“The City of Antioch” from the lesson series Grab Your Passport, April 2021
our Scripture
Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the Word of the Lord, and see how they are (Acts 15:36 ESV).
| Acts 15:36-41 ESV |
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| Acts 15:36-41 NASB |
Acts 15:36-41 NIV |
Acts 15:36-41 NLT |
Acts 15:36-41 MESSAGE |
Other Scriptural References:
Acts 16:1-40
Acts 17:1-34
Acts 18:1-22
First century Christians were drawn to cities. The city of Jerusalem for its Old Testament heritage and for the chance to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Tradition has it that many would meet annually in the upper room to celebrate the “Last Supper.” Antioch became one of the prominent cities outside of Judea to be touched by the message of the Gospel.
Jerusalem was a center for the history and heritage of the church. But there is no question that Antioch was the Faith’s center – for encouragement, teaching, leadership and outreach. In fact, churches today might consider Antioch as a model for what the church ought to do and be in the culture around them.
Antioch was the capital of Syria during both the Seleucid reign and the Roman imperial rule. Antioch today is modern Antakya on the border of Turkey and Syria. The ancient city was located on the east side of the Orontes River. In some places of the city, the river was completely surrounding the city.
The location of Antioch was the main reason for its status in the world. The city was located at the intersection of the major trade routes connecting Egypt, Asia Minor, Greece, Italy, Mesopotamia, Armenia and India.
It was a significant spot for the spread of the Christian faith. Antioch allowed a strong presence of Judaism to co-exist with the mythologies of the Greco-Roman world, coupled with the religions of Africa and Asia. In addition, education and the arts were held in high esteem.
Like most cities today, Antioch was racially diverse and culturally pluralistic. As a result, when the believers were scattered from Judea and arrived there (Acts 11:19-20), they had to wrestle with how to make the gospel meaningful for the diverse groups. There appear to be at least four factors that helped account for their success.
1) They wanted to create an ethnic union within the church rather than adhere to the world’s answer of ethnic division. To maintain “peace” the political leader of Antioch “walled” off the four dominant ethnic groups of its population – Greek, Syrian, African and Hebrew. Today’s political unrest in the Middle East has deep roots. But the gospel breaks down walls of separation and hostility (Eph 2:14-22) and brings diverse peoples together in Christ.
2) They soon had multi-ethnic leadership. The church developed a strong leadership base, including pastors, teachers and evangelists who reflected the composition of the community. Notice the cross-section of the city represented by the leadership team in Acts 13:
- Barnabas, a Hellenist from Cyprus raised in a priestly family (Acts 4:36, 11:22-33)
- Simeon (Niger), an African
- Lucius of Cyrene, also of African descent
- Manaen, childhood companion of Herod Antipas (Mark 6:17-28)
- Saul (Paul), a Hellenistic Jew from Tarsus with rabbinical training and Roman citizenship (note how Barnabas intentionally recruited this young, untried leader (Acts 11:25-26)
3) They sent out ministry teams. Paul used Antioch as his base of operations for his three journeys (Acts 13:1-3; 15:36-41; and 18:22-23). Moreover, Antioch served as a crossroads for travelers from the Tigris and Euphrates River valleys to the east, Asia Minor to the north, and Egypt to the south.
4) They joined together to accomplish projects of compassion. A famine in Judea became an opportunity for the Christians at Antioch to serve their Jewish brothers in Judea (Acts 11:27-30).
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