20. The Church at Antioch
Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. Some of them, however… went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also… and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all … Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 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 (Acts 11:19-26).
It was not accidental that when persecution broke out against the early Church, many Christians fled to Antioch in Syria. After Rome itself, and Alexandria in Egypt, Antioch was the third largest city in the Roman Empire, and was a true metropolis with great social and religious diversity.
The cosmopolitan nature of Antioch is seen in the five leading Christians in the Church there (Acts 13:1): Barnabas, evidently the senior figure, was from Cyprus (Acts 4:36); Simeon called Niger ("black") was probably from Cyrene in North Africa and may possibly have been the Simon of Cyrene who carried Christ's cross; Lucius of Cyrene is sometimes thought to be Luke himself, though this is highly unlikely; Manean, who was brought up in Judea with Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great; and finally, Saul, who was from Tarsus in Cilicia – an area that is now part of modern Turkey.
We can see from this list of its leaders that the church at Antioch was certainly no small outpost of Christianity. Many Jews and Gentiles were converted there (Acts 11:20-21), and Antioch, in fact, is mentioned in Acts more than any other city outside of Jerusalem, and the various mentions show the powerful work its church was doing.
We see this propensity for independent good work in the fact that when a famine arose, the believers in Antioch "… as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul" (Acts 11:29). But the work of the Antiochan believers was not only inward looking in terms of helping other Christians. It was from Antioch that all three great missionary journeys mentioned in Acts were launched.
We should notice the details in regard to this missionary outreach which effectively changed the nature of the early Church. Although Christianity had now spread beyond Judea to some of the surrounding areas, its expansion was still very limited and almost random in nature – as when believers fled from persecution. Despite the commission the church had been given, there was, till now, no formal Christian outreach with the purpose of spreading the faith – and when it finally occurred, it was not from Jerusalem, but from Antioch:
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus (Acts 13:2-4).
Notice the duality in this description of the launching of the first missionary journey. We are told "they" (the church) sent Barnabas and Saul on the mission, and that they were sent by
"the Holy Spirit." We sense this duality, this close working of Church and Spirit in much of what occurred at Antioch. And as the first and later missions unfolded – all launched from Antioch – we see they were truly the beginning of the Gentile Church for which Paul (as Luke refers to him from this point) was prepared.
It was now that the fervent and independent nature of the Antiochan church led to expansion, not just in the conveying of the message of the Gospel, but also in the appointing of new elders and the establishment of new congregations (Acts 14:23).
The early church at Antioch presents us with a powerful lesson in how the Church grew then, one which applies equally today. If the Spirit of God is truly active in a church, just as in an individual, good works and growth will be evident.