NT Doctrine — Acts 13:13-52

After returning to Antioch, there came a time when prophets praying got the word to send out Paul and Barnabas on a missionary journey. They took John Mark along. The first headed to Barnabas’s home territory, the Island of Cyprus. It was there they had the encounter with Bar-jesus, the Jewish sorcerer and false prophet, who tried to keep them from sharing the gospel with the local proconsul, Sergius Paulus. Paul cursed him with temporary blindness, to bring a literal match to the fog of his moral blindness.

From there, the headed to the Turkish coast and walked inland to Perga, whose ruins today stand in the modern Turkish town of Aksu. There was a large Jewish community here. For some reason, John Mark bailed out on them and returned home to Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the intrepid pair hiked a very difficult route through the Taurus Mountains northward along the Kestros River (AKA Cestrus), along the shore of Lake Limnai, and up to edge of the hills where another Antioch stood in the district of Pisidia. This city also had a large Jewish community and a synagogue.

It was common for synagogues to ask Jewish visitors to address the congregation with any worthwhile message. Paul obliged, citing enough history of Israel to emphasize how Jehovah had remained faithful despite the whining and moral wandering of the nation. Everyone thought of King David’s reign as the golden age for Israel. And it was King David who prophesied so clearly of a Messiah who would take up his role. Paul mentioned specifically that the Messiah would not rot in His grave, but would rise back to life.

The only person who qualified under this prophecy was Jesus. Paul notes that John the Baptist identified Him as the Messiah. But the Jewish leadership didn’t recognize Him, and had Him executed. This did not hinder Jesus, but He rose from death and was seen by dozens of people for over a month afterward.

Then Paul relates how Jesus fulfilled the Covenant of Moses and opened His own new covenant. In this, He offers redemption on a level Moses could not have offered. He quotes from Malachi, warning them not to reject their Messiah.

Every synagogue had Gentiles who attended the services. As everyone filed out of this meeting, the Gentile visitors asked Paul and Barnabas to come back and teach some more of this message the next Sabbath. Moreover, some of the Jews joined these folks in following Paul and Barnabas around, marveling at this powerful teaching. So, when the next Sabbath rolled around, the curious Gentiles had packed the synagogue house.

This didn’t sit well with the Jewish members. Whatever was going on here, it wasn’t for them, but these two were using their synagogue to promote something they decided was too easy. As soon as they realized that the peculiarities of the Law were no longer required under this Messiah, they began stirring up trouble, blaspheming the name of Jesus.

Paul and Barnabas made it clear that, since Jews were rejecting their own Messiah, they could quite literally go to Hell. Meanwhile, the missionaries were going to the Gentiles to offer them the eternal life the Jews refused to embrace. Paul quotes from Isaiah 49:6 regarding God’s original intent to reach all of humanity with His truth. This brought celebration from the Gentiles. Luke is careful to note that those who were Elect embraced the gospel message.

The nascent Gentile church exploded there. Meanwhile, the embarrassed Jews managed to politick among the civic leaders to get these two missionaries expelled. Out at the edge of the city, the two men took of their sandals and shook off the dust. It was an ancient Hebrew ritual to condemn the sins of the Jews who provoked this situation. The dust of the ground itself was a defiling presence.

Paul and Barnabas headed east along the foot of the hills above Antioch to a city named Iconium (modern Konya). Apparently any work with Jews had become just a sideline, as the message drew a massive number of Gentiles. They rejoiced that God had fulfilled His original plan of reaching out to bring redemption to the whole world.