Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. Acts 15:12
When Peter finished speaking, Barnabas and Paul spoke. Don’t miss that Paul and Barnabas deferred to Peter, and that Luke placed Barnabas’ name before Paul’s. At this point, Peter seems clearly to have had a more prominent position ahead of Paul, and Paul was perfectly OK with that.
What did Barnabas and Paul say? They declared the miraculous works of God on their first, just-completed missionary journey. “Look at what God did among the Gentiles!” they no doubt said. God did perform physical miracles (healing the man who had never been able to walk was certainly a miracle), but the larger number of miracles, and those of the greatest spiritual value were the positive response to the preaching of the gospel and the establishment of churches.
Praying, asking God for physical healing and deliverance from temporal troubles is good. And sometimes God is pleased to deliver. But the greatest miracles of all are always God raising those who are dead in sin to new and everlasting life through faith in Jesus. May we always recognize these as the greatest miracles for which we pray and after which we seek!
And let us not miss that in the context of the Jerusalem Council, God does His miracles—including saving people, among Jews and Gentiles alike. So let us never erect walls between people groups. There are only two: those who are converted and those who are not.