14:21b-22 The missionaries confined their labors to the Galatian province on this trip. They did not move farther east into the kingdom of Antiochus or the province Cilicia that Paul may have evangelized previously during his time in Tarsus. Tarsus stood some 160 miles east of Derbe. Instead they retraced their steps to encourage, instruct, and organize the new converts (cf. 18:23).597Apparently they did more discipleship than evangelism on this return trip to the cities where the apostles' lives had been in danger. They warned the new converts that they too should expect persecution (cf. Gal. 4:13; 6:17; 2 Tim. 3:11). The "kingdom of God"evidently refers to the messianic kingdom. Entrance into it was still future for these disciples when the missionaries gave them this exhortation. Though Christians will not go through theTribulation, we will experience tribulation before we enter the Millennium (2 Tim. 3:12).
14:23 The elders (plural) in every church (singular) that the apostles appointed must have been the more mature Christians in each congregation. Note that each of these churches had more than one leader (cf. 20:17; Phil. 1:1). There may have been more than one local church in each of these towns eventually, but at this early stage of pioneer evangelism there was probably only one church in each town.
". . . it would be unwise to read into this basic administrative necessity later and more developed ideas of church order [1 Tim. 3; Titus 1]."598
Perhaps elders from the synagogues in these communities who had become Christians became elders in the churches. Elder qualifications may have developed and become somewhat stricter between the time these elders assumed office and when Paul specified their qualifications in the Pastoral Epistles (1 Tim. 3; Titus 1).
The text does not explain exactly how the appointment of these elders took place. "They"probably refers to Paul and Barnabas since they are the subjects in view in the context. However the Greek word used here (cheirotonesantes, "appointed") originally meant to elect by a vote of raised hands.599Consequently some interpreters believe that the Christians in these churches selected the elders.600I favor the view that Paul and Barnabas made the selections. The apostles had earlier appointed elders in the Jerusalem church (11:30).
"Paul showed that it was his conviction that from the very beginning Christianity must be lived in a fellowship."601
Note again the importance that Paul and Barnabas placed on prayer. They forewent eating to pray (cf. 13:3). They also committed their new converts to the Lord Jesus, the Head of the church, in whom they had believed. These missionaries did not overestimate their own importance, as church planters sometimes do.
14:24-26 Pisidia was the southernmost geographic region in the Roman province of Galatia. Pamphylia was the province south of Galatia and east of the kingdom of Antiochus. Perga, like Derbe, was one of the sites the missionaries visited that Luke chose not to comment on extensively (cf. 13:13-14). Perhaps Paul and Barnabas planted a church there, too. The apostles then sailed directly for Syrian Antioch by way of Attalia, the seaport 10 miles south of Perga.
"Ports in antiquity were often satellite towns of larger and more important cities situated some distance inland for protection from pirates. So Luke's mention of Attalia here probably has no more significance than his mention of Seleucia (13:4), the port of Syrian Antioch, and merely identifies the place of embarkation for the voyage back to Syria."602
14:27-28 The chronological references in Acts and the Pauline epistles make it difficult to tell just how long it took Paul and Barnabas to complete the first missionary journey. Commentators estimate it took them between the better part of one year and almost two years. They travelled a minimum of 500 miles by sea and 700 by land.
Luke was careful to record again the priority of God's initiative in this evangelistic mission (cf. 1:1-2). Paul and Barnabas had accomplished a wonderful work (v. 26), but they were careful to give God the credit for it.
"Paul and Barnabas never thought that it was their strength or their power which had achieved anything. They spoke of what God had done with them. . . . We will begin to have the right idea of Christian service when we work, not for our own honour or prestige, but only from the conviction that we are tools in the hand of God."603
The fact that God had granted salvation to Gentiles equally with Jews simply by faith in Christ would have been of special interest to Luke's early readers. This new phenomenon had taken place before on the Gaza Road, in Caesarea, and in Syrian Antioch. However now large numbers of Gentile converts were entering the church without first becoming Jewish proselytes. This situation formed the background of the Jerusalem Council that Luke recorded in the next chapter.
It was probably during the time Paul was in Syrian Antioch, after returning from the first missionary journey and before attending the conference in Jerusalem (ch. 15), that he wrote the Epistle to the Galatians. He did so to instruct the believers in the churches he and Barnabas had planted. This would have been in the late 40s A.D., probably 49 A.D. Galatians appears to have been the first of Paul's inspired epistles.
There are many ways in which Paul's ministry and Peter's corresponded. Here are a few of the correlations that Luke recorded apparently to accredit Paul's ministry that was mainly to the Gentiles and highly controversial among the Jews. Peter's ministry was primarily to the Jews.
"1. Both Peter and Paul engaged in three significant tours journeys [sic] recorded in the Book of Acts. Peter: 8:14ff; 9:32-11:2; 15:1-14 (see Gal. 2:11); Paul: 13:2-14:28; 15:36-18:22; 18:23-21:17.
2. Early in their ministry both healed a lame person. Peter: 3:2ff; Paul: 14:8ff.
3. Both saw extraordinary healings take place apart from physical contact with the afflicted individual. Peter's shadow in 5:15; those who brought handkerchiefs and aprons to Paul in 19:11. [The text does not say Peter's shadow was God's instrument in healing people.]
4. Both were God's instruments to bring judgment on those who hindered the growth and purity of the infant church. Peter condemned Ananias and Sapphira (5:1-11); Paul smote Elymas with blindness (13:6-11).
5. Each had at least one long discourse [re]produced in full which gives a summary of his preaching. Peter at Pentecost (2:14-40); Paul at Antioch (13:16-42).
6. Both made the resurrection a primary emphasis in their proclamation. Peter: 2:24-36; 3:15, 26; 5:30; 10:40, 41; Paul: 13:30-37; 17:3, 18, 31; 24:15, 21; 25:19; 26:8, 23.
7. Both exorcised demons. Peter: 5:16; Paul: 16:18.
8. Both communicated the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. Peter: 8:17; Paul: 19:6.
9. Both had triumphant encounters with sorcerers. Peter: 8:18ff; Paul: 13:6ff.
10. Both raised the dead. Peter: 9:36ff; Paul: 20:9ff.
11. Both received visions to direct them into critical witnessing efforts. Peter: 19:9ff; Paul: 16:6ff.
12. Both experienced miraculous deliverances from prison. Peter: 12:7ff; Paul: 16:25ff."604
