Acts 11:26 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

NIV: 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.

NASB: and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers of people; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

CSB: and when he found him he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught large numbers. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.

NLT: When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)

KJV: 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.

NKJV: And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

The irony of this moment is exquisite. The young church in Jerusalem largely grew in peace for some time—although the disciples were arrested a couple of times and beaten twice (Acts 2—5). When Stephen was murdered (Acts 7:54–60), a young Pharisee-in-training named Saul took it upon himself to eradicate the Jesus-followers not just from Jerusalem, but from any Jewish space in the Roman Empire (Acts 8:1–3; 9:1–2). On his way to Damascus to arrest Jewish Jesus-followers, he found Jesus and realized how wrong he had been (Acts 9:3–19).

Saul quickly switched teams. He debated with the Jews in Damascus and Jerusalem, showing them how Jesus of Nazareth was the Jewish Messiah. He caused such a commotion in Jerusalem that some of the Hellenist Jews wanted to kill him so the apostles sent him home to Tarsus, on the southeastern coast of modern-day Asia Minor (Acts 9:19–31).

The damage, so to speak, was already done. While the apostles and other church leaders stayed in Jerusalem during the earlier persecution, many of the laity fled, spreading the story of Jesus to Judea, Samaria, Damascus, and far to the north in Syrian Antioch. When the church leaders in Jerusalem hear that the gospel has even spread to Gentiles in Antioch, they send Barnabas to check it out. Barnabas realizes the conversions are real and far more extensive than he can handle alone (Acts 11:19–25). Fortunately, Tarsus is just west of Antioch.

So, the man who, through his persecution of the church, caused the spread of the gospel to Gentiles in Antioch is now in Antioch teaching the Jewish and Gentile Jesus-followers and spreading the gospel further.

This verse notes some of the origins of the term "Christian." It was almost certainly coined by non-Christian Gentiles. Although "Christ" is Greek, "-ian" is a Latin addition, as in Marian or Herodian. This suffix means "of the party of…" and was used to mean those who imitated or supported some figure. To some extent, this made the term "Christian" an expression of sarcasm or derision. Peter hints at this in his writings (1 Peter 4:16).

Elsewhere in the New Testament, only King Agrippa (Acts 26:28) and Peter (1 Peter 4:16) use the term "Christian." It would take a long time before the label passed from insult to identification. Typically, believers in the New Testament use words like disciples, saints, and brothers. Jews of that time used "the sect of the Nazarenes" as a slam referring to the saying "nothing good comes from Nazareth" (Acts 24:5; John 1:46). They wouldn't use the Greek word for Messiah, even jokingly, for those they considered heretics.

Acts 11:19–26 continues the inauguration of the international church. While Peter is in Caesarea Maritima leading a houseful of Gentiles to faith in Jesus (Acts 10) and then in Jerusalem explaining that Jesus has come to the Gentiles (Acts 11:1–18), the church has already spread far north to Syrian Antioch. The Jesus-followers who fled Saul's persecution in Jerusalem took Jesus' story with them (Acts 8:1–4). Some, from Cyprus and Cyrene, taught Gentiles. If they, Jews who lived within the Greco/Roman culture, could worship Jesus, why couldn't their Gentile friends? This is exactly what Jesus intended in Acts 1:8.

Acts 11 accelerates the journey of the message of Jesus into the Gentile world. Peter returns to Jerusalem and explains to the church leaders how the Holy Spirit has fallen on a group of Gentiles in Caesarea Maritima (Acts 11:1–18). Then the church hears how Gentiles are coming to faith far north in Syrian Antioch; they send Barnabas to investigate and Barnabas brings in Saul (Acts 11:19–26). Finally, prophets travel from Jerusalem to Antioch to request aid for the Jerusalem church (Acts 11:27–30). The scene is almost set for Paul's extensive evangelism career to begin.

Until the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 7:54–60), the story of Jesus' followers remained mostly in Jerusalem. Saul started persecuting the church and the members fled, taking Jesus' story with them. This included Philip who shared Jesus' story with Samaritans and an Ethiopian official (Acts 8). Saul's persecution even led to his own conversion (Acts 9). And Peter brought the gospel to a group of Gentiles (Acts 10). After one more story about Peter and rising persecution by the Roman government, the book of Acts will turn to Saul, who will use the Greek variation of his name, Paul, and his missionary journeys to southeast Europe.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.