15:22 The Jerusalem leaders chose two witnesses to return to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas to confirm verbally the decision of this council. Judas had a Jewish name so he may have been a Hebraic Jew whereas Silas had a Greek name and probably was a Hellenistic Jew. These men represented both segments of the Jerusalem church.
Judas had the same surname as Joseph Barsabbas, the candidate with Matthias for the vacant apostleship (1:23). Consequently some interpreters have assumed that Judas and Joseph were brothers.629We also know Silas by his Roman name, Silvanus, in Scripture (2 Cor. 1:19). He was a Hellenistic Jew who had been a leader in the Jerusalem church (vv. 22, 27). He was a prophet (v. 32), a vocal minister in Antioch (v. 32), a Roman citizen (16:37), and an effective amanuensis (1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1; 1 Pet. 5:12). Silas became Paul's primary companion on his second missionary journey (v. 40).
"When one considers the situation of the Jerusalem church in A.D. 49, the decision reached by the Jerusalem Christians must be considered one of the boldest and most magnanimous in the annals of church history. While still attempting to minister exclusively to the nation, the council refused to impede the progress of that other branch of the Christian mission whose every success meant further difficulty for them from within their own nation."630
15:23 The destination of this letter throws light on extensive missionary activity that had taken place, which Luke did not record. We know of the mission to Antioch, but Luke mentioned nothing about the evangelization of Syria. We know that Paul had done missionary work in Cilicia, but Luke did not tell his readers anything about it. Here we learn that there were churches in these regions already, as we may have assumed but now know for sure (cf. v. 41). Antioch was the capital city of Syria and Cilicia, which Rome administered as a single province until 72 A.D.631
15:24-29 The men who had come to Antioch from Jerusalem advocating circumcision (v. 1) had no authorization to do so from the Jerusalem church (v. 24). They spoke on their own. The church in Jerusalem had reached a unified opinion on the issue at hand (v. 25). The apostles presented Barnabas and Paul as men the saints in Jerusalem held in the highest regard (vv. 25-26). The church leaders had sensed the Holy Spirit's control in the decision they had reached (v. 28).632
"It should be noted that the letter traced the unanimity of the decision to the action of the Holy Spirit (15:28), even though the Spirit was not mentioned previously as intervening in the proceedings. This is the way in which the Spirit usually works in the church. There need not be miraculous displays to indicate his direction. Spirit-filled people can detect his presence through the harmony which prevails when men are responsive to his will."633
