Acts 13:13-52
In Pisidian Antioch
13From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. 14From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. 15After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue rulers sent word to them, saying, "Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement for the people, please speak."
16Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: "Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! 17The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt, with mighty power he led them out of that country, 18he endured their conduct for about forty years in the desert, 19he overthrew seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to his people as their inheritance. 20All this took about 450 years.
"After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. 21Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. 22After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'
23"From this man's descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised. 24Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. 25As John was completing his work, he said: 'Who do you think I am? I am not that one. No, but he is coming after me, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.'
26"Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. 27The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. 28Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30But God raised him from the dead, 31and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.
32"We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers 33he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:
" 'You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.' 34The fact that God raised him from the dead, never to decay, is stated in these words:
" 'I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.' 35So it is stated elsewhere:
" 'You will not let your Holy One see decay.'
36"For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. 37But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.
38"Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses. 40Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you:
41" 'Look, you scoffers,
wonder and perish,
for I am going to do something in your days
that you would never believe,
even if someone told you.'"
42As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. 43When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.
44On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying.
46Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47For this is what the Lord has commanded us:
" 'I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'"
48When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
49The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. 52And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
The synagogue rulers of Pisidian Antioch sends word to Paul and his companions to speak about the Law and Prophets...The Pisidians was to hear more about the Scripture and our God...St. Paul stands up and starts speaking...He gives a great sermon here to the Pisidians...In preaching to the Gentile Pisidians, St. Paul gives them an overview of the Bible...St. Luke gives an idea of the Jewish diaspora, in that the Jews were throughout the ancient world...
St. Paul, gets the peoples attention, with his hand, and proceeds to tell them about God choosing the people of Israel choosing the fathers (of Israel) as His people...God made His people prosper in a foreign land called Egypt...With His mighty power He led them out of Egypt, endured them and cared for them, for forty years in the desert... God helps them overthrow seven nations in Canaan...As He had promised long ago to Abraham, He gives them this land, Canaan, to His people as an inheritance...All this took about 450 years...After this God give His people judges until the time of the Prophet, Samuel... Then the people ask for a King, and God gives them Saul...Saul, the son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin, is made king for forty years...After removing Saul, God makes David king...God testifies that David, the son of Jesse, is a man after His own heart; he will do everything I want him to do...
From this man's (David) descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as He promised...Before His coming, John the Baptist, preached repentance, and baptized many in the land of Israel...As John was completing his work, he states that he is not the One...The Chosen One is coming after him, whose sandals he cannot even tie...
The brothers and descendants of Abraham and to the God fearing Gentiles, it is this message that God has spoken through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior...Our Savior's message is one of our salvation...
The people of Israel did not recognize the Messiah...The people condemned Him...And in condemning Him the people of Israel helped to fulfill the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath...They found no grounds for His arrest, and turned Him over to Pilate to be executed...When the people of Israel carried out the fulfilling of the Scriptures, they took Him to a tree, killed Him on a cross, and laid Him in a tomb...But, and this is a big "but", God raised Him from the dead...He was resurrected...Those who had traveled with Him after His resurrection, from Galilee to Jerusalem were eyewitnesses to the resurrection...(St. Paul goes into this eyewitness account a little more in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8)...
St. Paul quotes the Psalms, Isaiah, and Habakkuk in telling us about the coming Messiah...God promised us a Son (from David's lineage), that He is the Father and will raise Him from the dead, and this Holy One will not decay...He will never die...By quoting these Scriptures St. Paul shows us the Scripture was talking about Jesus...Jesus by coming, dying, and resurrecting fulfilled Old Testament Scripture...
St. Paul's sermon is now complete and he is leaving the synagogue with his friends, the people of the Pisidian want St. Paul to speak next week on the Sabbath...The Gentiles want to hear more...They are not content with this one sermon...Next week on the Sabbath, the word has spread about St. Paul and His knowledge of the Scripture that God has given him and the crowd is almost the whole city...When the Jews saw the large crowd, they were jealous and talked abusively about what Paul was saying...The Jews did not believe the story of Jesus, being the Messiah...St. Barnabas and St. Paul tell the jealous Jews that since they reject the message of God and His Son, they are not worthy of eternal life, so we turn to the Gentiles as the prophet Isaiah tells us that the "I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the earth."...
So while the Gentiles want to hear more and more, the Jewish people throughout the region, did not want to hear about this and wanted the information about Jesus stopped...
The Gentiles heard that they could receive salvation, and were glad and honored about the word of the LORD was also for them...If they believed, they were also appointed for eternal life...The word spread through the whole region of Pisidian Antioch about the LORD...But the Jews kept things stirred up and had Barnabas and Paul persecuted, and had them expelled from the region...St. Paul and St. Barnabas shook the dust from their feet to show they renounced the those who persecuted them and did not believe in our Christ...The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit...
The people of Pisidian were wanting more knowledge of God...They were discontent with the limited knowledge they had about Scripture and wanted to hear St. Paul and St. Barnabas...This discontent is told to us about Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain...In the Sermon on the Mount in St. Matthew's gospel, we learn that blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness...This discontent, that Jesus talks about in a strange way, makes us happy...This discontent, and wanting to learn more about Jesus makes us happier...Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven...
St. Paul sums up this happiness (while discontented and searching) through his learning, studying the Father and Son and still being happy and while searching for righteousness...In Philippians 4:12-13, he tells the Philippians (and us) that he has learned to be content in any and every situation (including the times of discontent) whether he is hungry or full, or has plenty or has nothing...I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength...