses 19 thru 21 of Chapter 11, we see "Preaching Fugitives". These verses are important because they reveal, for the first time, the planting of the Gospel at Antioch. Antioch was the Capitol of Syria. It was the third largest city in the Roman Empire. Only Alexander and Rome were larger. The city was 300 miles north of Jerusalem. It is believed that Luke and Theophilus were both natives of Antioch. The time appears to have been 5 to 6 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The stoning of Stephen caused many followers of Christ to leave Jerusalem to escape the persecution that followed. Antioch appeared to have been the furthest north that they had gone at that time. The persecution that had been designed to eliminate Christianity, had only served to spread it. When they left Jerusalem, they traveled up through Judeah, Samaria and Galilee and then continued out of the boundaries of Canaan into the Plains of Phoenicia, even going over on to the Island of Cyprus and on into Syria, preaching all the way. But notice they preached only, for the most part, to Jews. Then some from Cyprus and Cyrene preached to the Greeks. From these Greeks came many preachers like Barnabas and Simon, both of which had been educated in Jerusalem. So they were in fact, Hellenists. Hellenists were Greek speaking Jews from the dispersion which occurred at the

destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel about 722 BC, those who had gone into Greece and adopted Greek habits and customs.

There were also some Jews who, at the dispersion, went down into Cyrene, the Capitol of Libya in Northern Africa. They to, like the Greek speaking Jews, were preached to and many accepted Christ. The Cyrenian Jews had a Synagogue in Jerusalem. One of note was Simon of Cyrene who carried the cross of Jesus at His crucifixion. Now it seems that God blessed the work of these dispersed Jews when they became believers and a great number turned to the Lord as the result of their preaching. It would appear that in these remote areas, miracles were replaced by the Power of the Holy Spirit in the converting of new believers.

Matthew Henry says, "The work of the Holy Spirit in conversion took form in Antioch." "The Preachers could but speak to the outward ear and it was the Holy Spirit that wrote it upon their hearts." "Thus people were brought to believe." "This is the way the Word of the Lord achieves it's end."

Luke simply says that they believed and turned to the Lord. These were not idol worshipping Greeks they were Greeks who were worshipping the one true and living God. They turned from a confidence in the Law to a confidence in Christ, and thus salvation by their faith in Him.

Barnabas at Antioch

Verses 22 thru 24 of Chapter 11 concern Barnabas at Antioch. What did we last hear about Barnabas? After Saul's conversion, Barnabas stood up for him at Jerusalem before the Apostles. Now when the Church in Jerusalem heard about the success of the Holy Spirit in the north, they sent Barnabas. Why Barnabas? Well, Barnabas could speak and understand Greek. He was from Cyprus where a great deal of the work was going on. He also, had the "Spirit of Zebulun" as opposed to the "Spirit of Issachar". Lets remind ourselves what that means. Jacob had 12 sons. Two of these sons were "opposites", yet both worked for the Lord. The names of these two sons became synonymous with the two kinds of Christian witness. Zebulun traveled and was constantly on the go, enjoying an active and challenging ministry. Issachar, on the other hand, enjoyed his tent where he studied and witnessed to all who came by. See the difference? Matthew Henry says, "God gives various gifts for various services." Barnabas had the Spirit of Zebulun.

It was a long tiresome trip of some 300 miles across a dry and desolate land, but Barnabas loved to travel, that's one of the reasons that they sent him, remember? Now, what was to be his mission?

1. He was to inquire how the ministry of Christ was being carried on in this Greek-speaking city.
2. He was to assist those who were doing the work there.
3. He was to give encouragement.
4. He was to congratulate them, both the preacher and the converts.

Matthew Henry says of Barnabas, "He had a particular genius for this kind of work, he was active and conversable." (having the gift of gab)

Now, how did Barnabas find things there at Antioch? Well it seems that he was wonderfully pleased. He found that the Gospel had had a good start and that some of his countrymen, men of Cyprus, had been instrumental in its success. Tradition has it that Barnabas did not take this job lightly. He not only observed their public worship but also their everyday conversations and family life. He was pleased to find the Grace of God in all areas of their lives. Early Gentile converts were watched very carefully by their Jewish brothers.

Barnabas also did what he could to strengthen their faith and encourage then in their Christian endeavors. Barnabas was not called "son of exhortation" for nothing. He was once called "son of consolation". So it would seem that he had talents in speaking and consoling people.

Not only did Barnabas have these useful talents which the Lord put to work but verse 24 says he was also a "good man". "Full of the Holy Spirit and faith." One article describes Barnabas as a very sweet man, considerate of others, a courteous disposition, with the art of obliging and the ability to teach. All this paid off in Antioch for verse 24 says that as the result of his efforts, a large company was added to the Lord. His talents and disposition was used by the Lord to bring others to Christ.

Barnabas Enlists Saul

Now we will see another of Barnabas' traits, one not many people have, that of being humble and recognizing talents that exceed your own. He called into the work of the Lord, a man who would, in many ways, outshines him. Verses 25 and 26 of Chapter 11, records this event.

The last that we had heard of Paul was that he had been taken from Jerusalem by night and put on a boat to go back to his home in Tarsus. Here we see Barnabas going back to Tarsus to find Paul. Paul must have impressed Barnabas. He must have seen, in this little opinionated man, something of a "diamond in the rough". He thought enough of Paul to go and bring him out of obscurity into the rapidly growing ministry of Christ.

Matthew Henry says it was like taking a lighted candle from under a bushel and putting it out so others could see the light. Barnabas had heard Paul speak and he was a very forceful speaker in spite of what many believe was a speech impediment. He would likely exceed Barnabas in the work of the Lord, but this did not concern Barnabas, he was concerned for the loss and he believed that Paul was the man the God had called. He found Paul and brought him back to Antioch.

For a year, Barnabas and Paul preached the Gospel in their assemblies. We sometimes get lost in the phrase of evangelism and forget the importance of "pasturing". I like what Matthew Henry says about this year at Antioch, "The preaching of Barnabas and Paul was not only for conversion but also for edification and instruction of those who were saved, feeding the flock as Jesus had commanded them to do." "A pastor must be able to teach." They served both functions but here during this year, it appears that they served more as teaching pastors to the many small congregations.

It is good to note that it was here at Antioch that the believers were first called "Christians". Before this, they were called "Followers of the Way", sometimes "Nazarenes". Certainly, Antioch was the "mother church" for Christianity. We are not told how the name "Christian" began, but tradition has it that at Antioch the mixture of Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians gradually equaled out, but the Jews still called themselves Jewish believers and the Greeks called themselves Greek Believers so to eliminate the friction between the two, they decided to honor Christ and agreed to call each other just plain "Christian" and not differentiate because of their backgrounds.

We must respect the responsibility of being called Christian. We must never do anything to bring reproach to the name of Christ. The story is told about a cowardly soldier whose name was Alexander. When Alexander the Great heard of this he told the soldier, "Either change your name, or change your ways." It was prophesied in Isa. 62:2, "Thou shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name." Now you know where the name "Christian" came from.

Now we begin to see the importance of Antioch and these next four verses will add to that in showing how their witness added to the cause of Christ in the world.

Love One Another

In verses 27 thru 30 of Chapter 11 we read of another group of people coming up to Antioch from Jerusalem. These people were called Prophets.

When Jesus ascended up on high, He gave gifts to men, to some, Apostles, to others, Evangelists, and to others, Prophets. So why did these Prophets came up to Antioch? Two reasons are suggested:

1. Jerusalem was famous for killing the prophets and these men had been in Jerusalem for 5 or 6 years and the work there seemed to be at a standstill.
2. Word had reached Jerusalem of the rapid growth of believers at Antioch and they felt that they could be of some service.

One of these men is mentioned by name. A man by the name of Agabus. We will read again of him over in Chapter 21 when he prophecies of Paul's imprisonment. Here he prophecies of a famine. Notice he knew this because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He was not a weather forecaster and he was not reading the "signs of the times", he was like Joseph in Egypt, he was led of the Spirit to know that there was going to be a famine.

Notice it was not going to be a small local famine, it was going to be one that would affect the whole world. Now from secular history we know that it did not affect the "whole world", but rather the world in which they lived, the whole Roman Empire. Notice this was prophesied to happen during the days of "Claudius". Josephus, in his history of the first century, records a sever drought which occurred in the second year of the reign of Claudius Caesar and lasted for two years. This would have been 42 to 44 AD., or about 8 years after the death of Christ. It would appear that the prophecy was given about 2 years before it happened.

According to history, the famine destroyed completely the corn crop and most of the poor in that area perished from hunger. The Christians, on the other hand, believed Agabus and everybody, according to his ability, stored wheat and corn for the next two years and when the famine came, they were able to send relief to the brothern down in Judeah. History records for us the great acts of charity that was done for the believers in Jerusalem as they never appeared to recover from the persecution of the early years. The Jews of the dispersion for 3 or 4 hundred years, sent charity back to Jerusalem. We will see that Paul, in his missionary journeys, constantly was taking up an offering for the Saints back in Jerusalem.

Notice it was Barnabas and Paul that they sent back to Jerusalem with the relief. Keep your eye on the order of the names that Luke uses when he mentions these two men. it will be Barnabas and Paul for a while, then it will be Paul and Barnabas. Watch for it. Tradition has it that when the suggestion was made to take up a donation of grain for Judeah, no one anticipated the great amount that they would get. So great was the amount that they felt it was necessary to send both Barnabas and Paul to make sure it was delivered. Why Barnabas and Paul? Well they were both Roman citizens, as such, were entitled to the protection of a Roman Guard.

Now it would appear that others were sending relief to Jerusalem also. Josephus tells of King Irates, to the south, was sending food and Queen Helena of Adiabeni ordered provisions from Alexandria and Cyprus to be sent to them.

Notice Barnabas and Paul were to deliver the supplies to the Elders. All the translations that I have call these people the Elders. Matthew Henry says these were the ministers or pastors of the churches in Judeah. These ministers would bare the responsibility of dispersing the provisions according to the need. Dr. Lightfoot, in his studies of the life of Paul, calculates that it was on this journey to Jerusalem that Paul speaks of in Chapter 22:17 where he says and I paraphrase, "I was in Jerusalem with the alms and offerings when I went to the Temple to pray." " While there I fell into a trance and was caught up into "Third Heaven" and told that I would be sent to the Gentiles." This Paul did as soon as he returned to Antioch.

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