The church in Antioch waits on pins and needles for a ruling from the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. They need to know if they must first become Jews before they can officially be followers of Jesus. Some Jews have been telling these Gentiles that they need to pump their spiritual brakes (Acts 15:1, 5). In other words, non-Jewish men would have to be circumcised.
The church has sent Paul and Barnabas to find out (Acts 15:2). They know nothing yet of the decision of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, these leaders decide they "should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God" (Acts 15:19). They ask that they avoid four things: (1) food sacrificed to idols, (2) blood, (3) food that has been strangled, and (4) sexual immorality. These were four detestable practices in pagan idolatry. In other words, these non-Jews didn't have to become Jews in order to follow Jesus. They had to repent of their own idolatry.
They had sent two men to Jerusalem. But four men return. Judas Barsabbas and Silas arrive with with Paul and Barney. They immediately get the church together and deliver the letter. Notice that it wasn't first read to a committee. They simply gathered the church to hear what had been written. This is the practice we see in many of the NT letters. The church is gathered and the letter is read OUT LOUD to the entire body. There were no chapters or verses. The read the entire letter, except maybe for some special instructions to the leaders. This is a great reminder that these were real letters to real people in real churches in real cities dealing with real problems.
"And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement" (v31). The people of the church in Antioch explode in celebration over what they hear. The leaders in Jerusalem accept them as brothers and sisters in Christ AS GENTILES!! It's hard to imagine just how radical and revolutionary this must have been. To this point, The Way was seen by many as simply a sect of Judaism. And historically, the relationship between Jew and Gentile could best be described as frosty. The First Church of Antioch may well have expected the news that they would need to become Jews. But no! They could follow their Savior as Gentiles. The people of the church were encouraged beyond belief.
Just as God had accepted them just as they are, so would the followers of Jesus.
This is a huge reminder that there are no God ordained divisions among followers of Jesus. No races. No denominations. No cultural or economic barriers. No staff or lay people. We are all one. We are all His! Like the church in Antioch, we should rejoice because of this encouragement.
Judas and Silas hung with the folks in Antioch for a while (v32-33). Luke tells us that these two men are actually prophets. This is a gift of the Holy Spirit by which God enables someone the privilege of insight into His divine will and the responsibility to share it with His people. Judas and Silas properly used their spiritual gifts to encourage and strengthen the local church. This is exactly how we are to employ these God-given abilities (1Cor 14:12, 26).
It's hard to imagine the extent of the encouragement in Antioch by the extended presence of Judas and Silas. These two Jews apparently had no problem hanging out with their Gentile brothers and sisters. What a breath of fresh air. They proved that the acceptance of the non-Jews by Paul and Barnabas was no fluke. In Christ, they were truly one family and one body.
Judas and Silas spent a great deal of time in Antioch, encouraging and strengthening these new Christ followers. I love the original Greek that we often translate encourage: parakaleo. It is literally "to call (kaleo) alongside (para)." Think of walking side by side with someone else, encouraging them. You can do it! We can do it together!
The word "strengthen" is the Greek episterizo. It's the same verb found in Acts 14:22. It means not only to strengthen, but more specifically, to make to lean upon. In other words, Judas and Silas helped these Antiochan believers understand that their strength was in Jesus. They taught them that apart from Christ they can do nothing (Jn 15:5) but in Him they can do anything (Phil 4:13).
At some point, Judas and Silas headed back to Jerusalem after an extended stay (v33). Most of the oldest manuscripts don't contain v34. This may well have been inserted to explain how quickly Paul chose Silas for his return trip to Asia (Acts 15:40-41).
Luke goes on to tell us that "Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also" (v35). The two men clearly saw these believers as their responsibility. They had invested a great deal of time and energy in these folks (Acts 11:23-26; 14:28). Paul and Barney also traveled as missionaries on behalf of the church in Antioch (Acts 13:2-27).
This dynamic duo continue to teach and preach to this largely non-Jewish congregation. The door would have been wide open to teach them the OT Scriptures. They would have had very little working knowledge of the Hebrew Bible, the ONLY Bible they would have had at the time.
Dr. Luke tells us specifically that they were preaching. This is the Greek verb euangelizo. It means to proclaim or bring about the good news. It's where we get our words evangelism and evangelize. While it certainly means to preach, I think it's a much more robust word than just that. These two men continually reminded the Christ followers of Antioch that it is all about Jesus. He lived the perfect life that we were supposed to live. He died the awful death that we were supposed to die. He is raised to an eternal life we don't deserve. It's only IN CHRIST that we have anything.
To "preach" or euangelizo is to remind us of who we are IN JESUS. This is NOT a "do better" gospel. I mean, what's the good news in that gospel? We continually need to know that He did it for us, in our place. And we are IN HIM. He has also given us His Holy Spirit to enable us to live the life He's set before us
The church has sent Paul and Barnabas to find out (Acts 15:2). They know nothing yet of the decision of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, these leaders decide they "should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God" (Acts 15:19). They ask that they avoid four things: (1) food sacrificed to idols, (2) blood, (3) food that has been strangled, and (4) sexual immorality. These were four detestable practices in pagan idolatry. In other words, these non-Jews didn't have to become Jews in order to follow Jesus. They had to repent of their own idolatry.
They had sent two men to Jerusalem. But four men return. Judas Barsabbas and Silas arrive with with Paul and Barney. They immediately get the church together and deliver the letter. Notice that it wasn't first read to a committee. They simply gathered the church to hear what had been written. This is the practice we see in many of the NT letters. The church is gathered and the letter is read OUT LOUD to the entire body. There were no chapters or verses. The read the entire letter, except maybe for some special instructions to the leaders. This is a great reminder that these were real letters to real people in real churches in real cities dealing with real problems.
"And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement" (v31). The people of the church in Antioch explode in celebration over what they hear. The leaders in Jerusalem accept them as brothers and sisters in Christ AS GENTILES!! It's hard to imagine just how radical and revolutionary this must have been. To this point, The Way was seen by many as simply a sect of Judaism. And historically, the relationship between Jew and Gentile could best be described as frosty. The First Church of Antioch may well have expected the news that they would need to become Jews. But no! They could follow their Savior as Gentiles. The people of the church were encouraged beyond belief.
Just as God had accepted them just as they are, so would the followers of Jesus.
This is a huge reminder that there are no God ordained divisions among followers of Jesus. No races. No denominations. No cultural or economic barriers. No staff or lay people. We are all one. We are all His! Like the church in Antioch, we should rejoice because of this encouragement.
Judas and Silas hung with the folks in Antioch for a while (v32-33). Luke tells us that these two men are actually prophets. This is a gift of the Holy Spirit by which God enables someone the privilege of insight into His divine will and the responsibility to share it with His people. Judas and Silas properly used their spiritual gifts to encourage and strengthen the local church. This is exactly how we are to employ these God-given abilities (1Cor 14:12, 26).
It's hard to imagine the extent of the encouragement in Antioch by the extended presence of Judas and Silas. These two Jews apparently had no problem hanging out with their Gentile brothers and sisters. What a breath of fresh air. They proved that the acceptance of the non-Jews by Paul and Barnabas was no fluke. In Christ, they were truly one family and one body.
Judas and Silas spent a great deal of time in Antioch, encouraging and strengthening these new Christ followers. I love the original Greek that we often translate encourage: parakaleo. It is literally "to call (kaleo) alongside (para)." Think of walking side by side with someone else, encouraging them. You can do it! We can do it together!
The word "strengthen" is the Greek episterizo. It's the same verb found in Acts 14:22. It means not only to strengthen, but more specifically, to make to lean upon. In other words, Judas and Silas helped these Antiochan believers understand that their strength was in Jesus. They taught them that apart from Christ they can do nothing (Jn 15:5) but in Him they can do anything (Phil 4:13).
At some point, Judas and Silas headed back to Jerusalem after an extended stay (v33). Most of the oldest manuscripts don't contain v34. This may well have been inserted to explain how quickly Paul chose Silas for his return trip to Asia (Acts 15:40-41).
Luke goes on to tell us that "Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also" (v35). The two men clearly saw these believers as their responsibility. They had invested a great deal of time and energy in these folks (Acts 11:23-26; 14:28). Paul and Barney also traveled as missionaries on behalf of the church in Antioch (Acts 13:2-27).
This dynamic duo continue to teach and preach to this largely non-Jewish congregation. The door would have been wide open to teach them the OT Scriptures. They would have had very little working knowledge of the Hebrew Bible, the ONLY Bible they would have had at the time.
Dr. Luke tells us specifically that they were preaching. This is the Greek verb euangelizo. It means to proclaim or bring about the good news. It's where we get our words evangelism and evangelize. While it certainly means to preach, I think it's a much more robust word than just that. These two men continually reminded the Christ followers of Antioch that it is all about Jesus. He lived the perfect life that we were supposed to live. He died the awful death that we were supposed to die. He is raised to an eternal life we don't deserve. It's only IN CHRIST that we have anything.
To "preach" or euangelizo is to remind us of who we are IN JESUS. This is NOT a "do better" gospel. I mean, what's the good news in that gospel? We continually need to know that He did it for us, in our place. And we are IN HIM. He has also given us His Holy Spirit to enable us to live the life He's set before us
These four men proclaimed to the people of Antioch that apart from Jesus it was impossible. But IN CHRIST it was all possible.
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