Acts 11

Acts 11:1

Good News for Everyone An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of Acts www.easyenglish.info Marion Adams This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 11 Peter’s report to the *church in *Jerusalem, 11:1-18 v1 The *apostles and the *believers in *Judea heard that the *Gentiles also had received God’s message. v2 So, when Peter went to *Jerusalem, some *Jewish *believers there argued with him. These *believers wanted *Gentiles to receive *circumcision. They said, v3 ‘You stayed in *Gentiles’ homes. You even ate with them!’ v4 Then Peter began to tell them everything that had happened. He started from the beginning.

v5 ‘I was in Joppa city. I was praying. I started to sleep and I had a *vision. I saw something like a large sheet. It seemed as if someone was holding its four corners. The sheet came down from heaven. It came down to where I was. v6 I looked into it and I saw tame animals and wild animals. I saw *reptiles and birds. v7 I heard a voice. The voice said to me, “Peter, get up! Kill these and eat them.” v8 But I said, “I will certainly not do that, *Lord! Nothing *unclean has ever gone into my mouth. Nor has anything gone in that it is not proper to eat.” v9 The voice spoke to me again. It came from heaven. It replied, “If God considers something as clean, you must not call it *unclean.” v10 This happened three times. Then the sheet rose up and it went back into heaven.’

Verse 1 Peter probably stayed in Caesarea for several weeks. Probably, he stayed to teach the new *Gentile *believers. The journey from Caesarea to *Jerusalem would take one week. But the *believers in *Jerusalem had already heard what had happened to the *Gentiles. They had heard the news before Peter arrived!

Verses 2-3 Some *Jewish *believers in *Jerusalem seemed angry. They were surprised that Peter had stayed with *Gentiles. Those *Gentiles had not received *circumcision. The *Jewish *believers said that the *Gentiles must receive *circumcision. Then they (the *Gentiles) could join the *church. Otherwise, they could not join it. *Circumcision was the most important *Jewish tradition. So, these *Jewish *believers wanted to keep it in the *church.

Verses 4-10 Probably, the people in the *church in *Jerusalem had not heard everything. They had probably heard only part of what had happened. Peter wanted to tell them everything. He started his story with his *vision at Joppa. Luke now recorded that event again, in Peter’s words. This was because it was such an important event.

The first *Christians were *Jews. Some of them wanted to keep the *Jewish traditions. They wanted *Gentiles to follow *Judaism. In the *Jews’ opinion, if the *Gentiles did that, then they (the *Gentiles) could join the *church. By means of Peter’s *vision, God told the *Jews to accept *Gentiles without *circumcision. *Salvation was for *Gentiles too, even if they had not received *circumcision.

v11 ‘Suddenly three men from Caesarea arrived. They stood in front of the house where I was staying. v12 The *Holy Spirit told me to go with them. The Spirit told me not to hesitate. And the Spirit told me not to worry. These 6 *believers from Joppa also went with me. We went into Cornelius’s house. v13 He told us that he had seen an *angel appear in his house.

The *angel had said, “Send someone to Joppa to fetch Simon. He is the Simon who is also called Peter. v14 He will bring a message to you. He will tell you how you and everyone in your house can receive *salvation.” v15 When I began to speak, the *Holy Spirit came down onto them. The Spirit had come down onto us similarly before, in the beginning. It was like that. v16 Then I remembered what the *Lord had said. He had said, “John *baptised with water.

But you will receive *baptism in the *Holy Spirit.” v17 God gave to these *Gentiles the same gift that he gave to us. We received this same gift when we believed in the *Lord Jesus! So, I could not oppose God!’

v18 The *Jews heard Peter say that. They did not argue any more. They *praised God. They said, ‘God has given to the *Gentiles the chance to *repent! They can repent so that they can have life!’

Verses 11-12 The *Greek word for ‘hesitate’ here is the same as in Acts 10:20. But the grammar is different. This changes the meaning. Here, it means that Peter must not make distinctions between *Jews and *Gentiles.

Peter said, ‘These 6 *believers from Joppa also went with me’ (verse 12). So, there were 7 men in total. The *Jews knew both *Egyptian law and *Roman law. In *Egyptian law, when people wanted to prove something important, they brought 7 witnesses. This proved that the thing was true. When the *Romans wrote something important, they put 7 special marks on the paper. This showed that it was true. So, Peter did not argue with the *Jewish *believers. He told them the facts. They knew that he was speaking the truth. They knew that because there were 7 witnesses. That was how he proved it.

Verses 13-14 The *angel used the word ‘*salvation’. This was important. Cornelius was a good man. But this did not mean that he had received *salvation. He received *salvation after he heard the *gospel. He believed in Jesus and he trusted in him. That is how he received *salvation. This is the only way in which people can receive *salvation. People do not receive *salvation because they do good things. They must *repent. They must decide that they do not want to *sin any longer. They must accept Jesus as their *Lord and *Saviour.

Verses 15-17 This part of Peter’s report caused the most excitement. The *Holy Spirit had come down onto the *Gentiles! Peter remembered what Jesus had promised (verse 16). Jesus had made that promise before he returned to heaven (Acts 1:5). Now Peter understood that the promise was for *Gentiles too. God gave the *Holy Spirit to them when they believed in the *Lord Jesus. Peter could not argue with God!

Verse 18 Peter convinced the *Jewish *believers that God had given the *Holy Spirit to the *Gentiles. They could not argue with God either! Instead, they *praised God. The first *Gentile *church, 11:19-30 v19 When Stephen died, there was *persecution. Some *believers went away. They went everywhere. Some went as far as Phoenicia, *Cyprus and Antioch. They told the message to the *Jews only. v20 But other *believers from *Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch. They began to speak to the *Greeks also.

They told the good news about the *Lord Jesus to the *Greeks. v21 The *Lord’s power was with the *believers. Many people believed the good news and those people decided to trust the *Lord. v22 The Christians in *Jerusalem heard about this. They sent Barnabas to Antioch. v23 Barnabas saw that God had done good things for the people. He was happy about that. He encouraged them all to stay completely loyal to the *Lord. v24 Barnabas was a good man. He was full of the *Holy Spirit and he had much *faith.

Many people decided to trust the *Lord.

v25 Barnabas went to Tarsus. He went to search for Saul. v26 And when he had found Saul, he brought Saul to Antioch. Saul and Barnabas met with the *church there for a whole year. And they taught many people. At Antioch, the *believers were called *Christians for the first time.

v27 During this time, some *prophets went from *Jerusalem to Antioch. v28 One *prophet was called Agabus. He stood up. And he said that there would be a very bad *famine. It would happen all over the world. He knew this by means of the Spirit’s power. (The *famine happened when Claudius was the *Emperor.) v29 So, the *disciples decided to send help to their brothers (other Christians) in *Judea. Each *disciple would send whatever he was able to send. v30 So, they did this and they gave the money to Barnabas and Saul. Barnabas and Saul took it to the *church’s leaders in *Jerusalem.

Verses 19-21 Antioch was in Syria. It was in the north. It was an important city for trade. People from many different countries did business there together. Many *Gentiles went to *Jewish *synagogues there. Some such *Gentiles received *circumcision. But some such *Gentiles did not receive *circumcision. They were ‘*God-fearers’ like Cornelius. The differences between *Jews and *Gentiles mattered a lot in *Jerusalem. But in Antioch, they did not matter as much. So, there, some *Jews who spoke *Greek *preached about Jesus to *Greek *Gentiles also. This probably happened when they met together in the *synagogues. Many *Gentiles followed the new *faith.

Verses 22-24 The Christians in *Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch. They wanted to know what was happening. This does not mean that they were angry. Barnabas was a *Jew who spoke *Greek. His name meant ‘someone who encourages’. The *church in Antioch was a new one. Probably, the Christians in *Jerusalem wanted to be friendly to those new Christians. So, that was why they sent Barnabas there.

‘Barnabas saw that God had done good things for the people’ (verse 23). Barnabas saw proof that God had done this. Perhaps they had changed the way that they lived. Many people in Antioch did bad things. Perhaps the new *believers did not do those bad things any longer now. Maybe they surprised people in that way. Perhaps they were using the gifts from the *Holy Spirit, like *prophecy.

Barnabas was pleased. He did not need to teach those people who had already become *believers. But he told them that they must continue to follow Jesus. Nothing must stop them. It seems that Barnabas became a leader in the *church at Antioch. He was a good man. This was because he was full of the *Holy Spirit and *faith. When a person is like this, God works by means of him or her. God worked by means of Barnabas. Because of Barnabas, ‘many people decided to trust the *Lord’ (verse 24).

Verses 25-26 Barnabas had done great things. However, he knew when to ask for help. Now, because there were many more new *believers, Barnabas needed someone to help him. It did not worry him that he would be sharing his work. He considered that the *church was most important. Leaders of *churches today should try to be like him.

Barnabas remembered Saul. Saul was the right person for this work with the *Gentiles (Acts 9:15, 27). Saul was in Tarsus. The *believers in *Jerusalem had sent him there for safety (Acts 9:28-30). That was about 7 or 8 years before. Now Barnabas fetched him. Together, they taught the many new *believers in Antioch.

The *pagans in Antioch were famous because they used words in clever ways. So, they made up a name for the *believers. They called the *believers ‘*Christians’. (The *Greek word is ‘Christianoi’.) The *pagans probably meant this to be a joke. It was probably because the *believers were always talking about *Christ. Certainly, the *believers did not call themselves ‘*Christians’. But this name showed that people considered the new *faith as different from *Judaism.

Verses 27-30 Claudius was the *Emperor from *AD 41-54. During this time, there were 5 *famines in the *Roman *empire. They happened in different parts of it. Actually, 5 writers recorded that they happened. One was the *Jewish writer Josephus (*AD 37-100). He wrote about a *famine in *Judea. It happened between *AD 44 and 48. But the *believers in Antioch knew that it would happen. They knew because Agabus had told them about it. So, they could prepare for it. They had not met the *believers in *Judea. But the *believers in Antioch knew that both the groups belonged to God’s family now. So, they helped the *believers in Judea.

*Christians today have sisters and brothers all over the world. Everyone who obeys Jesus is our brother or sister. That is why we must help each other. Although we may never meet some Christians on earth, they are our brothers or sisters.

So, Barnabas and Saul went back to *Jerusalem. They took money to help the *believers there.

© 1997-2005, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

April 2005

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var w0 = new Array;w0[0]=’<b%3Echurch</b%3E ~ a group of Christians that meet together. (A church is not just the building that they meet in.) It can also mean all the Christians in the world.