A Journey Through Luke & ActsSample

At this point in Acts, new reports are coming in about how more non-Jewish people are beginning to follow Jesus in the trade city of Antioch. So the disciples in Jerusalem send a man named Barnabas to check things out. When he arrives in Antioch, he finds that many people from regions all over the world have learned the way of Jesus. There are many new followers and a lot to do, so Barnabas recruits Saul to come teach with him in Antioch for a year.

Antioch is the place where Jesus’ followers are first called Christians, meaning “the Christ ones.” The church in Antioch is the first international Jesus community. The Church is no longer mainly comprised of messianic Jews from Jerusalem; it is now a multiethnic movement spreading rapidly throughout the world. Their skin tones, languages, and cultures are different, but their faith is the same, centered on the good news of the King of all the nations, the crucified and risen Jesus. But the Church’s message and their new way of life is confusing, and even threatening, to the average Roman citizen. And King Herod, a puppet king of the Roman empire, begins to mistreat and execute Christians. The more the king sees that his persecution of Christians pleases some of the Jewish leaders, the more he continues to do so, which eventually leads to Peter’s arrest. Peter’s life is on the line, but his friends fervently pray for his release. The night before Herod planned to offer Peter up to the violent crowds, an angel visits his cell, breaking his chains and leading him out of the prison.