19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution
that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch,
speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men of
Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists [2] also,
preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a
great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The report of this came to the
ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he
came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain
faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, 24 for he was a good man, full of
the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.
25 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he had found him,
he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught
a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
(Acts 11:19-26 (ESV)
Barnabas, it’s odd, as many times as I have read Acts, I’ve
never before noticed, until doing this running commentary, just what a critical
role this man played in the beginning of the church. He is still respected in
Jerusalem and he is from Cyprus himself, a Jew raised among the Hellenists with
intimate knowledge of their culture, customs and language. In that matter, he
had a similar background to Paul who grew up in Tarsus where he is now hanging
out on ice as it were. So it is Barnabus that the church in Jerusalem asks to
go check out the operations in Antioch, the birthplace of the name Christian.
Quite some time has elapsed since the persecution of
Stephen. We are talking a minimum of four years, possibly as many as six. Paul
was a part of this persecution, but when he converted he spent three years in
Arabia, we know this from Galatians, then he worked in Jerusalem and opened up
the old controversy, before being sent off to Tarsus. After Paul is sent off to
Tarsus all this other stuff with Peter happens in Joppa and Caesarea. Meanwhile
Paul has been off the radar. Barnabus has to go looking for him in Tarsus and
it doesn’t seem he has an easy time of it. Indicating that during this time
Paul isn’t very active in Evangelizing. On top of this you have this new church
sprouting up in Antioch, both among the Jews and the Hellenists.
Hellenists could be just Greek speaking Jews, but the manner
in which it is contrasted with Jews here indicates that these men are
witnessing directly to pagans in Antioch, the third greatest city of the Roman
empire, after Rome and Alexandria in Eygpt.
When Barnabus gets to Antioch to conduct his investigation
he is overjoyed to see the gospel at work, and realizes that he needs someone
to help with the work load of instructing and caring for all these people who
are turning to the Lord. And he does something that will change the shape of
Christianity forever, he seeks out Paul, to bring him back into service of the
church. This is where Paul is called to shine, to learn from everything that
has happened and put it to good use. This is an environment in which he will
swim.
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