Acts 13:13-43--Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia (Part 1 of 2--To the Jews First)

Acts 13:13-43
English Standard Version

Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia
13 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, 14 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” 16 So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. 17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. 19 And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23 Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. 24 Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. 27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

“‘You are my Son,
    today I have begotten you.’

34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,

“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

41 “‘Look, you scoffers,
    be astounded and perish;
for I am doing a work in your days,
    a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’”

​42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. 43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.

---

Paul and Barnabas sailed from Paphos in Cyprus to Perga in Pamphlyia.  Since the coastline of Turkey has changed a some over time, some of these cities that used to be coastal cites are no longer coastal cities, so I'm going to include a map from the ESV Study Bible maps of Paul's first and second missionary journeys that should help you follow along as we study through the book of Acts.​  If you'd like a link to all these Bible maps, you can find them at https://www.esv.org/resources/esv-global-study-bible/article-back-maps/.  This one is Map 13 of the set of 15 maps.

When they got to Perga, John Mark left to go back to Jerusalem.  I mention this as does Luke because it is going to come up again later in the book of Acts as it upset Paul that John Mark didn't finish the work that they set out to do.

Setting that aside for now, Paul and Barnabas will continue inland to Pisidian Antioch, not to be confused with the city of Syrian Antioch which sent them out.  Pisidian Antioch was a place with a sizeable enough Jewish community to have a synagogue where they could worship on the Sabbath day.  Remember that at this time the gospel has gone out almost exclusively to Jews and it is seen as a completion or fulfillment of the things of the Old Covenant (because it is everything the Old Covenant was pointing towards) and for the most part the Followers of the Way got along worshiping with the Jews who had not yet believed the gospel both in the Temple in Jerusalem and in the synagogues outside of Jerusalem, where the Scriptures were taught ever Sabbath.  At this point the Old Testament Scriptures were the only Scriptures either group had as there were no New Testament Gospels or Epistles yet.  I long for the day when all of God's people will once again worship together in spirit and in truth.

The members of that local congregation knew that Paul and Barnabas were visiting, and it seems like it was a tradition among the Jews to let itinerate Rabbis (like Jesus and Paul) to have a chance to speak and teach after the reading of the Scriptures--sometimes the honor of choosing the passage they would read was also given to them.  After motioning with his hand for them to sit down because they were going to be there a while (for he had a lot to say), Paul began to share the gospel with them starting with their history as a Jewish nation, starting with the the time of the Exodus.  The format of this message bears a lot of similarities to the message given by Stephen at the time of his stoning, for which Saul of Tarsus was present, holding the coats of those throwing the stones and giving his approval of what was going on that day.  Luke gives a summary of the story showing how Israel went from slavery in Egypt to the Exodus and the wandering in the wilderness to the time of the Conquest under Joshua and the Judges (when seven pagan nations were conquered), to the time of Samuel who served as prophet, priest and judge for the people.  It was at this point that the people asked for a king so that they could be like all the other nations (the nations that the LORD had given them victory over and called them to be separate from, for He alone was to be their King), but God gave the people a good king after His own heart in King David with whom God made an eternal covenant that one of David's sons would always be on the throne until the day when the Messiah, who would be called the Son of David, would come and His kingdom would be an everlasting kingdom.  Saul then jumps forward from this promise to day that Jesus of Nazareth was this descendant--The Son of David--and even John the Baptist, that Jews all over the world knew about, said that he himself was not the Messiah, but his job was to prepare the way for Him and point people to Him, just as John did when he said, "What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie." 

Paul has now whet their appetites, and Paul declares this is the same gospel message that was given to Abraham (we have seen this argued quite well by Paul in the book of Romans that we studied already).  Paul means by this that "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness."  Paul then tells of the specifics of how Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead according to the Scriptures, and just like Stephen he boldly accuses these men of participating in the murder that happened (for all the Jews from the whole world were gathered together in Jerusalem for Passover and they all shouted in one accord, "Crucify Him!  Crucify Him!" and not one of them did anything to try to stop the murder they saw taking place before them.

Paul knows they will want some Scripture to back up these claims that Jesus is the Messiah, so he goes to the Psalms and the Prophets to show that this was always God's plan of salvation for His people. and that God knew that this good news would be unbelievable to them even if someone were to explain it to them.

Their time together for their Sabbath meeting for this week had come to an end, but they desired to hear more of this and how Jesus had provided for them what the Law and the Prophets alone never could.  We'll see next time that even the Gentiles who normally would be kept out of such Sabbath services will also come and want to hear this good news that all the Jewish men of the city have been talking about all week.  Paul will have to take a slightly different approach with his Gentile audience who didn't have the benefit of exposure to the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, but he will find a way to show them that from the very beginning it has been God's plan to save a remnant of both Jews and Gentiles, and that will be most upsetting to the Jews that just heard the gospel preached to them in today's text as they thought themselves better and more privileged than the Gentiles and that at least the Gentiles would have to come to God through becoming a Jew first.  Paul will make it clear however that the Law never saved anyone and everyone, both Jew and Gentile, are saved the same way--by grace through faith in Christ alone.  There is no partiality with God in this matter and "whosever will may come."  We'll see many Jews and many Gentiles saved here in Pisidian Antioch, but we'll also see opposition and persecution arise that will follow Paul and Barnabas from town to town--so much so that in a couple towns from now, some of these same Jewish men who have followed them will stone him to death and God will have to bring him back to life.