Chapter 11

Acts 11:1. Now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. Behold the dispensation of God. He did not allow the word to be completed, nor baptism to come about at Peter’s command; but since he saw that their mind was wonderful, and the beginning of teaching had already been made, and they believed that baptism is altogether the remission of sins, then the Spirit came upon them. And they also spoke in tongues, which astonished those who had gathered together—God by this providentially preparing a great defense for Peter. Can the water hinder these from being baptized? And what need was there of water, once the Holy Spirit had fallen upon them? I will therefore state it, uncovering for us the hidden mystery. Divine symbols are accomplished in baptism: burial and death, and resurrection and life. As it is easy for us to be baptized and to rise up again, so it is easy for God to bury the old man and to bring forth the new. And this comes to pass so that you may learn that all things there are fulfilled by the power of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; and that what is said is no mere conjecture, listen to Paul saying, ‘We were buried with him through baptism into death’; and again, ‘Our old man was crucified with him’; and again, ‘We have become planted together in the likeness of his death.’

Acts 11:2–10. And when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, saying, ‘You went in to men who were uncircumcised and ate with them.’ But Peter began and explained the matter to them in order, saying: ‘I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision: a certain vessel descending, like a great sheet let down by four corners from heaven, and it came as far as me. Looking intently into it, I observed and saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild beasts, the creeping things, and the birds of heaven. And I heard a voice saying to me, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat.” But I said, “By no means, Lord, for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” But the voice answered me a second time from heaven, “What God has cleansed, you must not call common.” This happened three times, and again everything was drawn up into heaven.’ You see the zeal they had for the law. They did not defer to Peter’s dignity, nor to the signs that had occurred, nor to how great an achievement it was that the word had been received; but they contended over those small matters. It was those of the circumcision who contended, not the apostles—far from it. They do not say, ‘Why did you preach?’ but, ‘Why did you eat?’ Peter, however, did not take his stand on that trivial point, but on the great one: ‘If they received the Spirit,’ he says, ‘how was it possible not to impart this to them?’ Through his defense he shows that he himself was in no way the cause, but that God was the cause everywhere, upon whom he cast everything. ‘For he,’ he says, ‘showed the vessel; I objected. And again he spoke; and not even then did I obey. The Spirit commanded me to go; having gone, I did not rush, nor did I baptize at once; but again God accomplished everything. And I heard also a voice saying to me.’ It would have been enough even of itself, to behold the sheet, to persuade him; yet a voice was added as well: ‘Rise, Peter, kill and eat. But I said, By no means, Lord.’ You see, he says, that I did my part. And this is his defense against what those men said, that ‘You went in and ate with them.’ He defends himself, and does not think fit to invoke the dignity of a teacher; for the more gently he speaks, the more he soothes them. […]

Acts 11:11–18. And behold, at that very moment three men stood at the house in which I was, sent from Caesarea to me. And the Spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing. These six brethren also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying to him, ‘Send men to Joppa and call for Simon who is surnamed Peter, who will speak words to you by which you and all your household will be saved.’ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave them the same gift as he gave to us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, they fell silent and glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.’ ‘These six brethren also went with me.’ Nothing is more humble than when he brings forward the testimony of the brethren. He does not mention what the angel said to Cornelius, ‘Your prayers and your alms’; nor does he recount the man’s uprightness; nor does he say that it was because the Spirit sent him, because God commanded, calling him from there through the angel; but he relies on the latter point, and it was in itself an indisputable proof. He is not content with what has been said, but also recalls the word of the Lord, ‘You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ‘Nothing newer has happened,’ he says, ‘but only what he foretold.’ But, one might say, it was not necessary to baptize—yet the baptism was completed. And he does not say, ‘I commanded them to be baptized,’ but shows that he himself did nothing. ‘What we have received,’ he says, ‘they too received.’ ‘If then God gave them the same gift as he gave to us’—in order to stop their mouths, he added, ‘the same gift.’ ‘He does not allow them,’ he says, ‘to have less, if to those who believed he gave the equal gift.’ And he does not say, ‘as to you,’ but, ‘as to us.’ Why do you take it amiss when we call them partakers? ‘And who was I, that I could withstand God?’ Against his accusers he defends himself very pointedly and weightily: ‘I could not,’ he says, ‘prevent this.’ By these words they were humbled and fell silent. You see that everything came about through Peter’s address to the people, when he had well reported what had happened? From this point the door was thereafter opened to the Gentiles.

Acts 11:19–26. Now those who were scattered by the affliction that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except only the Jews. But some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, on entering Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report concerning them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced, and exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with purpose of heart; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a considerable crowd was added to the Lord. Then Barnabas went out to Tarsus to seek Saul, and when he found him he brought him to Antioch. And it came about that for a whole year they were gathered together in the church and taught a considerable crowd. And that the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. The persecution proved no small achievement; for to those who love God all things work together for good. For when Stephen was killed, when Paul was twice in danger, when the apostles were scourged, then the Gentiles were received—which Paul also says: ‘It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you; but since you thrust it away and judge yourselves unworthy, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.’ ‘They spoke to the Hellenists.’ He calls them Hellenists, perhaps because they did not know Hebrew, so they called them Greeks. The phrase ‘The hand of the Lord was with them’ indicates that they were working signs. You see why even now the necessity of signs arose? That they might believe. ‘And they sent Barnabas out to go as far as Antioch.’ Why do they not write to Paul, but send Barnabas? They did not yet know the man’s virtue. ‘For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.’ It is not one and the same thing that God is good and that a man is good. For God is good in essence, being the principle and fountain of all good things; but the man is good not in essence, but by the acquisition of virtue. ‘Then Barnabas went out to Tarsus to seek Saul.’ The man was very kind, and frank, and forgiving. He sought, it says, the athlete, the commander. ‘And it came about that for a whole year they were gathered together in the church and taught a considerable crowd.’ No small praise for the city, that before all the others it enjoyed his mouth for so long a time. ‘That the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.’ This too was Paul’s achievement, to raise it to such a height, the name itself being like a sign. Where three thousand believed, where five thousand, where so great a multitude, nothing of this kind occurred; rather, men heard of those ‘of the Way’; but here for the first time they were deemed worthy of such a name. And it is to be noted that for this reason especially Antioch was deemed worthy of a ruling throne, since there first they were called Christians.

Acts 11:27–30. Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them, named Agabus, stood up and signified through the Spirit that a great famine was about to come over all the world, which also happened under Claudius Caesar. And the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea; which also they did, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. ‘Prophets.’ And how does Christ say that ‘the law and the prophets were until John’? He speaks of those prophets who proclaimed his coming beforehand. ‘He signified through the Spirit.’ Lest they should think that the famine occurred because Christianity had entered, the Holy Spirit foretells it; for Christ too foretold it. Not that it had to happen from the beginning by some decree fixed from of old, but because of the evils done to the holy apostles; and as these persisted, a great famine comes about, indicating to the Jews the evils that were to come. ‘And the disciples, each according to his ability.’ See, for them even the famine becomes a cause of salvation, an occasion for almsgiving. And see them at once believing and at once bearing fruit—not only to those near, but also to those far off. ‘Sending it to the elders.’ From this it appears that the apostles also had the dignity of elders; but they also held the rank of deacons and bishops.