Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 11:23

"who, when he was come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad; and he exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord:" — Acts 11:23 (ASV)

News of the situation at Antioch was of definite concern to believers in Jerusalem. With the conversion of Samaritans, the conversion of some Gentiles in Caesarea, and now the report of a mixed congregation in Syrian Antioch, many in Jerusalem were doubtless fearful that the Christian mission was moving ahead so rapidly as to be out of control. The Jerusalem church, therefore, as in the case of the Samaritan conversions, decided to send a delegate to Antioch, probably in order to regularize whatever had gone awry and report back to the mother church. The man chosen for this task was Barnabas, a Jew from Cyprus who had gained an outstanding reputation for piety and generosity among the believers at Jerusalem (cf.4:36–37). In all likelihood, Barnabas’s position as both a Diaspora and “Zionistic” Jew and his piety and generosity qualified him in the eyes of the Jerusalem church for this mission to Antioch. In addition, the high esteem in which he was held made it certain that both his counsel and his report would be received with all seriousness.

The Jerusalem church could hardly have selected a better delegate. His generous spirit was gladdened by what he saw of the grace of God at work among the believers at Antioch, and, true to his nickname “Son of Encouragement” (cf. 4:36), he “encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.” Here was a crisis point in the history of the early church, for much depended on Barnabas’s reaction, counsel, and report—not only at Antioch itself, but also at Jerusalem and in the later advance of the Gospel through Paul’s missions. With evident feeling, therefore, Luke says of him, “He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.” And as a result of his response, the work that was started at Antioch was enabled to go on, with many being brought to Christ.