Slices
Prepare
Pause to recall all that God has done for you. Thank him and be ready to receive more from him.
Bible passage
The church in Antioch
19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. 20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
22 News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
27 During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29 The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
Explore
Scattered by persecution, the priority of the early followers of Jesus is still bringing the good news to Jews. However, some go to Antioch and start telling non-Jews, which leads to the same sort of reaction as we saw yesterday: part suspicion, part openness to what God is doing.
Barnabas ensures that the new Christians are encouraged and properly taught. This brings Paul back into play. Barnabas has seen Paul’s teaching gift and, now that Paul has spent time reflecting and meeting with God, he is better able to teach others. We need to know what we believe if we are to share our faith.
The practical help provided by the new Christians in Antioch to the church in Jerusalem helps to build bridges. There is a generosity of spirit shown by Barnabas in his dealings with the church in Antioch and with Paul. There is a generosity of spirit shown by the church in Antioch reaching out to the church in Judea (vs 29,30). We are to be marked by a generosity which welcomes and accepts others (Romans 15:7) and which meets the practical needs of others (2 Corinthians 8:1–9). In both cases this is a natural response to what God has done for us.
Respond
Where might you need to show generosity of spirit? Is there someone who needs a special welcome, or practical help? Pray, and resolve to do something.
Deeper Bible study
Holy Spirit, help us to grasp what is happening in this text and to apply it to our experiences.
Our text today reports a crucial turning point in Luke’s story. The narrative moves from a focus on named individuals, like Stephen, Philip and Peter, to anonymous disciples who had fled persecution and scattered far and wide, sharing the good news. This has rightly been described as the ‘spontaneous expansion’ of early Christianity: a movement of the Spirit breaking entirely new ground. The actions of believers from Cyprus and Cyrene who moved into the great city of Antioch and there talked to their Greek friends, ‘telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus’ (v 20), represents the opening of a new phase in this story.
There are two aspects of this leap forward to notice. First, the description of the form in which the message about Jesus was expressed – ‘the good news about the Lord Jesus’ – indicates that this was an act of contextualisation, or interpretation, retelling the gospel within a Greek-speaking community. The word ‘Lord’, Kyrios, was used throughout the Roman Empire to refer both to local deities and to the Caesars. In ascribing this term to the crucified Jesus, his followers were declaring that he was the true Saviour of that world. As Andrew Walls says, this was ‘the beginning of the conversion of the Greek world’.1
Second, at the same time, a geographical and cultural shift was happening, from Jerusalem to the huge, cosmopolitan city of Antioch. The expanding church in this city, taught by Barnabas and Saul, would become the base for mission to the Mediterranean world. This pattern of change has occurred repeatedly in Christian history and can help us to understand the disturbing changes through which we are passing at present.
In what ways is our experience similar to that described in this passage?
1 Andrew F Walls, The Missionary Movement in Christian History, T & T Clark, 1996, p53
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 2 Chronicles 29,30; Ephesians 6
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for those from the 95 that are part of Grow Communities. Pray that they’ll flourish in their own faith and use their group to reach their friends.
