Acts 11:19-12:25: The Hand-Off

Up to this point, with the exception of Acts 9, the story of Acts has been about Peter and John, mostly about Peter. In chapter 11, we have the beginning of the shift to the ministry of the one who would eventually be called Paul.

The Pattern of Persecution and Multiplication (11:19-21)

Throughout Christian history (including the church today), waves of revival are accompanied by persecution. When Constantine converted to Christianity (in the early 4c CE) and called for the conversion of the empire to Catholicism, the growth and dynamism of the Church collapsed. For the first time there were nominal Christians (Christianity in name only). John Wesley called the nominal Christians of his day “almost Christians.” Today’s Christians in Africa (Congo, Cameroon, Sierra Leone) are experiencing political and economic persecution and the church is multiplying. The persecution of Stephen, instead of limiting and intimidating the Church, further energized and spread the faith.

Barnabas and Saul (11:22-30)

I have been slow to notice, but Luke has this way of introducing by name the people who are next going to be high profile in the church. We were introduced to the “seven,” before talking about Stephen’s martyrdom and Philip’s ministry. We were introduced to Saul as the man before whom coats are laid in Stephen’s death and, a chapter later, are reading Saul’s conversion. Here we are being further introduced to Barnabas and Saul as a team in preparation for their missionary journey together. Notice the role of Barnabas. It is he who introduced Saul to the Jewish leadership (Acts 9:27). Paul is sent back to his home area for ministry (partly because he was a marked man in Jerusalem) and he does ministry in Arabia, Syria and Cicilia (for at least three years, according to Galatians 1:15-24, and possibly up to a total of six to seven years). But it seems throughout that time that Barnabas and Saul have been communicating and developing in their friendship and partnership in ministry. In Acts 11:25, Barnabas goes to Tarsus and brings Saul back for the ministry at Antioch and they share in that ministry together. It wasn’t until I became pastor at St. Barnabas that I realized the active role of Barnabas in the ministry of Saul (not yet referred to as Paul in the book of Acts and Saul is always listed second, as the subordinate – which of course will change).

The Miraculous Escape (12:1-25)

I love this story for both its power and its humor. Peter thinks he is dreaming until he realizes he’s outside the prison gates and fully awake. Rhoda shuts the door in Peter’s face and Peter just keeps knocking on the door. Herod, after executing James (what a terrible tragedy that must have been as the church lost one of its big 4 – Peter, Andrew, James and John) now goes after the #1 figure in the early church. But in the end, Peter is miraculously spared and Herod is the one ends up dead.
What a dynamic history we have as the Church. What will it take for the Church to recover her dynamism in Western Europe and North America? It would take a fresh move of the Holy Spirit. We could and should pray for that. But I wonder if having a dynamic, bold and no longer co-opted church might mean a new round of persecution for those who follow Jesus.