In the Acts of the Apostles St. Luke describes the gradual rippling out of the Jesus movement from Jerusalem. That the non-Jews, the Gentiles, were attracted to the message was a source of amazement to the first believers. They were stretched out of their messianic expectations being limited to Israel to seeing that God intended the Good News for the whole world. The hinge of this realization occurred in Antioch, a city in Syria with both a large Jewish and Gentile population. The first believers who had fled persecution in Jerusalem came to Antioch and found their message was received by both Jews and non-Jews. That caused them to understand that the Jesus movement was not simply a Jewish sect like others, for example the Pharisees. Rather, Jesus had created something new. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians, the first major turning point in the history of the Church.
MAY132025
By Church Staff
