CHRISTIAN ETYMOLOGY

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

Acts 11:22-26

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Etymology is defined as the “the origin of a word” and in regard to our message today, the question becomes:

“What is the etymology of the word “Christian”?

When you look up the textbook definition of the word “Christian”, you find this:

“A person who has received Christian baptism or is a believer in Christianity.”

In other words, a person who has placed their faith in Jesus and made that faith public through the act of baptism.

Now, you may think that the origin of the word “Christian” goes back to the very first person who made a commitment to follow Christ but if you did, you would be wrong because the scriptures don’t formally introduce the word “Christian” until we near the end of Acts, chapter 11. Look again at these verses again here:

News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

What news reached Jerusalem?

We saw in yesterday’s message how “men from Cyprus and Cyrene” had gone “to Antioch” where they “began to speak to Greeks”, “telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus”. While this was going on, the scriptures tell us that “the Lord’s hand was with them” leading to “a great number of people” turning to the Lord and believing.

Word of this happening is what spread to Jerusalem and as we see in our passage for today, the apostle Barnabas was dispatched to Antioch to see what had happened first-hand. After his arrival, Barnabas saw for himself how “the grace of God” had moved through the lives of new believers there and he “encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts”. The added support and reinforcement of Barnabas, who we read was “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith”, led to “a great number of people” being “brought to the Lord”.

We sense the real excitement Barnabas had in regard to what happened in Antioch because he departed the city and went off to Tarsus to find Saul. We see where his intent was to return to Antioch with Saul in tow and that’s exactly how things played out. Barnabas and Saul return to Antioch where they meet with the church and teach a great number of people for the next whole year.

Indeed, in regard to the church going outside of Israel, Antioch was thriving and so it’s little surprise that the believers there were the first to be called Christians with the emphasis obviously on Christ, the root word from which the term was built upon.

Today, Jesus followers continue to carry His identity forward and bear the label of Christian as an honor and a privilege. Perhaps there is no greater responsibility one can have in life than to live in a way that shows the world that they are Christ-like in every way, not only bringing honor to our Savior but remembering the continuing legacy of those earliest Christians, the ones where the title originated.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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