The Unsung Heroes, Acts 11:19-20
“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, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.” (NIV)
The episode of the baptism of Gentiles in Caesarea (Cornelius and his family)—narrated in Acts 10 and recounted by Peter in the first part of chapter 11—serves as the backdrop for the mass conversion of Gentiles that began in Antioch of Syria and continued through the missionary efforts of Paul and his companions, starting in Acts 13. Although Philip had already baptized a “God-fearer”—an Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 7)—it is Peter’s preaching at Cornelius’s house that established the definitive precedent for the acceptance of foreigners into the kingdom of God.
An advance group of Hellenized Jews, who had fled Jerusalem in the wake of the persecution unleashed following Stephen’s death, made their way to Antioch of Syria. Some of them—originally from Cyprus and Cyrene—dared to preach to the Greeks; and, since “the hand of the Lord was with them,” many Gentiles “believed and turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21). The church in Jerusalem then sent Barnabas to encourage the new believers (Acts 11:22-24). Barnabas saw such potential in that city that he decided to go to Tarsus to look for Saul and invite him to Antioch of Syria where both men taught for one year (vv. 25-26).
The establishment of this church marked a new stage in the process of large-scale evangelization among the Gentiles. From there emerged the missionaries who carried the Gospel to Asia Minor and Europe, along with generous aid for the poor of the church in Judea, and surely on more than one occasion (11:27-30). This church made its presence felt so profoundly in the city of Antioch that the Gentile population clearly distinguished its members from the Jews, whose community and influence were very significant there. Luke notes that it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called “Christians” (v. 26c).
It is noteworthy that Luke doesn’t mention by name the pioneer brethren of the church in Antioch. He simply refers to them as “those who had been scattered because of the persecution” (v. 19) and “some men from Cyprus and Cyrene who also spoke to the Greeks, proclaiming the Gospel of the Lord Jesus” (v. 20). As was the case in other places (the church in Rome, for example), the church in Antioch was established by unsung heroes; brothers and sisters whose only interest was to share Christ with the lost, without ulterior motives, without a thirst for the spotlight, for recognition or for power—things that divide churches and hinder the work of evangelism.
Paul wrote to the Philippians:
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Phil. 2:3-8)
The unsung heroes—like those who established the church in Antioch—followed in the steps of Christ and in so doing, kept the flame of the Gospel burning. May God send us more leaders like them.
