It must have been a huge relief and encouragement for the people of Antioch to read this letter! The Jews had countless rules and regulations that had to be kept, so the Jewish believers would have had this huge burden lifted from them. The new Gentile believers would have seen these few requirements as understandable in the light of the many restrictions and rituals normally prevalent in pagan religions.
The role of Judas and Silas in the church at Antioch is interesting. They were recognised as prophets, and their preaching or teaching brought encouragement to the Church. So often in our day and age preaching has become either exhortations to action – evangelism, prayer, bible study, giving, etc, - and moral guidance for living – don’t do this, avoid that, and so on. This type of preaching ultimately puts burdens on people. It is the burden of ‘doing things for God and the Church’, of being at meetings, of ‘reaching out to your neighbours’ and similar urgings that actually press in on people. Listeners are inclined to feel guilty because they cannot match these requirements, and are thus discouraged rather than encouraged. This pressure to conform to a hyperactive form of Christian faith serves sometimes to drive people away from Churches that persist with this kind of preaching.
I have recently read a little book entitled ‘So you don’t want to go to Church anymore.’ Written in the form of a novel by two Pastors it gently draws its readers to see that it is not ‘Church’ itself that is off-putting, but rather a particular style of Church that is discouraging. When a Church puts burdens on people, or has particular expectations of them, its activities may flourish for a while, but the pattern of life that emerges becomes oppressive and destructive of the real freedom we can experience in following Jesus.

For reflection: Preaching and teaching should encourage faith, build joy and release people into freedom through following Jesus.