The first Christians in Antioch

By prof. A.P. Lopukhin

Acts of the Apostles, chapter 11. The displeasure of the believers in Jerusalem against Peter because of his association with the uncircumcised and the pacification of the discontented (1 – 18). Preaching the Gospel outside Palestine, especially in Antioch (10-21). Barnabas and Saul in Antioch (22 – 26). Prophecy of famine and almsgiving for Christians in Judea (27-30)

Acts. 11:1. The apostles and brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles also accepted the word of God.

Acts. 11:2. And when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised besought him,

Acts. 11:3. saying, you went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.

The believers among the Jews (i.e. those who were circumcised) do not reproach Peter for preaching the gospel to the Gentiles and baptizing them, but only for “going to the uncircumcised and eating with them…”. In essence, they could not object to the preaching of Christ among the Gentiles, since they could not forget the command of the Lord himself “teach all nations, baptizing them” – Matt. 28:19. Their protest was only against Peter’s permitted communion with the uncircumcised.

As the church song “Tako bysha eshke kosni uchenitsy” (fourth gospel verse, 4 voice) says of the One who himself had once fought so much against those who unreasonably reproached Him that he “eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners”.

In this case the protest of the extreme zealots of the Jewish law and customs, which were not even commanded by Moses, but were only the traditions of unknown old men, was the more dangerous, for it was a manifestation of that false teaching which the late Judaizing false teachers propagated with such force, and which was ready to demand the compulsion of all Judaism, with its circumcision and customs, as a condition of entry into Christianity.

This is already an extreme with which Peter, and later to an even greater extent Paul, struggle – even after the Apostolic Council puts an end to this matter once and for all with its authoritative decrees.

Acts. 11:4. And Peter began to tell them all in turn, saying:

Peter’s account of the event at Caesarea is almost identical to the account of the deist. Peter does not directly answer the reproach leveled at him for going to the uncircumcised and conversing with them, but simply rejects it by the indisputably revealed will of God for the admission of Gentiles into Christ’s Church. When this happens – and not so much by the will and actions of Peter, but by the will and signs of God, it would obviously be unreasonable to oppose God and not recognize them as full members of Christ’s brotherhood, so that in communication with they can no longer be ashamed of anything.

Acts. 11:5. I was in the city of Joppa, and as I was praying, I was carried away and saw a vision: a vessel descended, as if a great cloth, let down from heaven by its four corners, and came near to me.

Acts. 11:6. As I gazed upon it and looked, I saw quadrupeds of the earth, beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.

Acts. 11:7. And I heard a voice saying to me: get up, Peter, slaughter and eat!

Acts. 11:8. And I said: no, Lord, because nothing dirty or impure has ever entered my mouth.

Acts. 11:9. And a voice from heaven spoke to me again: what God has cleansed, you do not consider unclean.

Acts. 11:10. This happened three times; and again everything rose to the sky.

Acts. 11:11. And behold, at that hour, three men stopped in front of the house where I was, sent from Caesarea to me.

Acts. 11:12. And the Spirit told me to go with them without hesitation. These six brothers came with me, and we entered the man’s house.

Acts. 11:13. He told us how he saw an Angel (saint) in his house, who stood and said to him: send men to Joppa and call Simon, called Peter;

Acts. 11:14. he will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.

Acts. 11:15. And when I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came upon them, as upon us at first.

Acts. 11:16 a.m. Then I remembered the words of the Lord, how He spoke: “John baptizes with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts. 11:17. If, therefore, God gave them an equal gift, as he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who am I to hinder God?

Acts. 11:18. When they heard this, they calmed down and glorified God, saying: God has also given the Gentiles repentance for life.

After this explanation, Peter’s critics not only calmed down, but also praised God, who had also given the Gentiles “repentance for life”, i.e. life in the eternal kingdom of Christ. “Do you see,” says St. John Chrysostom, “what the speech of Peter, who recounts in detail what happened, has done? Because of this, they glorified God, because He also gave them repentance: these words humbled them! Then at last the door of faith was opened to the Gentiles…”

Acts. 11:19. And those who had been scattered by the persecution that arose at the killing of Stephen came to Phenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, and preached the word to no one except to the Jews.

Meanwhile, those scattered by the persecutions that followed Stephen reached Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word only to the Jews.

After setting forth the events which require special attention and which occurred after the murder of Stephen (Acts 8, Acts 9, Acts 10), the author proceeds to describe the activities of the scattered believers outside the borders of Judea and Samaria. Its purpose is to present more vividly the important results of the persecution and dispersion of the Christians. “The persecution – says Saint John Chrysostom – has brought no small benefit to the preaching of the Gospel. If the enemies had deliberately sought to spread the Church, they would have done no different: I mean, to scatter the teachers.’

“Phoenicia” – a coastal strip of land north of Galilee, at that time subject to the Romans, with the once famous cities of Tire and Sidon.

“Cyprus” – a large island located near the Syrophoenician coast of the Mediterranean Sea (see Acts 4:36).

“Antioch” – a large and then flourishing city in northwestern Syria, on the Orontes River, 6 hours’ journey from the sea (about 30 versts), founded by Antiochus, father of Seleucus Nicator, founder of the Seleucid kingdom. Its predominant population was Greek, but there were also many Jews. Greek education and language also prevailed in the city.

“they preached the word to no one, except to Jews.” They followed the rule once stated by the apostle Paul that the Jews were the first to be preached the word of God (Acts 13:46).

In this way they preached the gospel to the Jews, bypassing the Gentiles, “not because of human fear, which was nothing to them, but desiring to keep the law and be condescending to them” (St. John Chrysostom), that is, to the Jews who thought that have the greatest rights to be proclaimed with the evangelical gospel.

Acts. 11:20. There were some of them Cypriots and Cyrenes who, having entered Antioch, spoke to the Greeks and preached the Lord Jesus.

“Cyprians and Cyreneans.” After the events at Caesarea (the conversion of Cornelius) the strict distinction between Jews and Gentiles regarding the right to enter Christ’s Church completely lost its force, and since then the spread of the Gospel among the Gentiles has increased. The believers from among the Hellenistic Jews (“Cypriots and Cyrenes”) showed special zeal in this regard, who, coming to Antioch, openly “spoke to the Greeks and preached the good news of the Lord Jesus” and were completely successful, creating the first large community of Christians among the pagans, played a major role in the life of the early Christian Church.

Acts. 11:21. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great multitude believed and turned to the Lord.

“And the hand of the Lord was with them,” i. with the preachers. They were strengthened by a special gracious power of God, through which they performed signs and wonders.

Acts. 11:22 a.m. Word of this came to the Jerusalem church, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

“There was word of it.” In Greek: ὁ λόγος … περὶ αὐτῶν. Literally: “the word for them.”

“to the Jerusalem church” – in its full composition, with the apostles at the head, who sent Barnabas to go to Antioch. Why exactly Barnabas? Barnabas was best suited in case any misunderstandings arose, such as those mentioned in Acts. 11: 2 – 3 and for the leadership of the new Christian community. He was a native of the same Cyprus, whence some of the Antiochian preachers were (Acts 11:20, Acts 4:36); was especially respected in the Jerusalem church (Acts 4:36-37, 9:26-27), was a “good man” and gracious (Acts 11:24). He had a special gift of persuasion and comfort, as the very name Barnabas indicates (Acts 4:36). Such a man must have seemed peculiarly capable of allaying any disturbances that might arise, and of bringing the whole life of the community into a proper spirit.

Acts. 11:23. When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and exhorted all with a sincere heart to abide in the Lord,

Upon his arrival, Barnabas could only rejoice in God’s grace among the Christians in Antioch, whom he asked “to abide in the Lord with a sincere heart.” In Greek: τῇ προθέσει τῆς καρδίας προσμένειν τῷ Κυρίῳ. In the Slavic translation: “Izvoleniem serdka terpeti o Gospode”. Literally: with the intent of the heart to abide with the Lord. St. John Chrysostom suggests that after Barnabas praised and approved the believing people, he converted even more people to Christ.

Acts. 11:24. for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And many people joined the Lord.

“because” – refers to verse 22. It explains why Barnabas was sent, and also why Barnabas rejoiced so much and took to heart the condition of the new converts.

Acts. 11:25. Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch.

Barnabas doubtless wished to direct Saul, who had removed to Tarsus from Jerusalem, to the new and wide field of activity which had opened up, for which, as an apostle to the Gentiles, he was destined (Acts 8:15, 29-30).

Acts. 11:26. A whole year they gathered together in church and taught a great multitude; and first in Antioch the disciples were called Christians.

“they were meeting in church.” Common worship meetings of Christians are meant.

“they taught quite a people.” In Greek: διδάξαι ὄχλον ἱκανόν. I.e. they instructed and confirmed the new converts in the truths of the faith and the rules of the Christian life. It is noteworthy that Saul’s preaching activity is here described (though jointly with Barnabas) by the word “teaching” (διδάξαι), which is usually used only for apostolic preaching (Acts 4:2, 18, 5:25, 28, 42; cf. Acts 2:42).

“first in Antioch the disciples were called Christians.” Until then, the followers of the Lord were called disciples, brothers, believers, etc. In two places in the New Testament (Acts 26:28 and 1 Pet. 4:16) this name is used by people who were not in the Church. This suggests that the giving of the name Christians is hardly due to the Christians themselves. It is doubtful that it also came from the Jews, who would not dare to give the sacred name Christ (translation of the Hebrew Messiah) to the followers of the One whom they did not consider as such. Therefore, it remains with the greatest probability to suppose that the name Christians was given to the believers by the Antiochian pagans. They did not know the dogmatic and religious-historical meaning of the name Messiah, and accepted its Greek translation (Christ) as a proper name, thus naming the party of His followers. The new name was particularly successful, because it united all those who professed the new faith in one – both those who came from among the Jews and those from the Gentiles who learned Christianity completely independently of Judaism.

Acts. 11:27. In those days, prophets from Jerusalem came down to Antioch.

“prophets came down.” Among the various spiritual gifts in which the supreme church of Christ was so rich, at that time the gift of prophecy also manifested itself in some believers, i.e. the foretelling of future events beyond the reach of natural human knowledge (1 Cor. 12:10). One of these prophets was Agabus, who is mentioned again later (Acts 21:10).

Acts. 11:28. And one of them, named Agabus, stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine throughout the whole universe, just as it happened under Caesar Claudius.

“announced by the Spirit.” In Greek: ἐσήμανε διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματα. In the Slavic translation: it was intended by the Spirit. I.e. announced by some sign, an external figurative action, symbolic of what was suggested to him by the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 21:10).

“throughout the whole universe…a great famine.” A strong expression is used, signifying the coming of a great famine everywhere (cf. Luke 2:1), in many places, and perhaps not at the same time, but over several years, district by district, and not everywhere at once. The chronicler notes that such a famine “occurred under Claudius Caesar.” This is the successor of Caligula, who ruled the empire 41-54 BC. During all this time a famine raged in certain places in the Roman Empire, and about 44 a great famine occurred throughout Palestine (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, XX, 2, 6; 5, 2; Eusebius of Caesarea. Ecclesiastical History. II, 11 ). About the year 50 there was a famine in Italy itself and in other provinces (Tacitus, Annals. XII, 43).

Acts. 11:29. Then the disciples decided, each according to his means, to send help to the brothers who lived in Judea;

In Greek: τῶν δὲ μαθητῶν καθὼς ηὐπορεῖτό τις. Literally: of the disciples, as many as they could, decided… This apparently happened at the beginning of the famine in Judea. Then, for the first time, the touching and brotherly love and unity between the individual Christian communities was manifested.

Acts. 11:30. this they did, sending the collected to the presbyters under Barnabas and Saul.

“to the presbyters.” This is the first mention of presbyters in apostolic history. As appears from further references (Acts 15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23, 20, etc.) and from the apostolic epistles (Titus 1:4; 1 Tim. 5:17, 19, etc.), the presbyters were the leaders of the individual Christian communities, shepherds and teachers and performers of the sacraments (cf. Acts 20:17, 28; Eph. 4:11; 1 Pet. 5:1; James 5:14-15).

They were ordained to ministry by the laying on of hands by the apostles (Acts 14:23) or the bishops (1 Tim. 5:22). In those cities where the Christian societies were more numerous, for example Jerusalem, Ephesus, etc., there were several presbyters each (Acts 15:1, 4, etc.; Acts 20:17).

Of the original institution of this sacred degree there is no such special testimony as, for example, of the institution of deacons (Acts 6, etc.). One thing is clear, that the custom of ordaining presbyters in the newly founded Christian communities was established very early (Acts 14:27), apparently caused by the urgent need for each community to have, in addition to a bishop, an authoritative and authorized by the apostolic authority leader, a superior, shepherd and teacher, minister of the sacraments.

It was to the presbyters, as the closest representatives of the individual municipalities, that the help of the Antiochians was handed over.

Source in Russian: Explanatory Bible, or Commentaries on all the books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments: In 7 volumes / Ed. prof. A.P. Lopukhin. – Ed. 4th. – Moscow: Dar, 2009, 1232 pp.