Acts 11 explained: Outsiders Welcomed, a New Church

Peter faces criticism (vv. 1-3)

Word spread that non-Jews (Gentiles) had accepted the message about Jesus. Some Jewish believers, who held that circumcision and the Jewish law still marked God's people, objected that Peter had entered a non-Jewish home and eaten there, which Jewish purity customs avoided.

The vision retold (vv. 4-10)

Peter retells his vision from chapter 10, in which God told him to eat animals that Jewish food laws called unclean. He took it to mean God was removing the line that kept Jews and non-Jews apart, and the threefold repetition showed it was no misunderstanding.

God gave the same gift (vv. 11-18)

With six Jewish believers as witnesses, Peter saw the Holy Spirit (God's presence at work in people) come on the Roman officer Cornelius's household just as it had on Jesus's first followers, so turning them away would have meant opposing God. The critics fell silent and praised God, though the same question returns in Acts 15.

Good news in Antioch (vv. 19-21)

Believers who fled Jerusalem after Stephen was killed mostly spoke only to fellow Jews. But some from Cyprus and Cyrene in North Africa began telling non-Jews in Antioch, a major city in Syria, and many believed.

Barnabas and Saul teach (vv. 22-26)

Jerusalem sent Barnabas to look into it, and instead of questioning the newcomers he welcomed them and brought Saul (later called Paul) to help teach for a year. Here the followers were first called "Christians," meaning roughly "Christ's people," a name most likely given by outsiders.

Help for Judea (vv. 27-30)

A prophet named Agabus warned of a widespread famine, and ancient sources do record food shortages in several regions under the emperor Claudius (ruled AD 41 to 54). The new mixed church in Antioch sent aid to the believers in Judea, carried by Barnabas and Saul.

Key verse: Acts 11:18

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether Peter's vision ended the Jewish food laws for everyone, including Jewish believers, or mainly taught that non-Jewish people must not be treated as unclean or required to become Jewish.

Something to think about

When have you had to let go of a firm conviction because of what you actually saw happen, and what made that change possible?