And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, (22) strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”  (23) So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended  them to the Lord in whom they had believed. (24) And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.  (25) Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went  to Attalia.  (26) From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed. (27) Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

The Acts of the Apostles was written by Luke as a history of the early church. This history was in many cases a first hand report of the spread of the gospel in the first days from Jerusalem to Rome. To me in particular this book gives the believer facts of history on which to base his/her belief in Christ Jesus.  If the historical resurrection is not true our belief is futile.  We are assured though Acts that this resurrection of Christ is true – and something sure was going on in that time of incredible and extraordinary growth of the church.

Our verses take up when Paul and Barnabas decided to close their first missionary journey. They had begun this journey in Antioch and were to return there – but instead of returning directly to Antioch – a straight shot from Derbe where they last preached – Paul and Barnabas retraced their steps which showed remarkable faith and courage as they had been reviled, scorned, thrown out from these cities and Paul had even been stoned at Lystra and dragged from that city by men who thought he was dead. When the Christian disciples gathered around his body, he”rose up and went into the city.  And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe ” – a miraculous recovery indeed.

Our verses use the word disciples three times emphasizing the strong faith of the newly converted. This return journey to Antioch was pastoral on Pauls part and records his practice to establish a church and to always keep in touch with them and provide counseling and encouragement.  His goal was to provide for disciples and to strengthen their souls.

Our verses finally tell us that God is the hero of this story.  When Paul and Barnabas reach Antioch the Scripture tell us that “they reported all that God had done with them” – not all that they had done.  And that God “opened the door of faith to the Gentiles”.  Not only was this explosion of faith unprecedented, the inclusion of the Gentiles was revolutionary – and ultimately the inclusion of the Gentiles in Gods plan of salvation was what the first missionary trip of Paul was all about.  Acts of the Apostles is so understated and each word so nuanced that we sometimes miss the wild excitement of those times. I’m not sure if there ever was or will be again such an overt and miraculous time in the history of mankind.