“From Peter to Paul"
Acts 11:19-30
Then Barnabas departed from Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch [Acts 11:25-26]
Change; we either love it or hate it; there seems like no middle ground. Especially in church when it comes to changes in ministry, changes in building, changes in location, or even changes in pastors; change does not come easy. But one thing you can be sure of, over time change is inevitable.
We see these kinds of changes in Acts 11; and they came with struggle. There were changes in ministry [from Jews to Gentiles] and changes in location [from Jerusalem to Lydda, Joppa, and Caesarea]. Our passage this morning reveals more changes. There will be a transition of ministers [from Peter to Paul and Barnabas], and a different home base [from Jerusalem to Antioch]. By the end of Acts 12 Paul will become the dominant servant of record for the rest of Acts. He will be the principal Apostle to the Gentiles.
These were major changes, and from them came major disputes, and yet there were major blessings. Doing the work of God, growing in His grace and mercy, spiritually maturing and expanding requires change. But let’s face it, change is difficult and oftentimes seems impossible.
“No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be poured into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk the old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘the old is better.’“ [Luke 5:36-39]
The context just prior to this parable was the questioning of John’s disciples and fasting. The framework is the old and the new; John the Baptist [the last of the Old Testament prophets] and Jesus the Messiah [the pinnacle of the New Covenant]. It marked the difference between water baptism that is important and born-again baptism of the Spirit that is essential.
The Spirit was poured out upon all who called on the name of Jesus, the Gentiles too, and it began a radical [and contentious] change in the church. The question then became, “would they receive the change?”
It is a good question to apply to our own lives; will we receive change?
