Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 11:26

"and when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that even for a whole year they were gathered together with the church, and taught much people, and that the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." — Acts 11:26 (ASV)

Sometime after reaching Antioch, Barnabas went to Tarsus to find Saul to help him in the ministry back in Syria. We have no record of what Saul was doing between the time when he left Jerusalem and when Barnabas found him in Tarsus, though he was probably ministering to Gentiles . Barnabas was the one who had supported Saul when there was suspicion at Jerusalem about his conversion (cf. 9:27). And now, knowing of Saul’s Godgiven commission to minister to the Gentiles, recalling his testimony at Jerusalem, and needing help for the work among the Gentiles, Barnabas involved Saul in the ministry at Antioch where they served together “for a whole year” and taught “a great crowd of people.” In joining Barnabas at Antioch, Saul may have thought he was carrying out the mandate received at his conversion to take the message of the risen Christ to Gentiles. Most likely, however, the Antioch mission in those days was confined to the synagogue, so that there was little thought of the propriety of appealing more widely and directly to Gentiles. All the early believers at Antioch, whether Jews or Gentiles, may well have been related in some way to the synagogue. Thus in the eyes of many Jewish Christians, the conversion of Gentiles who had to some extent come under the ministry of Judaism before they believed in Jesus would not have been thought exceptional.

But others within the city—evidently the nonbelievers, who were more perceptive in this matter than the church itself—nicknamed this group of Jewish and Gentile believers “Christians” (GK 5985; i.e., “Christ followers,” or “those of the household of Christ”). They saw that the ministry to Gentiles and the fellowship of Jews with Gentiles went beyond the bounds of what was usually permitted within Judaism. They also voiced an insight that the Christians themselves only saw clearly later on: Christianity is no mere variant of Judaism. The new name doubtless helped develop the self-consciousness of the early Christians, despite its having first been given in derision. Later the early Christians accepted it and used it of themselves (cf. 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16) along with their earlier self-designation of “the Way” (cf. 19:9, 23). But the use of the name “Christian” posed two great problems for the church. For one thing, Christians began to risk losing the protection that Rome gave to a religio licita (i.e., a legal religion; cf. “Luke’s Purposes in Writing Acts” in the introduction to Acts), which they had enjoyed when considered only a sect within Judaism. Furthermore, being now in some way differentiated from Judaism, Christians were faced with how to understand their continuity with the hope of Israel and the promises of the Jewish Scriptures. As we shall see, these problems were to loom large as the Christian mission moved onto Gentile soil.