Antioch in Syria
Acts
15:30-41
Hills near Antioch
Paul returned to Antioch to report that the council in Jerusalem agreed that gentile Christians did not need to be circumcised. Paul asked Barnabas to join him in visiting the cities where he had spoken the word before. Barnabas wanted to take along John Mark, but Paul refused, since John Mark had abandoned them during the previous journey. Therefore, Barnabas and Paul parted ways. Barnabas and John Mark returned to Cyprus, while Paul and Silas departed for Asia.
Context: Antioch was the congregation
that had been most instrumental in outreach to gentiles. The agreement
that gentiles did not need to be circumcised helped their effort. Although
Acts 15:30-31 suggests that Paul brought a letter indicating that gentile
Christians should keep some Jewish food laws, it is not clear that this
was the case. Acts 21:25 indicates that Paul learned of this letter only
later. Paul himself did not feel constrained to keep kosher. The
disagreement between Paul and Barnabas occurred because John Mark
previously left the missionary effort at Perga
for some unknown reason and Paul considered him unreliable. Barnabas
returned to Cyprus, perhaps because
that was where he was from (Acts 4:36).