Acts 14:23 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

NIV: Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.

NASB: When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

CSB: When they had appointed elders for them in every church and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

NLT: Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.

KJV: And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

NKJV: So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Paul's missionary model is to arrive at a new town and find the local synagogue, first. There he will explain how Jesus fulfills Jewish prophecy, gaining converts from both the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles. Generally, synagogue leaders will respond by evicting Paul and any new Jesus-followers. Paul will continue to teach and reach more converts until the leaders of the city threaten him, assault him, or otherwise convince him to leave.

Paul doesn't abandon these new churches, however. He and Barnabas revisit these cities to establish church elders: good men, chosen by the Holy Spirit, who can take on a leadership role in their own cities. They know they can't directly pastor every church they plant. They must trust that God will equip local people to take on leadership roles so the church can grow. The qualifications for elders are given in 1 Timothy 3:1–7 and Titus 1:5–9, but other notes can be found in James 5:14, 1 Peter 5:1–4, and Hebrews 13:17.

In the future, Paul will return to these churches on both his second and third missionary journeys (Acts 16:1, 4–5; 18:23). Later, as he does with many of the churches he interacts with, he will write them, helping them with specific struggles and questions. The letter to the churches of this first trip is our book of Galatians.

The issue of fasting in the Bible is a complicated one. In the Mosaic law, God told the Israelites to "afflict" themselves on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29). No one now is sure what it means to "afflict yourself." By the latter part of the Old Testament, Jews thought it meant fasting, but some scholars think it means to refrain from normal grooming or having sex, while others say it means to sacrifice for the sake of social justice or even to sing.

Acts 14:21–28 tracks Paul and Barnabas' journey home from Derbe, the farthest point they reach in Paul's first missionary journey. Instead of taking the quick route south, they return west, building up the churches in cities they had fled due to persecution. They then travel south to the Mediterranean and preach about Jesus in Perga before catching a ship to take them east, back home to Syrian Antioch. Their experiences will prove vital for the leadership of the church in Jerusalem who must decide how to properly integrate Gentiles in Jesus' church (Acts 15:1–35).

Acts 14 describes the last half of Paul's first missionary journey. He and Barnabas leave Pisidian Antioch, near central modern-day Asia Minor, and travel southeast to Iconium where they establish a new church. In Lystra, Paul heals a man born crippled. The amazed people insist Barnabas is the Greek deity Zeus, and Paul is Hermes. They attempt to offer sacrifices to them, much to the horror of the two evangelists. When antagonists from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium arrive, Paul is stoned but survives. The pair travel to Derbe, then retrace their steps, encouraging the new churches before sailing back to Syrian Antioch.

Paul's first missionary journey, recorded in Acts 13—14, gives a glimpse of issues that the church will face throughout its entire existence. When presented with Jesus's story, some will accept Him while others will not. Opposition is sometimes violent. Some integrate into church life easily, but for centuries the church has struggled with how to integrate those from vastly different cultures. This raises the crucial question of which aspects of faith and worship are biblical, making them universal, and which are cultural, and therefore optional? In Acts 15, the church leadership will start a discussion on that subject which continues even today.

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.