What is the meaning of Acts 14:26? From Attalia • Paul and Barnabas left the coastal port of Attalia, the end-point of their outward journey (Acts 14:25). • Their route reminds us that gospel work touches real cities with real people—just as Jesus “had to pass through Samaria” (John 4:4). • Like Jonah boarding ship at Joppa (Jonah 1:3) or the early church believers fleeing to Phoenicia and Cyprus (Acts 11:19), each movement serves God’s wider plan. They sailed to Antioch • Antioch in Syria was their sending church, about 300 miles north across the Mediterranean coast. • Acts 13:1-3 records how the Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul,” and the believers laid hands on them. • Returning to Antioch models accountability: missionaries come back, tell the story, and refresh among those who prayed for them—just as later Paul “went down to Antioch” after another journey (Acts 18:22-23). Where they had been commended • “Commended” pictures the congregation entrusting Paul and Barnabas into God’s care—much like the elders who later “commended them to the Lord” in Acts 15:40. • The same verb appears when the seven were appointed to serve tables: “They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them” (Acts 6:6), showing prayerful delegation. • The church doesn’t merely approve a plan; it commits people to God’s sovereign keeping (Psalm 37:5). To the grace of God • Grace is the divine enabling that empowers every mission. • Peter had proclaimed, “We believe it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus that we are saved” (Acts 15:11). • Paul later testified, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:10). • Their safe arrival proves God’s promise: “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9). For the work they had just completed • The “work” is the entire first missionary journey: preaching in Cyprus, Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe (Acts 13–14). • Luke immediately adds, “When they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done through them” (Acts 14:27), underlining that God—not human strategy—produced the fruit. • Finishing what God assigns echoes Jesus’ words, “I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do” (John 17:4) and Paul’s later testimony, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race” (2 Timothy 4:7). • Completed work also prepares for new assignments; soon Paul will embark on a second journey (Acts 15:36). summary Acts 14:26 captures a homecoming rich with meaning: missionaries retrace their steps to the very fellowship that sent them, proving God’s grace kept them and empowered every task. The verse celebrates accountable ministry, divine enablement, and the satisfaction of finishing the job God gave. Today it urges believers to send, support, and celebrate gospel workers, always trusting the same unfailing grace. |
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