The Response of the Apostles and the Church in Jerusalem (15:4-21).
‘And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and the apostles and the elders, and they rehearsed all things that God had done with them.'
Arriving in Jerusalem they were well received by ‘the Apostles and elders', and by the whole church at Jerusalem, and they had fellowship together, and Paul and Barnabas gave them full details of all that had happened on their missionary journeys. That all the Apostles were there is very doubtful. A number were presumably out obediently proclaiming the Good News in distant parts, and while one or two who were not too far off may have been called in to welcome the deputation from Antioch, it would probably not have been practicable for all to return. Nor must we see this as an official council. It was simply a consultation between two sister churches. Thus ‘the Apostles' here must mean those of them who were present, seen as representing the whole. Indeed there may only have been Peter and James the Lord's brother, for only they are mentioned. And perhaps we may add John (Galatians 2:9) who may well have been regularly ‘paired off' with Peter (Acts 3:1).