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11:19 Luke's reference back to the persecution resulting from Stephen's martyrdom (7:60) is significant. It suggests that he was now beginning to record another mission of the Christians that ran parallel logically and chronologically to the one he had just described in 8:4-11:18.472
Luke had already pointed out that as a result of Stephen's execution the gospel had spread throughout Judea and Samaria (8:4). Now we learn that it was that event that also led to its being taken to the uttermost parts of the earth. While Philip went to Samaria, other refugees went to the country of Phoenicia north of Caesarea, the island of Cyprus (cf. 4:36; 21:16), and the city of Antioch. Those disciples, who were Jews, were evangelizing other Jews exclusively.
11:20 Some Jews from Cyprus, Barnabas' homeland not far from Antioch, and Cyrene, in North Africa (cf. 2:10; 6:9; 13:1), visited Antioch (cf. 13:1). Since Antioch was at this time the third largest city in the Roman world, after Rome and Alexandria,473they may have travelled there on business. Antioch was about 15 miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea on the Orontes River and 300 miles north of Jerusalem. It was the capital of the Roman province of Syro-Cilicia, north of Phoenicia, and was one of the most strategic population centers of its day. It contained between 500,000 and 800,000 inhabitants about one-seventh of which were Jews.474Many Gentile proselytes to Judaism lived there.475Antioch was also notorious as a haven for pleasure-seekers.476
"The Roman satirist, Juvenal, complained, The sewage of the Syrian Orontes has for long been discharged into the Tiber.' By this he meant that Antioch was so corrupt it was impacting Rome, more than 1,3000 miles away."477
"It seems incredible but nonetheless it is true that it was in a city like that that Christianity took the great stride forward to becoming the religion of the world. We have only to think of that to discover there is no such thing as a hopeless situation."478
"In Christian history, apart from Jerusalem, no other city of the Roman Empire played as large a part in the early life and fortunes of the church as Antioch of Syria."479
Some of the Hellenistic Jews also began sharing the gospel with Gentiles. This verse documents another significant advance in the mission of the church: for the first time Luke recorded Jews aggressively evangelizing non-Jews. The Ethiopian eunuch and Cornelius, who were both Gentiles, had taken the initiative in reaching out to Jews and had obtained salvation. Now believing Jews were taking the initiative in reaching out to Gentiles with the gospel.
The Antiochian evangelists preached "the Lord Jesus."For Gentiles "Christ"(Messiah) would not have been as significant a title as "Lord"(sovereign, savior, and deity). Many pagan Gentiles in the Roman Empire regarded Caesar as Lord.
11:21 Luke stressed the Lord Jesus' blessing of their witness. "The hand of the Lord"is an Old Testament anthropomorphism that pictures God's power (cf. Isa. 59:1:66:14). Response to this evangelistic work was very good. Perhaps these Gentiles were "God-fearers"similar to the Ethiopian eunuch and Cornelius.480Perhaps they were pagans who were not Jewish proselytes but were open to the message of life because of their dissatisfaction with paganism.481Probably both types of Gentiles responded.
"The combination of faith (pisteusas) and of turning (epestrepsen) is another common way to express salvation in Acts."482
11:22-24 As the apostles had done previously when they had heard of the Samaritans' salvation, they investigated when word of the salvation of Gentiles reached Jerusalem (8:14-15). They chose a representative to visit the scene to evaluate what was happening. The Lord obviously controlled these men in their choice of an observer. Barnabas (cf. 4:36-37) was an excellent man for this mission since he, like some of the evangelists in Antioch, was from Cyprus. He was also a more broad-minded Hellenist. Furthermore he was a positive, encouraging person (4:36). Finally, he was full of the Holy Spirit, faith, and goodness.
"Although he came of a Dispersion family, he was regarded with complete confidence in Jerusalem and acted as a pivot point or link between the Hebrew and Hellenistic elements in the church."483
Barnabas rejoiced when he observed God's grace at work in Antioch, and, true to his name (son of encouragement, 4:36), he encouraged the new converts to remain faithful to the Lord. Even more people became believers because of Barnabas' ministry to these Christians. Traditionally Luke came from Antioch,484so perhaps he was one of the converts.
Luke may have described Barnabas in such glowing terms because this was a crisis for the early church. Much depended on how Barnabas would react, what he would do, and what he would report back to the mother church in Jerusalem. The evangelization of Gentiles was at stake.
11:25 As the church in Antioch continued to grow, Barnabas and perhaps others sensed the need for Saul's help. Consequently Barnabas set out to track him down in Tarsus, where Saul had gone (9:30). Saul was an ideal choice for this work since God had given him a special appointment to evangelize Gentiles (22:21). Moreover he had considerable experience in ministry already, probably about nine years of it since his conversion.485
Some Bible scholars have deduced that Saul's family in Tarsus had disinherited him (cf. Phil. 3:8). Some also believe he endured some of the afflictions he described in 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 while he ministered in and around Tarsus. These included persecution by the Jews, probably for trying to evangelize Gentiles. Furthermore some say he had the revelation to which he referred in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 while he was ministering near there. He was undoubtedly very active in missionary work around Tarsus during his residence there even though we have no record of it.
11:26 Barnabas had earlier sponsored Saul in Jerusalem (9:27). Now Barnabas brought Saul to Antioch where they ministered together for a year teaching and leading the church.
Luke noted another advance for the church in that observers called the believers "Christians"(lit. those belonging to Christ's party, i.e., Christ followers) first in Antioch. In other words, people now distinguished the Christians as a group from religious Jews as well as from pagan Gentiles (cf. 1 Cor. 10:32). There are only three occurrences of the name "Christian"in the New Testament, and in each case Christians did not use it of themselves (cf. 26:28; 1 Pet. 4:16).486
"Note the three elements in the name [Christian]. (i) It contains Jewish thought, as the equivalent of Messiah, the Anointed.487(ii) It shows the Greek languagein the substantive--'Christ.' (iii) It also includes the Latin languagein the adjectival ending ians' (Latin, iani). This universality is a reminder of the language of the title on the Cross."488
"They [those who used this name for believers in Jesus] . . . voiced an insight that the Christians themselves only saw clearly later on: Christianity is no mere variant of Judaism."489
