Paul and Barnabas Travel to the Jerusalem Council

Acts 15

Paul’s first three missionary journeys originated from Antioch, one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire by Paul’s time. Founded by Seleucus I Nicator, it first served as the capital of the Seleucid Empire, and by the time of Paul it boasted a significant Jewish population. Decades earlier King Herod the Great of Judea had funded the building of a marble colonnaded street there that was nearly two miles (3.2 km) long. As persecuted followers of Jesus fled Judea, some of them traveled as far as Antioch. There they led many Jews and even Gentiles to become believers, and it was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus were first called “Christians” (Acts 11:19-26). Antioch was also the starting point for Paul’s first three missionary journeys (Acts 13:1-3; 15:36-41; 18:22-23). After Paul’s first missionary journey, some people came to Antioch from Judea and began to teach that all believers–Jews and Gentiles–must be circumcised and follow the laws of Moses (Acts 15:1). But Paul and Barnabas argued against them. So the church in Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas and other leaders to Jerusalem to discuss this issue with the apostles and elders there. As they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria on their way to Jerusalem, they told others (presumably Jewish believers) about the conversion of many Gentiles to the faith, and all the believers rejoiced with them. After Paul and the other leaders arrived in Jerusalem and were warmly received by the church there, their reports about the conversion of Gentiles led some believers from the sect of the Pharisees to insist that these new believers be circumcised and follow the laws of Moses. After much debate about the matter, the apostles and elders in Jerusalem decided that Gentile believers did not need to follow the laws of Moses except for a few critical requirements: that they abstain from sacrifices made to idols, from blood, from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. Then the Jerusalem church sent Paul and the other leaders back to Antioch with a letter stating this decision. After Paul and the others arrived in Antioch and delivered the letter, the church in Antioch rejoiced. Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch and continued to teach the believers there. Sometime after this Paul and a believer named Silas embarked on a second missionary journey to visit the churches that Paul had helped to found during his first missionary journey, and Barnabas took his relative John Mark to minister in his home region of Cyprus.