Acts 11

11:1-18 Jews traditionally kept themselves separate and did not eat or associate socially with Gentiles (10:28; 22:21-22; see John 4:9, 27; 18:28; Gal 2:12-14). Therefore, when the Jewish believers in Jerusalem learned that Gentiles had received the word of God, they criticized Peter’s unconventional actions and wanted an explanation, which Peter provided.

11:4-17 Peter reviewed the sequence of events, explaining that the whole development was the result of God’s initiative (11:12). Peter had eaten with Gentiles because God had made it clear that he should (11:4-12). Peter had then observed the Holy Spirit’s definite action of coming upon Gentiles, and he realized that they were being accepted and blessed by God just as Jewish believers had been (11:15-17; see 1:5). Peter was submitting to God’s will in admitting Gentiles to the church.

11:18 Peter’s logical, straightforward explanation convinced those who had objected—they recognized God’s hand at work in the conversion of the Gentiles and their receiving eternal life. However, issues relating to the inclusion of Gentiles would soon provoke a major crisis (15:1-35; Paul’s letter to the Galatians).

11:19-26 The persecution that followed Stephen’s death forced believers into other areas (8:1-3), and they traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. • Antioch of Syria was a thriving cosmopolitan city, the third-largest in the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria. Antioch was of central importance in the spread of the Christian message to the Gentile world.

11:20 This outreach effort on the part of Jewish believers . . . from Cyprus and Cyrene was the first systematic attempt to preach to Gentiles about the Lord Jesus.

11:21-24 Once again, as had happened in the household of Cornelius, Gentiles turned to the Lord in considerable numbers. The explosion of Christian faith into the Gentile world had to remain in harmony with the church at Jerusalem, so the Jerusalem church sent Barnabas to Antioch to oversee developments there. He could see that God’s blessing was on what was happening, so he endorsed it with joy.

11:25-26 Barnabas recognized the special gifts that Saul possessed for preaching and teaching. His assessment of Saul’s gifts was wise, and it resulted in a fruitful team ministry in Antioch.

11:26 Christians was possibly a term of derision. The Greek text uses this term in only two other New Testament passages (26:28; 1 Pet 4:16).

11:27-28 some prophets: See “The Gift of Prophecy” Theme Note. • Agabus: See also 21:10-12.

11:28 Claudius, nephew of Tiberius Caesar (Luke 3:1), was the Roman emperor in AD 41–54. His last wife was his niece Agrippina, whose son Nero he adopted.

11:29-30 The upshot of Agabus’s prophecy was that the believers in Antioch decided to make a contribution to the Jewish believers—the brothers and sisters—in Judea. The believers in Antioch gave as generously as they could and committed the responsibility for this financial aid to leaders they trusted, namely, to Barnabas and his fellow worker Saul. This unified love and support of Christians for one another was a tangible demonstration of the difference Christ had made in their lives. Paul describes this visit in his letter to the Galatians (Gal 2:1-10).

11:30 This is the first reference in Acts to elders as officers of the Christian church (see also 14:23; 15:2-23; 16:4; 20:17-35; 21:18; cp. 1 Tim 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9).