Acts 11:19-24 (NIV)
Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to 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. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
Cornelius and his household were the first pure gentiles to be intentionally evangelized, but that was only the opening salvo in God’s campaign to push the boundaries of the kingdom of God far beyond the limits of the Jewish people.
As previously noted in Acts 8:4, all those who were scattered from Jerusalem after the murder of Stephen, preached the gospel everywhere they went. At first this preaching was confined to Jews and a few Samaritan villages. These people had been prepared for the gospel by their familiarity with the Jewish Scriptures and the prophecies of the coming Messiah.
But as they moved further out into the Roman Empire, the believers encountered a much higher concentration of gentiles and far fewer Jewish communities. But rather than pull back, they pushed forward and shared the good news with the gentiles as well.
The starting point in sharing with these people was, of necessity, different than when they were sharing with Jewish people, Samaritans, or even gentile God-fearers. Those had at least some knowledge of the Scriptures and of God’s moral law. But most of the gentiles that they met now were pagans, polytheists, and people who, while their code of honor was very strong, their moral standards were far below God’s.
But a key element to the remarkable success of the outreach efforts of the Christians was the fact that the Lord’s hand was with them. God had gone ahead of them to open the hearts of the people; to plow up the hard-packed soil of their hearts; to convict them of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8); and to instill in them a genuine hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6).
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard about the large number of gentiles coming into the kingdom, their initial response was concern. They had seen Cornelius and his group as outliers, an anomaly that probably would not be repeated. But now there were credible reports of thousands of gentiles coming in, and of churches composed predominantly, even solely, of gentiles. This needed to be checked into!
So, they sent Barnabas to go and see what was really happening and to report back to them. And what he found thrilled his heart. These gentiles had really become disciples of Jesus and were serving Him and the gospel wholeheartedly. He found nothing to criticize, so he simply encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord. And that encouragement caused everyone to redouble their efforts, and the work of the kingdom, making disciples of ALL nations, moved forward briskly, resulting in even more people saying yes to Jesus.
Father, our prejudices (pre-judging people as part of a group instead of seeing them as individuals) can really get in the way of us wholeheartedly sharing the gospel. It is very easy to look at someone and, on the basis of an impression they make on us, determine in advance that they won’t be open to the gospel, or that they will be difficult to reach and will probably take more time than we want to spend. But if Your hand is with us, going before us, working in their hearts before we even see them, that changes everything. Instead of looking at the outside of people and evaluating their readiness based on what we see there, help us to simply listen for Your voice and act based on what You tell us to do, just like those first Christians. Help us to be powerful and successful in reaching out because we are working WITH You, not jus FOR You. Amen.
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