Act 11:19 | KingComments | STEP | With we return briefly to the situation described by Luke in Acts 8 ( ). There he spoke of a great persecution. Luke here picks up the thread again to tell us how it went with those scattered. The scattered ones in Acts 8 were in Judea and Samaria. In the meantime they have moved on. They have crossed the country to Phoenicia in the north, in present-day Lebanon. Then they went to the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea and from there to Antioch in Syria. Antioch now emerges as the great center of the church among the Gentiles. This can happen now that the door has been opened to the Gentiles in the person of Cornelius. From Antioch Paul will start his missionary journeys. There he will also return at the end of the first two journeys. Those who are scattered, do not “preach” the Word, but “speak” the Word, indicating that proclamation of the Word goes through ordinary contacts. They do, however, limit themselves in this to the Jews who have been scattered much earlier by the deportation of the ten tribes. They address only their compatriots, the lost sheep of the house of Israel ( ), possibly out of fear of contact with the unclean nations. They, too, have yet to be delivered from this fear. There are no works of power here. That happened in the land of Israel among the Jews and Samaritans. Not all Jews have this fear of being defiled through contact with the nations. Among those who are scattered are some men of Cyprus and Cyrene. These are Jews who, however, did not grow up in the land of Israel, but in the Greek-speaking world. They are of Jewish descent, but speak Greek and in that language they speak to the Greek-speakers. These are not the Greek-speaking Jews of Acts 6, but the Greek-speaking Gentiles with whom they come into contact through the scattering. These originally foreign Jews do not have this inner aversion to contact with Gentiles. That brings them to a spontaneous proclamation to the Gentiles. At the same time it brings the danger that they easily adapt to customs of the Gentiles. They speak to them about the Lord Jesus, they proclaim Him, present Him as the good news. It is remarkable how little officialism is connected with this work. There is no appointment to preach. There is no consultation whatsoever with the apostles in Jerusalem. Not a single name is mentioned of these people who participate in the work of the Lord. The Lord Jesus is proclaimed. It is striking how His being “Lord” is emphasized in these verses, which emphasizes that He has received all power. The Lord blesses their preaching with a great number who become believers. Every time there is talk of “the Lord”. He goes along with the preachers and people turn to Him.

‏ Acts 11:19

Preaching of the Scattered

With Acts 11:19 we return briefly to the situation described by Luke in Acts 8 (Acts 8:1-4). There he spoke of a great persecution. Luke here picks up the thread again to tell us how it went with those scattered. The scattered ones in Acts 8 were in Judea and Samaria. In the meantime they have moved on. They have crossed the country to Phoenicia in the north, in present-day Lebanon. Then they went to the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea and from there to Antioch in Syria.

Antioch now emerges as the great center of the church among the Gentiles. This can happen now that the door has been opened to the Gentiles in the person of Cornelius. From Antioch Paul will start his missionary journeys. There he will also return at the end of the first two journeys.

Those who are scattered, do not “preach” the Word, but “speak” the Word, indicating that proclamation of the Word goes through ordinary contacts. They do, however, limit themselves in this to the Jews who have been scattered much earlier by the deportation of the ten tribes. They address only their compatriots, the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Mt 10:6), possibly out of fear of contact with the unclean nations. They, too, have yet to be delivered from this fear. There are no works of power here. That happened in the land of Israel among the Jews and Samaritans.

Not all Jews have this fear of being defiled through contact with the nations. Among those who are scattered are some men of Cyprus and Cyrene. These are Jews who, however, did not grow up in the land of Israel, but in the Greek-speaking world. They are of Jewish descent, but speak Greek and in that language they speak to the Greek-speakers. These are not the Greek-speaking Jews of Acts 6, but the Greek-speaking Gentiles with whom they come into contact through the scattering.

These originally foreign Jews do not have this inner aversion to contact with Gentiles. That brings them to a spontaneous proclamation to the Gentiles. At the same time it brings the danger that they easily adapt to customs of the Gentiles. They speak to them about the Lord Jesus, they proclaim Him, present Him as the good news.

It is remarkable how little officialism is connected with this work. There is no appointment to preach. There is no consultation whatsoever with the apostles in Jerusalem. Not a single name is mentioned of these people who participate in the work of the Lord. The Lord Jesus is proclaimed. It is striking how His being “Lord” is emphasized in these verses, which emphasizes that He has received all power. The Lord blesses their preaching with a great number who become believers. Every time there is talk of “the Lord”. He goes along with the preachers and people turn to Him.