The first Sunday after Trinity (or Pentecost 2) is also the feast of St Barnabas, who was responsible for receiving, encouraging, and working with the apostle Saul/Paul. In our lectionary reading, Acts 11.19–30, he performs a vital role in encouraging the believers in Antioch and advocating for them to the leadership of the church in Jerusalem. (Although this is not strictly the gospel reading for Sunday, since Acts is really ‘Luke Part II’ then we can think of it that way!).
Our chapter divisions once more do not quite reflect the natural breaks in Luke’s narrative. Many English translations start our reading in v 19 with the disjunctive preposition ‘Now…’, as they have done at the beginning of the chapter in Acts 11.1. But the break and change of focus here is much stronger; in verse 1 Luke uses de but in verse 19 the much stronger μὲν οὖν men oun which has the sense of ‘on the other hand…’
The reference back to the persecution ‘that arose over Stephen’ takes us all the way back to Acts 8.1, so these different aspects of the narrative are leap-frogging over one another. First we hear about Philip in Samaria, then the controversy between Peter and Simon Magus, then Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch/official, then the conversion and initial ministry of Saul, and the raising of Dorcas. We then have a chapter and a half of Peter and Cornelius; this is so significant that Luke includes two full accounts of the event, one as he narrates and the second one as Peter gives his own account.
The persecution has driven Jewish followers of Jesus up the coast to Phoenicia, and from there is was a natural boat trip to Cyprus, as stop on the way West towards Rome. Further north, in the ‘elbow’ of Syria and Turkey, was Antioch. Founded in the fourth century BC, it was on key trade routes including the Silk Road from the East and spice trades routes, and it was now the third largest city in the Empire after Rome and Alexandria. It was also a leading centre of Judaism in the Diaspora; Josephus (in The Jewish Wars) tells us that between 20,00 and 40,000 were there.
Jesus has predicted that his disciples would ‘be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ The irony of Luke’s account is that this has been achieved not by the intention of the disciples but by persecution, who have been driven to Judea and Samaria in Acts 8 and now move even further afield. When we are slow to follow God’s intention, he finds ways of making it happen!
The practice of sharing the gospel only with Jews follows Jesus’ ministry ‘only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel’ (Matt 10.5, 15.24). Yet even in this ministry, Jesus’ teaching and healing spills over to the Gentiles, and parts of his northern ministry were in non-Jewish territory across the Jordan. The term ‘Hellenists’ is translated by some ETs as ‘Greeks’, and we need to remember that the world was divided into two groups: ‘Jews’ and ‘Greeks’, meaning all non-Jews (who throughout the Roman Empire spoke Greek, even on the streets of Rome). In Acts 6.1, the term must mean Greek-speaking (that is, diaspora) Jews, but here in context it must surely refer to non-Jews.
Comment at: https://psephizo.msnd34.com/tracking/lc/16cff395-79bd-4524-bab2-92728dd9c9fa/a6f20a3b-3f42-4dfd-9b48-9e5afa30dc1b/51508623-9306-41e3-9618-78f1d5f09177/