Called Christians, Acts 11:26

This post covers the first time that followers of Jesus were called Christians.

Called Christians discusses the name given to disciples of Jesus at Antioch, Acts 11:26. “… in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.”

In authoring the book of Acts, Luke now takes up what happened to the Jerusalem church after the stoning of Stephen. Jesus had said the twelve would be ‘… my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’ Once Samaritans and Gentiles were added to the church, the church turned to preaching ‘to the end of the earth.’

Preaching the gospel in Antioch resulted in a multicultural church, Acts 11:20. “But there were some of them… who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists.” Thus, some preached and baptized  Gentiles.

The Jerusalem church sent Barnabus to Antioch as an encouragement. Then, he went to Tarsus and finding Saul brought him back as an additional preacher. The two of them preached for an entire year and baptized many. At this point, the designation of the disciples in this Jewish-Gentile church as ‘Christians’ began.

Then, prophets from Jerusalem spoke of a famine, Acts 11:28-29. “Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world.”

The brethren at Antioch decided to help alleviate the hunger of the disciples in Jerusalem, Acts 11:29-30. “…the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.”

In this way, the correct pattern of benevolence occurred—help from one congregation to another should go to the elders and not some larger church-wide group.

So, what did we learn?

1.The name Christian began in Antioch, a church of Jews and Gentiles.

2.Benevolence between congregations should go to the elders.

For more on the Bible, click tdroberts.org or https://justchristian.com or https://podcastjustchristian.com

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