Acts 12:24-25 ESV

24 But the word of God increased and multiplied.
25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.


GOSPEL GROWTH

When Herod, the murderer died, the church prospered. His horrible death of being eaten by worms must had initiated fear among the people for Herod’s plight for blaspheming God.

Resultingly, the word of God increased and multiplied. For the believers, Jesus is "The Word," and in the same sense, so is the scriptures, although at this point in time it was not completed yet. Hence, "word" means the idea, doctrine, and message of Jesus. It is the gospel message that Jesus is God and that He was born into a human form, crucified for our sins, and rose again on the third day for our salvation.

‘Increased’ meant the word spread geographically or grew in the hearts of each believer as they came to know God better and allowed the Holy Spirit to work in them. We term this as "sanctification”, the lifelong journey of growing in spiritual maturity.

While "multiplied" referred to the spread of something to others, rather than an internal growth. That is, the understanding of salvation through Jesus grew in His followers and spread to other people groups.

Based on historical account, Barnabas and Paul didn't go to Jerusalem until King Agrippa I was dead. Barnabas and Saul went back from Jerusalem with John Mark, Barnabas’ cousin. John Mark lived in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12) They returned from Jerusalem to Antioch after they ‘completed their ministry’, that was probably, delivering the relief to the brethren affected by the famine.

Paul later expressed the dynamics of gospel ministry progress. He wrote to the church at Corinth, “as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”[1 Cor 3:6b,7] Let’s function faithfully where God has placed us. Each of us has different gifts in the gospel ministry, as was Paul, Apollos, Barnabas and John Mark. Paul was not to compete but to compliment Apollos work. Apollos has a church to water because Paul planted it. Paul should have been dismayed if the church has not grown, even dying, because no one is watering them like Apollos after him. Like both of them, we must play our distinct roles faithfully. And, God gave the increase.

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