What does Acts 11:22 mean?
When Saul persecuted the church in Jerusalem, the Jesus-followers, especially those who weren't from Judea, fled and spread Jesus' story (Acts 8:1–4). Some, from the island of Cyprus and from Cyrene, Libya, went north to Syrian Antioch. Philip was a deacon who converted a travelling Ethiopian (Acts 8:26–40). Peter was an apostle who converted a good-sized group of Romans and still had to justify his actions to the church leaders in Jerusalem (Acts 10:1—11:18). The traveling lay-leaders see no reason why their Gentile friends shouldn't hear the gospel. It apparently doesn't occur to them that God would want to keep the Holy Spirit from indwelling Gentiles. They're exactly right.The text doesn't specify, but the informants were probably the "circumcision party" that gave Peter such a rough time after he shared the gospel with Cornelius' household (Acts 11:2–3). Antioch had a large Jewish population, many of whom had already accepted Jesus (Acts 11:19). Those of the "circumcision party"—also called "Judaizers"—might have been Pharisees before their conversion. They believe Gentiles must fully convert to Judaism, including circumcision, before they can be accepted into the church. Peter has already explained that the Holy Spirit came on the Gentiles of Cornelius' house through no effort of his (Acts 11:1–18). Later, the circumcision party will cause enough trouble for the Gentile Christians in Antioch that Paul and Barnabas will have to go to Jerusalem to ask the church leaders to settle the issue definitively. The leaders will agree with Paul in acknowledging that Gentiles do not have to become Jewish to follow Jesus (Acts 15:1–35).
When the church in Jerusalem hears of the Gentiles in Antioch, they send Barnabas. He was one of the first believers in Jerusalem and willingly sold some land to help support the church (Acts 4:36–37). It was he who was brave enough to meet with Saul, the persecutor of the church, to determine if he had really decided to follow Jesus (Acts 9:26–27). Besides his generous and caring heart, Barnabas was also uniquely qualified because he was from Cyprus; he probably knew some of the evangelists.
