30. A New Man

Hymns: RHC 26 Come, Thou Fount 387 I Need Thee Every Hour 416 Wherever He Leads I’ll Go

Acts 11:19-30

19 Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. 20 And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. 22 Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. 23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. 24 For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. 25 Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: 26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. 27 And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. 28 And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. 29 Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea: 30 Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

A New Man

OUTLINE

A Ground Ripe for Harvest (v19-24)
A Man Called to the Harvest (v25-30)

INTRODUCTION

While Jesus was on earth, He went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. (Matthew 9:35-38)

On May 31st, 1792 William Carey preached his famous sermon to launch the modern missionary movement. Taking Isaiah 54:2 as his text he argued, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”

He was God’s man for the evangelisation of India.

Carey was raised in the obscure, rural village of Paulerpury, in the middle of England. He apprenticed in a local cobbler’s shop, where the nominal Anglican was converted. He enthusiastically took up the faith, and though little educated, the young convert borrowed a Greek grammar and proceeded to teach himself New Testament Greek.

When his master died, he took up shoemaking in nearby Hackleton, where he met and married Dorothy Plackett, who soon gave birth to a daughter. But the apprentice cobbler’s life was hard—the child died at age 2—and his pay was insufficient. Carey’s family sunk into poverty and stayed there even after he took over the business.

“I can plod,” he wrote later, “I can persevere to any definite pursuit.” All the while, he continued his language studies, adding Hebrew and Latin, and became a preacher with the Particular Baptists. He also continued pursuing his lifelong interest in international affairs, especially the religious life of other cultures.

Carey was impressed with early Moravian missionaries and was increasingly dismayed at his fellow Protestants’ lack of missions interest. In response, he penned An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens. He argued that Jesus’ Great Commission applied to all Christians of all times, and he castigated fellow believers of his day for ignoring it: “Multitudes sit at ease and give themselves no concern about the far greater part of their fellow sinners, who to this day, are lost in ignorance and idolatry.”

Carey didn’t stop there: in 1792 he organized a missionary society, and at its inaugural meeting preached a sermon with the call, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God!” Within a year, Carey, John Thomas (a former surgeon), and Carey’s family (which now included three boys, and another child on the way) were on a ship headed for India.

The gospel spread to India, and through Hudson Taylor and William Charmers Burns reached China and the gospel made in-routes into South-East Asia whereby we receive the gospel.

God has planted churches like ours in His sovereign wisdom and plan.

He has set before us an “open door” of service and opportunity to the Gentiles since the humble beginning of the first Gentile family of Cornelius.

The fields are white unto harvest.

God has to prepare His man for the work.

Luke now tells the story of the first major turning of Gentiles to the Christian faith. This takes place in Antioch, the capital city of the Roman province of Syria.

Those who had been scattered by the persecution (v19). Luke told us earlier about this persecution (Acts 8:1, 4), which apparently led to thousands of Christians leaving Jerusalem. Some apparently travelled much further than Judea and Samaria.

And then we see the movement of God to save Saul of Tarsus, the man called of God to be a preacher to the Gentiles (Acts 9).

We see the progression of the gospel from Jerusalem to all Judaea and in Samaria and now there a movement for Peter to go to the western coast from Joppa to Caesarea to preach the gospel to the gentile Roman centurion Cornelius and his family.

The Jews is perhaps 0.1% (8 million verse 6 billion world population) and the Samaritans, an even smaller minority and now to the gentile world.

The stage has been set here in Acts 11 for a new beginning, a new phase of God’s plan to save the nations of the world.

God’s plan has not deviated from the beginning. His plan was to make a nation, the nation of Israel to be a witness to all the nations of the earth.

When Israel rejected their Christ, God’s plan continued with the remnant Jewish witnesses in Jerusalem to fulfil this plan – 12 disciples, a congregation of 120 and the expansion of 3000 and 5000, but that is going to multiply in the next 30 years.

By now, we see a time lapse of perhaps 7 years since the ascension of Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit in power to energize the church to fulfil the redemption plan to save mankind from their sins.

The Salvation Plan of God Rehearsed (v1-10)
The Salvific Proof of God’s Plan Recounted (v11-16)
The Settled Purpose of God Reinforced (v17-18)

A New Beginning – Acts 11:1-18. Before Jesus’ ascension, He said to the 120 disciples waiting for the promise God’s power through the Holy Spirit to energize them to be God’s witnesses, Jesus said in Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Jesus gives the marching orders to all His disciples without exception to bring the gospel to all nations and to make them disciples of them and identify them through baptism and to teach them all things teach them so that they become like you that they in turn may make others – disciples. This was Christ’s Commission to the infant church.

And geographically, Jesus delineated that they should move as the Holy Spirit would lead them from Jerusalem and in all Judaea, and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

The unsaid portion of this commission is that God’s plan is not only to save the Jews this group assembled were all Jews but His plan includes saving the half-Jews and half-Gentiles in Samaria and even more so, His plan includes saving all men from every nation that is living even in the uttermost part of the earth.

A Ground Ripe for Harvest (v19-24)
A Man Called to the Harvest (v25-30)
A Ground Ripe for Harvest (v19-24)

Travelled as far as Phoenicia (v19). Phoenicia was a stretch of land along the Mediterranean coast west of Damascus and belonging to the Roman province of Syria. Much of ancient Phoenicia today lies within the borders of Lebanon. The principal cities of Phoenicia were Acco, Aradus, Berytus, Byblos, Dora, Heliopolis, Ptolemais, Tyre, and Sidon. There is inscriptional evidence of Jewish settlements in a number of the Phoenician cities. In a letter King Agrippa I wrote to the emperor Claudius, he referred to the presence of Jewish colonies in the land of Phoenicia and on the island of Crete. The southern portion of Phoenica lay seventy-five miles (120 km) northwest of Jerusalem. The northern region of Phoenicia was about a hundred miles (160 km) south of Antioch, Syria.

Antioch on the Orontes

Nearly three hundred miles (480 km) north of Jerusalem in the province of Syria was a city—Antioch on the Orontes—that became a major centre for Christianity as it spread to the Gentile world.

Antioch was the third largest city in the Roman empire with a population between a quarter and a half-million people. The city also had a sizeable Jewish population, estimated between thirty and fifty thousand.

The city lay in a fertile plain near the foot of Mount Silpius with the Orontes river flowing through it and continuing on a distance of fifteen miles to the sea.

Antioch was a major junction for roads coming from the east (Aleppo), the south (the Lebanon, Damascus, and Palestine), and the north (Tarsus and the whole of Anatolia). At the mouth of the river, it was served by its port city, Seleucia Pieria.

About five miles south of the city at the natural springs supplying water to the city was a famous park called Daphne where there was a sanctuary dedicated to the god Apollo. A variety of ecstatic rites were held there in the name of this deity.

There was a period of significant hostility against the Jews in the summer of A.D. 38. Many Jews were killed and their synagogues were burned. In response, the Jewish high priest in Jerusalem (Phineas) retaliated by sending thirty thousand men to Antioch^[1] attacking and killing many Gentiles in the city. The trouble only ended once the emperor intervened.

Antioch had a bad reputation for its morality. A passage in Juvenal bemoans the influence Antioch had on Rome: “The waters of Syrian Orontes flowed into the Tiber.” Yet it was through this city that God worked to spread the good news of salvation throughout the empire.

Began to speak to Greeks (v20). These Greek-speaking Jewish Christians from the Diaspora make their way to the city of Antioch and take a bold step. Based on the precedent set by Peter, which they have undoubtedly heard about, they begin to proclaim the gospel directly to the non-Jewish Greek-speakers of Antioch.

Luke does not tell us if these Gentiles are predominantly God-fearers linked to the synagogues of the sizeable Jewish population in Antioch or if they are Gentiles with virtually no exposure to Judaism and still adherents of the local religions. If they preach primarily to Gentile God-fearers, it is only a matter of time until more Gentiles—friends, family members, and neighbours of the initial wave—respond to the gospel. Most of these people turn to Christ from adherence to Apollo, Artemis, Zeus, Tyche, or the Syrian cults of Baal and the mother goddess—some of the popular deities of the city. We can safely assume that a good number of the Jews in the city also turn to Christ during this period.

The Lord’s hand was with them (v21). “The hand of the Lord” is a common Old Testament metaphor for the manifestation of God’s presence and power. The “hand of the Lord” was on Elijah (1 Kings 18:46) and Elisha (2 Kings 3:5), enabling them to do amazing feats. Ezra experienced the power and blessing of “the hand of the Lord” on his life. Luke says that “the hand of the Lord” was with John the Baptist (Luke 1:66). Clearly to Luke the outreach efforts of these Hellenistic Jewish Christians cannot be explained in any way other than God’s being with them and blessing their efforts.

They sent Barnabas to Antioch (v22). When news of the conversion of these Gentiles reaches Jerusalem, they send Barnabas both to investigate what they are hearing and to facilitate the work there. Luke does not tell us why Peter does not travel to Antioch. The apostles have a great amount of confidence in Barnabas. Like some of the Jewish-Christian evangelists that go to Antioch, Barnabas is also originally from Cyprus.

The fact that the apostles send Barnabas indicates that, at least to some degree, they feel a responsibility to exercise a level of leadership for the movement, especially to ensure the ongoing unity of the church. Upon arriving, Barnabas finds ample evidence that God has been powerfully at work bringing these Gentiles to himself. There is no hint that Barnabas criticizes any facet of the work there. Rather, he rejoices and joins with the brothers in proclaiming the gospel and teaching the new Gentile believers.

Luke reminds us here that it is not so much the strategy that is most important, but the work of God. In doing outreach, our greatest concern should be, “Is the hand of the Lord with us?”

(2) A Man Called to the Harvest (v25-30)

25 Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: 26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. 27 And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. 28And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. 29 Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea: 30 Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul (v25). As numerous people begin turning to Christ and as Barnabas sees the potential for continued effective outreach, his thoughts turn to Saul. Here is a man who was trained as a rabbi and extremely competent in the Scripture, who was able to argue effectively and proclaim the gospel in Greek, and most importantly, who had received a commission from the Lord to reach the Gentiles. Barnabas was one of the first Jerusalem disciples to believe in the authenticity of Saul’s conversion and confidently introduced him to the apostles (Acts 9:27). Because of the danger to his life in Jerusalem, Saul’s fellow believers helped him leave the city safely so he could go to Tarsus in Cilicia. There he remained proclaiming Christ in his home region.

With Tarsus being over a hundred miles away, Barnabas’s trip takes many days. The difficulty is compounded by the fact that he does not know precisely where Saul is. The word translated “to look for” (anazēteō) implies the search entails some difficulty. It is often used in the context of hunting for criminals or fugitive slaves. But Barnabas successfully locates Saul and is able to convince him to join him in the work at Antioch.

For a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church (v26). This may mean that Barnabas and Saul work together for a year in the church before they travel to Jerusalem on their famine relief visit (A.D. 44-45). It is more likely, however, that Barnabas had Saul come to Antioch much earlier (A.D. 39). In this case, they spend a year working intensively with believers in Antioch and then Paul or both of them journey to other cities in Syria where they proclaim the gospel and plant churches, while maintaining their involvement with Antioch. They most likely reach the principal Syrian cities of Seleucia Pieria, Apameia, and Laodicea as well as other towns and villages in the province.

The City of Antioch

IMPORTANT FACTS:

Population: about 300,000 (the third largest city in the Roman empire)
Religions: Apollo, Artemis, Isis, Zeus, Tyche, the Syrian cults of Baal, the mother goddess, Judaism, the emperor cult (in addition to many other gods and goddesses)
Commercial Importance: agriculture (esp. grain, olives, and grapes), trade between East and West
Political Importance: a free city, but under Roman rule, capital of the Roman province of Syria
Cultural Importance: became the center for the spread of Christianity to non-Jews

The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch (v26). Disciples, believers, servants of Christ, those who are “in Christ,” saints, and followers of “the Way” are some of the ways Christians refer to themselves in this early period. It appears that the term “Christians” (christianoi) was created by non-Christians in Antioch as a way of distinguishing them from Jews (and possibly other religious groups). In the only other places in the New Testament where the term is used, it is used by non-Christians referring to the followers of Jesus (Act 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16). The name itself is formed on the analogy of “Herodians” (herodiani—the adherents and clients of the house of Herod) and caesariani(the servants of Caesar). For these new believers in Antioch, however, the new designation reveals their allegiance to the Messiah (christos), Jesus of Nazareth. The very fact that the local population coins a name for this new movement attests to its growth in the city. The new name for believers apparently becomes a popular self-designation only in the period after the New Testament attests, interestingly, by Ignatius, a famous church leader from Antioch.

How Long Was Saul in Tarsus and Then in Antioch?

An accurate chronology of Saul’s first seventeen years as a believer (A.D. 33-49) is difficult to construct. He does not write any letters during this period and only makes a handful of references to this time in his later letters (especially in Galatians 1-2). Luke gives only a few details that can help. Fortunately, we are on much firmer ground for putting together an accurate chronology for the period following the Jerusalem council until his imprisonment in Rome (A.D. 49-62).

Estimates for how long Saul was in Tarsus range from three years (A.D. 36-39) to ten years (a.d. 37-47). Similarly, estimates for how long he ministered in Antioch and in Syria range from ten years (A.D. 39-49) to one to two years (A.D. 47-49).

If the mission of the Hellenistic Jewish Christians to Antioch began early (c. A.D. 36 or 37) and Barnabas went there a short time later, it is more convincing to think of Barnabas looking for Paul’s help within a year after his arrival.

Prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch (v27). The gift of prophecy was commonly practiced in the early church. Luke specifically names Agabus (v28;Acts 21:10), Judas and Silas (Acts 15:32), the four daughters of Philip (Acts 21:8-9), and leaders of the church at Antioch (Acts 13:1). Paul speaks extensively about prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14 and teaches that prophets, together with the apostles, have laid the foundation of the early church (Ephesians 2:20). Two early Christian writings have much to say about how to discern a false prophet. Among the criteria mentioned are: Does he exabit the Lord’s ways? Does he ask for money? Is his life inconsistent with his prophecies? Is he gentle, quiet, and humble? Does he refrain from evil? Hermas warns that the false prophet is actually inspired by a spirit from the devil.

The Anti-Jewish Upheaval in A.D. 38-41

During the infant years of the church at Antioch (which began in A.D. 36 or 37), a horrible tempest of hostility toward Jews raged in Alexandria and spilled over into Palestine and Syria. In the autumn of A.D. 38, mobs of citizens in Alexandria, Egypt, took part in a bloody rampage against the Jewish inhabitants of that city. Many Jews were tortured and killed, synagogues, homes, and businesses were destroyed, and numerous other atrocities were perpetrated against the Jews. Much of the crisis was sparked by the emperor Gaius Caligula’s insistence that he be worshiped as a god.

The conflict spread to Judea in late A.D. 39 when Caligula arrogantly ordered the Syrian governor P. Petronius to set up his image in the Jerusalem temple. The Jews were horrified and threatened all-out war against the Roman forces if the abominable act was carried out. Fortunately, Petronius defied Caligula’s orders and, before the emperor could respond, the emperor was assassinated.

In Antioch at roughly the same time (A.D. 39-40), Gentile hostility toward Jews boiled over into violence. Many Jews were killed and their synagogues burned down. According to the Chronicle of Malalas, when news of this reached Jerusalem, the high priest Phineas dispatched an army of thirty thousand Jews who traveled to Antioch and attacked and killed many Gentiles in the city. The emperor then intervened and had Phineas beheaded.

Nevertheless, in spite of this uproar, the church at Antioch—consisting of Jews and Gentiles in one unified community—continued to grow significantly. It was during this period that the apostle Paul came and began to serve the church with Barnabas.

Agabus (v28). Luke singles out one of the prophets and mentions him by name, possibly because of his accurate predictions. He not only prophesies the impending famine, but thirteen years later in Caesarea prophesies Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem (Acts 21:10-11). Because he appears in one of the “we” sections of Acts, Luke meets him personally. We know nothing else about this important figure in the early church.

Through the Spirit predicted (v28). Luke clearly sees that one important aspect of prophecy is prediction. Receiving inspiration from the Holy Spirit of God, the prophet simply declares what he hears. The New Testament prophet did not need to descend into an oracle chamber, invoke the deity with any kind of formula or incantation, go into an ecstatic trance, observe a period of taboos, or go through any preparatory ritual.

A severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world (v28). There is abundant ancient evidence attesting food shortages and greatly inflated food prices during the reign of Claudius (see below). The word translated “famine” in this verse (limos) can also mean “death” or “severe shortage.” Obviously, Antioch is not affected as badly as Jerusalem and Judea, otherwise they would not have been able to provide substantial help.

Rome began to experience a scarcity of food in the winter of a.d. 40-41, the beginning of Claudius’s reign. This general disruption in the food supply is attributed to declines in the production of grain in Egypt, the principal grain supplier for Rome and much of the Mediterranean region. Crop failures in Egypt grew particularly severe in the period of A.D. 45-47. One writer indicates that the crisis was felt in all of Syria in A.D. 44.

But Jerusalem and Judea were the hardest hit of all during this time. This was exacerbated by still other factors. When the emperor Gaius Caligula ordered his statue to be erected in the Jerusalem temple in late A.D. 39, the Jews refused to plant their crops. Indeed, they were ready to die rather than allow their temple to be profaned. The next year was a sabbatical year, which kept their ground out of production and intensified the food shortage. Just three years later, in a.d. 44-45, Judea strongly felt the adverse effects of the more general food shortage and the resultant exorbitant prices for grain that was in short supply and in high demand.

Of course, the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, ostracized from the temple and any official relief efforts tied to the temple, were especially vulnerable. Now more than ever they needed to depend on the generosity and true fellowship of the larger Christian community.

Each according to his ability, decided to provide help (v29). The way the community responded to the need is similar to the way Paul encouraged the church in Corinth to give for a subsequent collection.

To the elders (v30). One might expect the funds from Antioch to be taken to Jerusalem and laid at the feet of the apostles (Acts 4:35, 37; 5:2). In the decade that has elapsed since the beginning of the Jerusalem church, a leadership structure emerges that worked in conjunction with the unique authority of the twelve apostles. Following the pattern of the local synagogues, the early Christians identified leaders for their household groups and retained the name “elders” (presbyteroi). They probably retained many facets of the role and function of elders in the synagogue structure. Luke does not tell us how the elders related to the apostles or the seven, nor does he indicate whether there was a higher group of elders serving as leaders of the entire collection of churches in Jerusalem and Judea. This latter idea could follow from the fact that there were elders over the Jewish people in the Holy Land . By this time, many of the apostles may have already left Jerusalem to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah in distant cities.

Sending their gift … by Barnabas and Saul (v30). This is the second time Saul travels to Jerusalem after his conversion. The previous time was three years after his conversion for the purpose of becoming acquainted with Peter. Now, between eight and ten years later, he goes again as an emissary of the church at Antioch to bring relief.

There is much discussion among Bible scholars as to whether this is the visit that Saul/Paul refers to in Galatians 2:1-10 or whether the Galatian passage describes his next visit for the Jerusalem council. The weightier arguments are in favour of identifying this famine-relief visit with the details Paul describes in Galatians 2:1-10, not least because the results of the council decision are not communicated in Galatians. This reconstruction also fits better with the overall sequence of events Paul describes in Galatians 1-2.

If this is the case, Paul uses this same time to “set before [the authorities in Jerusalem] the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles” (Galatians 2:2). Apparently, some dissension has already surfaced with a handful of law-observant Jewish Christians who have gone to Antioch to investigate how faithful Paul and the Antioch believers are to the law, presumably circumcision, purity regulations, and observance of Jewish festivals and rites (Galatians 2:4). Paul raises this issue with the leadership of the Jerusalem church in an informal way, and they reaffirm Paul and Barnabas in their work among the Gentiles (Galatians 2:9).

Chronology of the Early Years of Saul of Tarsus
Year	Event	Location of Saul
33	• conversion of Saul
34	• Saul in Damascus and Arabia (36-39?)	Saul in Damascus and Arabia
35	• conversion of Cornelius (?)
36	• Saul visits Peter in Jerusalem • Jewish-Christian mission to Antioch	Saul in Tarsus and Cilicia
37
38	• Barnabas goes to Antioch
39	• Barnabas gets Saul	Saul in Antioch and Syria
40
41
42
43	• Death of James, the apostle
44	• Death of Agrippa I
45
46	• Jerusalem collection visit
47	• 1st Missionary Journey	1st Missionary Journey
48
49	• Council at Jerusalem

^[1] Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, NewTestament – Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary on the New Testament – John, Acts.

30. A New Man

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