Acts 9:26-31
26When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.
After making his escape from Damascus, Saul went to Jerusalem. But he wasn’t welcomed with open arms. The church distrusted him, and his former colleagues in the Sanhedrin were not happy with him either. The fear on the part of the believers seems understandable until you remember that Saul had been a Christian for 3 years at that point. Having been away in Arabia, he would not have persecuted anyone for that whole time. But many of the believers in Jerusalem must have had family members who had been arrested, beaten, or even killed by Saul of Tarsus. It would be hard to get over something like that. If a member of my family had been murdered, and the murderer found Jesus in prison, would I believe his conversion was sincere? I honestly don’t know.
But one person stood up for Saul; Barnabas. We first met Barnabas in 4:36-37, when he is named as one who sold property and laid the proceeds at the apostles’ feet to distribute to the poor. Barnabas is one of the key figures in the Book of Acts. In 11:24, Luke calls him “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.” Barnabas also took John Mark under his wing after the young man had deserted them in Pamphylia (15:36-41). Where would the early church have been if not for Barnabas and his generous spirit? Barnabas went on to accompany Paul on his journeys later, and was invaluable in spreading the gospel. The church only needs a few Peters and Pauls, but every church can use as many people like Barnabas as we can get.
28So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
In Galatians 1:18, Paul says that he stayed with Peter for fifteen days on this trip to Jerusalem. Imagine the conversations they must have had! I imagine that some of the conflict between Peter and Paul later on must have started here. Paul did not submit to the authority of the apostles, he considered himself one of them (1 Corinthians 1:1, 9:1). Unlike most early believers, he did not receive the gospel from the apostles. He got it from Jesus himself, when Jesus appeared to him. It must have been disconcerting to Peter and the rest of the apostles to have a “free agent” out there claiming equal authority to theirs. But that didn’t happen until later. I just find it interesting that, knowing what came later in their relationship, for his first trip to Jerusalem as a Christian, Saul stayed with Peter for 2 weeks. Apparently he was not welcome with his family in Jerusalem, if he had some. He must have had some place that he stayed when he was there for festivals and meetings of the council. But now he was persona non grata. But Barnabas had vouched for him, and Peter welcomed him into his home.
Saul fearlessly preached the gospel while he was in Jerusalem, but his destiny was not to stay there. After all he done and who he had been in that city, Jerusalem was not the place God wanted him to be. He had too much baggage there. Saul’s purpose was to become the apostle Paul, and to spread the gospel to the Gentiles. The church in Jerusalem had spread to Judea and Samaria, But through Paul’s missionary journeys, it would reach throughout the Roman Empire. After being sent back to Tarsus, it would be 12 years before Saul would be prominent in ministry again, and Barnabas would be at his side when that time came (11:25-26).
31Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.
As he does throughout the Book of Acts, Luke pauses from the narrative to give us a status report on how the church was doing. I’ve seen commentary on this verse which suggests that Luke may have placed this statement here to show a connection between Saul’s leaving Jerusalem and the church enjoying a time of peace. In other words, Luke may be saying that the church had peace because Saul left. Certainly Saul was a magnet for controversy and persecution, so that may well be. Saul was sent to Tarsus for his own safety, but his departure was the best thing for him and for the church.
Verse 31 is the first time that the church in Galilee is mentioned. We don’t know anything about those churches, how they started, or who started them. But it seems like a natural place for some of the apostles to go, since they all were Galileans. Luke tells us four things about the church in Judea, Galilee and Samaria: It was strengthened; it was encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, and they lived in the fear of the Lord. These are all things we would want for our churches today. For the early church, it’s significant to me that they lived in the fear of the Lord. The early church had many things to fear; persecution, inprisonment, scourging, and martyrdom. But they didn’t live in fear of those things. They lived in the fear of the Lord.