Acts 11:21Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

“And,” the writer says, “the hand of the Lord was with them,” that is, they performed signs. Do you see why signs were needed even then? So that they might believe.

The expression “the hand of the Lord was with them” shows that they performed miracles. Do you see why miracles were needed even then? So that they might believe.

And God blessed their labors and illumined the hearts of the listening Gentiles. "The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord."

With the Lord there is no partiality. When a good Gentile turns to Christ, he is not constrained or compelled by God first to accept Judaism, as though with circumcision unchanged.

Rather, he becomes a member of Christ's Church directly, without Jewish forms.

It is true that the Jews, even those converted to Christianity, looked askance at such converts from paganism and regarded their conversion with distrust. The Jews were not unwilling to consider them incomplete Christians.

Of the aforementioned disciples of Christ, some, Cypriots and Cyrenians by birth, went to Antioch and taught the Hellenes there. These were people who by race and confession were Jews, but by place of residence and language were Hellenes.

To these Hellenes they preached the Lord, that is, Jesus. They proclaimed and preached to them all things concerning Him.

"And," says the Apostle, "the hand of the Lord was with them." The divine Luke calls miracles the hand of the Lord not only in this place, but also elsewhere.

He does so when he speaks in the person of the Apostles: "by stretching out Your hand to heal" (Acts 4:30). Likewise, he speaks in Paul's person: "And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind" (Acts 13:11).

Thus these holy men performed miracles in Antioch, confirming the evangelical word preached by them. For this reason they converted a great multitude of the people living there to the faith of Christ.

Preaching in certain coastal cities, such as Azotus, Joppa, and Caesarea, could serve to spread the Gospel even into distant lands. Yet even now some were going beyond the borders of Palestine: to the island of Crete, to Phoenicia, to Syria, specifically to Damascus and Antioch.

At first they preached only to the Jews. These newly founded churches from the Jews entered into relations with Jerusalem, the mother of the churches. Though diminished in the number of her own members, she now had incomparably more churches dependent upon her.

While the events described by the historian in Acts 8:1-11 and 18 were taking place, the beneficial consequences for the spread of the Gospel continued to grow and multiply. These consequences came from the persecution that began with the killing of the protomartyr Stephen.

The Christians scattered by this persecution continued the path of preaching on which they had set out from the first steps of their departure from Jerusalem (Acts 8:4). Among other places, they reached Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria.

Yet, as they passed through cities populated for the most part by Gentiles, they at first addressed the word of the Gospel only to the Jews living among them.

When the persecution against Christians began in Jerusalem, some of the fleeing Christians also took refuge in Antioch. Certain Hellenists did not fail to address the preaching of the Gospel not only to Jews, but also to the mixed population of Antioch in general.

They preached to the Gentiles, specifically to Greeks, in whose language they could express themselves freely. To their great joy, the preaching was accompanied by considerable success: "a great number believed and turned to the Lord."

It is very possible that these Greeks were in the same state of soul as Cornelius. They thirsted for religious truth, were proselytes of the gate, and gladly heeded the Gospel, which could heal their spiritual wounds.

The historian of Acts notes that the hand of the Lord was with them, that is, with these preachers of the Gospel to the Gentiles of Antioch. A special spiritual power was with them, and their preaching was especially successful.

As a result, a great number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord. Thus the first large community of Christians from among the Gentiles was formed here. It was destined to have great significance in the history of the first Christian Church.

The increase in the number of believers in Antioch prompted the Apostles to send the Apostle Barnabas there. He was to strengthen them in the faith and arrange whatever was possible for the newly forming body of the young Church of Antioch.

The already known goodness of Barnabas (see Acts 4:36-37) was shown here first of all in his sympathy with the local preachers of the faith. It was also shown in his necessary help to the newly converted, by the word of instruction and by the work of guidance.

This further multiplied the number of believers there. Thus God's guidance, the grace of the Holy Spirit, and the special gifts of the Spirit manifested through Barnabas visibly set this Church firmly and unshakably upon the rocks of faith.