Acts 13


Barnabas and Saul Sent Off

¹In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. ²While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." ³So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

Acts 13:1-3

Explanation:

THE CHURCH IN ALL NATIONS: PAUL'S MISSIONARY JOURNEYS (13:1--21:16)

The Jerusalem church has faithfully carried the gospel across many cultural thresholds as witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria (Acts 1:8). Through Paul it will embark on fulfilling the "to the ends of the earth" phase of the Great Commission (9:15-16; 13:2).

What the non-Christian seeker and the believer find in Luke's account of this next phase is an effectively contextualized message for increasingly diverse audiences (13:16-41; 14:15-17; 17:22-31); a mission progressing triumphantly, even over the forces of darkness (13:8-12; 14:8-20; 16:16-18; 19:11-20; 13:45-52; 14:19-20; 16:16-40; 19:21-40); a church spiritually united though ethnically diverse (15:1-35); and a movement innocent before the state (16:35-40; 18:12-17; 19:37-40).



The First Missionary Journey (13:1--14:28)
The first missionary journey presents in microcosm all the main features of Paul's missionary call (9:15-16). Paul does indeed carry Christ's name "before the Gentiles and their kings" (14:27; 13:7-12, 46-48; 14:8-18) and "before the people of Israel" (13:14-41). He does suffer for that name (14:5, 19).



The Commissioning (13:1-3)

Large numbers of North American and European missionaries who were deployed after World War II are now retiring. The need for replacements raises the key question, Who sends the missionary? Clarity is needed in a time when some missionary candidates "lay hands" on themselves, without involving the church. On the other hand, some churches insist that unless candidates defer totally to their guidance, they should not go. The work of the Spirit in the lives of Saul and Barnabas and the church at Antioch gives us God's perspective on who sends the missionary.

Church Leaders as Missionary Candidates (13:1)

Luke sets the scene by listing the Antioch church's leaders, at once spiritually gifted (prophets and teachers) and multicultural and socioeconomically diverse. Barnabas, a Levite from Cyprus (4:36), labors alongside Simeon, a black man (with the nickname Niger), and Lucius, a Roman from Cyrene in North Africa (compare 11:20). Manaen, who in his youth was chosen as a companion to a prince, Herod Antipas, ministers with Saul, a Pharisee from Cilicia in southeast Asia Minor (22:3; Phil 3:5).

This leadership roll is actually a list of potential candidates for missionary service, for those who head and complete it are called by the Spirit to such work (13:2). And today, the "apostolic" function--cross-cultural pioneer church planting among unreached peoples--is still the highest calling (Rom 15:20; 1 Cor 12:28; 2 Tim 1:11). Will the church give its "best and brightest" to this calling?

The Spirit Directs Missionary Deployment (13:2)

Is worship and fasting a part of this church's routine practice, or is it a special seeking of guidance? The purpose of fasting can be to withdraw as far as possible from the influence of the world and make oneself receptive to commands from heaven (Ex 34:28; compare Lk 2:37); this combined the emphatic Greek de in the Spirit's directive, which may indicate an evaluation of a proposal (Williams 1985:210), probably indicates a quest for particular guidance. Are the participants just the leaders (Bruce 1988:245) or the whole church (Marshall 1980:215)? In view of the mutually interactive decision-making process of Acts 6:1-7 (see comment there) and the fact that Paul and Barnabas report back to the entire church (14:27), it is best to say the leaders in the presence of the entire church take this action.

Whether by internal prompting in the entire church (Stott 1990:217) or external directive through one of the believers (Longenecker 1981:417) or more particularly one of the prophets (Haenchen 1971:396), the Spirit communicates that now is the time for deployment. The church is to set apart Barnabas and Saul for the evangelization of Jew and Gentile (compare Rom 1:1; Gal 1:15). God had previously personally called Saul and Barnabas, a call that was still in effect (so the perfect tense; compare 9:15-16; 26:16-18).

In this simple command we meet God's basic answer to the question, Who sends the missionary? God sends the missionary through two essential and complementary means: the personal, inward call to the individual and the outward confirmation through the church.

The Church Releases the Missionary (13:3)

It is interesting that Luke describes only the end of the process of confirmation. The church is the key to timing in deployment. There is no mention of testing Saul and Barnabas's ministry gifting as part of confirmation, probably because they have been ministering in the Antioch congregation for over a year (11:26). The need for testing must be deduced from other Scriptures (such as 1 Tim 3:10).

The "release" (NIV sent off) of the missionaries from their duties so that they may undertake this other work is marked by prayer, fasting and the laying on of hands. Fasting and prayer constitute earnest intercession for full equipping in the grace of God and the Spirit's full and successful working through Barnabas and Saul in the mission (compare 14:26 and the answer to the prayers in 13:9-12, 43, 48; 14:3, 10; compare also 4:29, 31, 33). The laying on of hands is probably not ordination for lifelong ministry (14:26 declares the work complete; contrast Kistemaker 1990:456) nor authorization to the apostolate. Rather, the church in an act of solidarity with the missionaries both commissions them as its representatives in this evangelistic mission (note the use of "apostle" to describe both Barnabas and Paul in Acts 14:4, 14) and commends them to God's grace and blessing (14:26). Luke is silent regarding the church's responsibility for financial support of these missionaries.

Antioch, then, becomes a model for the missionary vision and missionary deployment of every church. A church that embodies cultural diversity and has spiritually gifted, sensitive and obedient leaders will release into Christ's service those so called, earnestly interceding for them and standing in solidarity with them. With more than half the world's population yet to hear the gospel for the first time, our Lord needs many more Antiochs.

Acts 13


On Cyprus

⁴The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. ⁵When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.
⁶They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, ⁷who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. ⁸But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. ⁹Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, ¹⁰"You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? ¹¹Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun."
¹²Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

Acts 13:4-12

Explanation:

Witness on Cypress (13:4-12)

Nero had his court astrologers, who predicted his rule of the east, including sovereignty over Jerusalem. Sergius Paulus had his court prognosticator, Elymas (13:7). And today it is not unheard-of that world leaders consult astrologers as they schedule key events. But what happens when the power of the gospel confronts the power of the occult? The contest on Cyprus and its outcome show us.

The Missionary Thrust: Proclaiming the Word (13:4-5)

Highlighting the divine initiative in the church's proactive Gentile mission, Luke describes the church's "release" of Paul and Barnabas (13:3) as sent on their way by the Holy Spirit (compare Lk 4:1, 14). Traveling to Seleucia, a Mediterranean port of Syrian Antioch, sixteen miles west and five miles north of the mouth of the Orontes, the missionary band embarks for Cyprus.

They land at an eastern port and administrative center, Salamis, some 130 miles west of the Syrian coast. Cyprus, 132 miles northeast to southwest, is traversed by two mountain ranges that enclose a fruitful central plain. The island itself is situated on shipping lanes between Syria, Greece and Asia Minor. From Ptolemaic times a large Jewish colony has been present (Josephus Jewish Antiquities 13:284, 287; 1 Macc 15:23; Philo Legatio ad Gaium 282), and a Christian witness appears to have been born there early (Barnabas is a Cypriot--Acts 4:36; compare 11:19-20).

There in the Jewish synagogues Saul and Barnabas "began to solemnly proclaim" (compare 4:2; 13:38; 15:36; imperfect ingressive action--Kistemaker 1990:460) the word of God, that is, the gospel, God's message of grace and salvation (13:7, 44, 46, 48; compare 13:12, 26, 49; 14:3, 25). John--that is, John Mark (12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37; Col 4:10; 2 Tim 4:11; Philem 24; 1 Pet 5:13) is there as "an assistant."

Frequent references to the word of God throughout the account of this first missionary journey show us that communicating the message of salvation must be the main activity of missions. In a day when specialist short-term work, humanitarian relief and support services are all being called missions, and rightly so, the church needs to make sure it does not shift its primary focus away from the central purpose of missions--the communication of the gospel.

Repelling a Sorcerer, Attracting a Governor (13:6-8)

Traveling west across the island, Saul and Barnabas arrive at Paphos, ninety miles away. This was the senatorial province's official capital. In the governor's court a Jew, Bar-Jesus (transliteration of the Aramaic "Son of Salvation"), operates as a sorcerer and false prophet. Sorcerer (magos) was a venerable term for students of the metaphysical, including members of the Median priest class (Mt 2:1), possessors and users of supernatural knowledge and ability (Josephus Jewish Antiquities 10.195, 216), magicians who used demonic magic (Acts 8:9-10), and charlatans and deceivers (compare 19:13-16; Delling 1967:356). Bar-Jesus is probably a court astrologer with demonic powers (Haenchen 1971:397; contrast Krodel [1986:229], who calls him part of the world of "religious con-artists who practiced quackery and interpreted dreams"). As a false prophet, Bar-Jesus--also called Elymas--claims wrongly to be a medium of divine revelation (Bruce 1988:249). As a sorcerer he claims to know magic formulas by which he can break the bonds of fate and give the governor control over the future. When faced with the truth of the gospel, Bar-Jesus actively opposes the missionaries (compare Lk 21:15; Acts 6:10). He makes every effort to "completely turn aside" the governor from the faith (compare 13:10; 20:30).

In sharp contrast, Sergius Paulus, the proconsul (the correct title for the governor of a senatorial province, which Cyprus became in 22 B.C.), wanted to hear the word of God. Luke calls him intelligent, probably complimenting him for his inquiring mind. His desire to hear the word of God is not simply a matter of administrative prudence (as Longenecker 1981:419). Rather, Luke holds up this Roman official from the highest levels of society as a positive model of the proper response to hearsay about Christianity. The proconsul's interest would surely impress Theophilus and his fellow inquirers, just as a political, entertainment or sports celebrity who declares openly his or her spiritual hunger for the gospel would draw attention today.

Blinding the False Guide (13:9-11)

Filled with the Holy Spirit (compare 4:8), Saul (here first called Paul) [looks] straight at Elymas (compare 3:4; 14:9) and delivers a verdict that reveals the sorcerer's true character, stance and activity. All that fills Elymas is deceit and the trickery of wrongdoing (contrast 1 Thess 2:3). He is a child of the devil in his stance as an enemy of everything that is right, literally "of all righteousness" (compare Lk 8:12). He perverts the right ways of the Lord in that he twists the path that would lead to salvation (taking tou kyriou as an objective genitive; Hos 14:9; compare Ps 119:1; Is 40:3, 5; Lk 1:79; Acts 8:21).

The divine sentence is that the sovereign hand of the Lord, which directs his saving purposes in history (Acts 4:28) and otherwise acts in healing and salvation blessing (4:30; 11:21), will be against Elymas, placing temporary physical blindness on him. Is the blindness to picture his own spiritual blindness (compare 9:8; 26:18)? Since it is temporary, is it intended to bring the sorcerer to repentance?

By juxtaposing the judgment to Sergius Paulus's faith response, Luke clearly shows how the gospel's power is greater than the power of the occult. Immediately, though not instantaneously, the sentence is carried out. The blindness comes on gradually as a gathering mist and in the end becomes total. Elymas finds himself groping about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

In Luke's account, the church's evangelists consistently meet overt demonic opposition through practitioners of occult arts when they first thrust into new ethnic or geographical territory: Samaria (8:9-24); Cyprus, first missionary journey (13:4-12); Philippi, thrust into Europe (16:16-18); Ephesus, third missionary journey (19:11-20). There is no culture today where, to one degree or another, such a spiritual battle is not joined. Not presumptuously, but confidently--by prayer, filled with the Spirit--we must boldly proclaim the gospel and, as the Lord directs, confront hostile spiritual powers.

The Magnificent Result: Winning the Governor (13:12)

The power encounter yields saving results: the governor comes to faith (2:44; 4:4, 32; 11:21; 13:39). But Luke is careful to let us know the necessary interdependence of gospel word and mighty act. He says Sergius Paulus believed, for he was amazed (literally, "struck out of his senses"), not at the miracle but at the teaching about the Lord. With this last little phrase Luke informs us about the proper role of miracle in evangelistic witness (see comment at 9:35). Sergius Paulus, the first totally pagan Gentile convert and a representative of the upper echelons of Roman society, stands as a model inquirer and convert for Theophilus, his fellow seekers and all since their time.

Acts 13


 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.
²¹"After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then 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.

Acts 13:13-52

Explanation:

Witness at Pisidian Antioch (13:13-52)

The human spirit can come under bondage because of external political and economic oppression and because of self-imposed religious legalism. First-century Jews needed relief from both. Paul came preaching a dying and rising Messiah who would free people from inner bondage so they could cope with external oppression. His message of hope should resonate with all those who long to be able to say, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last!"

The Sermon's Setting (13:13-15)

Setting sail from Paphos, Paul and his companions (literally, "those around Paul," a Hellenistic phrase that indicates the change in leadership; contrast 13:2, 7) travel 160 miles to the bay of Attalia on the south central Asia Minor coast. They evidently bypass the port city of Attalia (14:25), proceeding eight miles up the Cestrus River and on to Perga, five miles from the river. John Mark leaves the group at this point and returns to Jerusalem.

The missionary band does not evangelize Perga but takes a six-day journey some eighty miles up the river valleys to Pisidian Antioch. They must pass through rugged, hostile terrain infested with robber bands and onto the central Anatolian plateau, elevation over thirty-six hundred feet.

Pisidian Antioch was also founded by Seleucus I Nicator (see comment at 11:19). The Romans made it a Roman colony in 25 B.C., settling army veterans and their families there. It served as the main garrison city for a number of Roman outposts to the south. Pisidian Antioch sat astride the Via Sebaste, the Roman road from Ephesus to the Euphrates. Such a location and history meant that the population was a diverse mixture of Phrygian, Greek, Jewish and Roman.

Luke gives us a fascinating glimpse of a diaspora synagogue service. He notes in passing the Scripture readings. These came from the Pentateuch, possibly on a triennial lectionary cycle, and often but not always from the Prophets. For the latter, the reader was free to choose a passage from anywhere in the Former and Latter Prophets. A translation into the local language would follow.

Luke notes that at this point the synagogue rulers invite one of Paul's group to preach. These officials supervised and officiated at the service, maintaining order, choosing participants and making sure all went smoothly (Lk 8:41; 13:14; m. Yoma 7:1; m. Sota 7:7). The sermon, a message of encouragement, would both exhort and comfort Jews as they lived in faithful obedience to the law and waited for the final salvation of Israel (Lk 2:25; 1 Macc 12:9). It would be based on a text of the preacher's own choosing but would also weave in texts from the Scripture readings of the day (see Bowker 1967:101-10; Dumais 1979; compare Philo De Specialibus Legibus 2.62).

Paul's Word of Consolation: Old Testament Promise (13:16-25)

Paul stands and, with a wave of the hand to gain attention, addresses both Jews and Gentile God-fearers (see comment and note at 8:27). He begins with what could be called the Old Testament kerygma: a rehearsal of four key events of God's gracious promise and liberating fulfillment, together with a declaration of the messianic promise to David (Deut 26:5-10; Josh 24:2-13, 17-18; Ps 68-72; 89:3-4, 19-37).

Paul commences with the confession that God is the God of the people of Israel (literally, "this people Israel"). With Gentile God-fearers in the audience, Paul articulates the particularity of God's dealings with Israel but within an international context. Second, he announces God's choice of the patriarchs for himself. Third, he proclaims the redemption of Israel from Egypt and the leading through the wilderness. This liberation is recounted in language reminiscent of the Pentateuch (Ex 6:6; Deut 1:31; 26:5, 8). Israel knew great blessing during its sojourn in Egypt, for God literally "exalted" them by greatly increasing their numbers (Ex 1:7), yet the people sinned, and God had to "bear with" them forty years in the wilderness (Num 14:34).

Fourth, God caused them to inherit their land after he had overthrown seven nations in the land of Canaan (Deut 7:1; Josh 3:10; 24:11). God's initiatives in mighty fulfillment of his gracious promises to the fathers took about 450 years. This involved four hundred years of sojourn in Egypt (Gen 15:13), forty years of wilderness wandering (Num 14:34) and ten years to possess the land of Canaan (Josh 14:10).

God raised up David and gave him a promise. Paul sets this within the context of God's orderly superintendence of Israel's national life through judges, up to the last judge and first prophet Samuel (compare Acts 3:24; 1 Sam 3:20). Paul highlights, though subtly, the sin that both led to and terminated Saul's forty-year reign (compare Josephus Jewish Antiquities 6.378). The monarchy was instituted because the people took matters into their own hands by asking for a king (note the middle voice--literally, "they asked for themselves"; compare 1 Sam 8:4-9). Saul's reign and the continuance of his line effectively ended when after disobedience God "removed"--deposed--him (compare 3 Kingdoms 15:13). David, by contrast, was a "man after God's own heart, who will do all God's will" (1 Sam 13:14). He is the model for all those who would receive God's covenant blessings of salvation.

David received a promise (2 Sam 7:12-16; compare 22:51; Ps 89: 29, 36; 132:11, 17), which Paul declares was fulfilled when God brought to Israel the Savior Jesus. Paul both tempers and heightens the Jewish hope. He avoids the use of Messiah, with its connotations of a purely political deliverer. He indicates that the liberation is much greater, for God is its source, bringing the final salvation according to the Old Testament (Is 49:6, 8; 45:21-22; compare Ps 27:1; 89:26; Lk 1:69; 2:11; Acts 5:31; 13:26).

This focus on the spiritual or vertical dimension of salvation continues in Paul's mention of the last prophet, John the Baptist, the messenger who would prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah (Lk 1:76-77). John preached repentance and baptism (literally, "a baptism of repentance"), a ritual washing as a visible sign of repentance in preparation for the Messiah's coming holy kingdom. He made very clear both that he was not the Messiah and that this coming Savior was much greater than he. He said he did not even qualify to perform the most menial of tasks, untying the Messiah's sandals as he prepared for daily washing. John issued this denial repeatedly (elegen, imperfect pointing to repeated, customary action) as he was "finishing his course" (NIV work; compare Acts 20:24; 2 Tim 4:7).

Through John's steadfast denial of very natural Jewish expectations, Paul puts his audience and us on notice. We must be careful lest we misunderstand what God is doing to provide salvation.

The Word of Salvation: Christological Fulfillment (13:26-31)

With greater intimacy (brothers) Paul readdresses his audience, proclaiming the promise's fulfillment. To us, as opposed to the patriarchs, this message of salvation (literally, "the message of this salvation") has been sent by God (not simply from Jerusalem, an option Williams [1985:223] notes; compare Lk 24:49; Gal 4:4, 6).

The central events of the kerygma, Jesus' death and resurrection, now come into view. Paul emphasizes three features of Jesus' death: its cause, its character and its reality.

1. Cause. Inhabitants of Jerusalem, ignorant of Jesus' messiahship and of the Scriptures (NIV does not represent this parallelism), fulfilled those very Scriptures by condemning him to death and making sure Pilate carried out the sentence. Though they were immediately culpable, ultimately God ordained it. He had planned it long ago and declared it through the prophets (Acts 2:23; 4:28; 3:17-18). It came to a complete fulfillment (Lk 12:50; 18:31; 22:37; 24:44). The people's ignorance was not simply a lack of knowledge but "a false understanding, a false path in knowing and thinking" that led them to turn away from a relationship to God in Jesus Christ (Schutz [1976:407] citing Otto Michel; compare Rom 10:3; 2 Cor 3:14-4:6).

One of the great ironies of our sinful human existence is that religion can make us blind to the true way of salvation. Even years of studying the Bible can leave us without understanding of the liberation Christ desires to bring. The experience of the people of Jerusalem in Jesus' day must ever stand as a warning to the religious.

2. Character. Luke is often faulted for not presenting Jesus' death as a substitutionary atonement (so Willimon 1988:124 here). Yet critics fail to take into account that when Luke notes Jesus' death as an innocent sufferer, he is presenting the objective conditions of vicarious atonement. For unless his death was a waste, a perverse miscarriage of justice, Jesus had to be suffering the penalty for someone's sins. So here Paul maintains Jesus' innocence: no proper ground for a death sentence. Pilate declared as much three times during the proceedings (the charges--Lk 23:2, 5; the governor's judgment--23:4, 14-15, 22; compare Acts 3:13-14). Jesus even received a proper burial (compare Lk 23:53, 55). At the same time Paul portrays Jesus' suffering as that of a criminal--he was condemned by the Jews, who requested a Roman execution for him, and he was crucified (hanging on the tree was a cursed death; compare Gal 3:13/Deut 21:23; Acts 5:30; 10:39).

3. Reality. To mention Jesus' burial is to affirm the reality of his physical death, a truth on which many ancient and modern heresies stumble. Note how later Paul recalls it as an essential of the gospel (1 Cor 15:4).

As Paul proclaims Jesus' resurrection he emphasizes its divine origin: God raised him from the dead (compare 3:15; 10:40; 13:37; Rom 10:9; Gal 1:1; Eph 1:20; Col 2:12; 1 Thess 1:10). He highlights its supernatural character when he says that Jesus "appeared" to those who had accompanied him from Galilee (compare Gen 12:7; Judg 6:12; Luke 1:11; 24:34; Acts 2:3; 7:2; 9:17; 26:16). He stresses the resurrection's historical reality. Eyewitnesses had opportunities to see Jesus over a period of many days (compare Acts 1:3). They were in a good position to identify him, since they had been part of his ministry band and had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem (compare 1:21-22; 10:40-41). Theophilus and inquirers into Christianity's credibility in any time or place are given assurance once again that the central events of its saving message can stand, indeed invite, the test of public scrutiny.

The Testimonia of Proof: Scriptural Demonstration (13:32-37)

Paul approaches the climax of his sermon by bringing together the word of promise and its fulfillment. On the one hand he tells the good news (5:42; 8:4, 12, 25, 40; 10:36; 11:20) that in raising up Jesus--bringing him into the arena of human history--God has fulfilled what he promised to the fathers. On the other hand Paul quotes Old Testament texts that articulate the promises and their means of fulfillment.

Paul begins with the divine declaration to the Lord's anointed: You are my Son; today I have become your Father (Acts 13:33/Ps 2:7; compare 2 Sam 7:12-16). The Jews and early church did take this psalm messianically (Psalms of Solomon 17:21-23; Strack and Billerbeck 1978:3:675-77; Heb 1:5; 5:5/Ps 2:7; Acts 4:25-26/Ps 2:1-2). Jesus is God's Son in the fullest sense of the word, for he shares his very nature (see comment at Acts 9:20). For this reason he can be the means by which God completely fulfills the promises made to the fathers.

The crowning good news is that God raised him [Jesus] from the dead, never to decay. Isaiah 55:3 undergirds this assertion by setting Jesus' resurrection within the larger context of the covenant blessings that flow to God's people because of God's "pledged mercies" to David (Kaiser 1980:227-28; Bruce 1988:260). They are "the unassailable proofs of grace which Yahweh will give in faithfulness to His promises" (Hauck 1967:491; 2 Sam 7:8-16; 2 Chron 6:42). If the "pledged mercies to David" centered on the promise that he would reign forever, they are given to God's people in the form of the blessings of life under that "forever reign."

The link between the "pledged mercies" and Messiah's resurrection involves this interpretational reasoning. If the Messiah has to undergo an atoning death for the sins of the people but is to reign forever, a resurrection must decisively intervene. If that "forever reign" is to happen at all, the king must experience a resurrection that will so transform him that "his flesh will never return to decay," the normal destiny of humans (Ps 16:10/Acts 13:35). In fact, Paul's hermeneutic for identifying the risen Jesus, not the dead David, as the reference of this assertion depends on this distinction. Using the same interpretational tools as Peter--the question of identity and a literal understanding of You will not let your Holy One see decay--Paul establishes that the Messiah rises (compare 13:30; see comment at 2:25-31).

If we would receive the divinely intended spiritual good from the Old Testament, we must fix our eyes firmly on the fulfillment, Jesus Christ, and ask of each passage of promise, What does it teach us of Christ? What can we learn about the salvation that is appointed for the last day?

The Offer of Liberation and Warning of Judgment (13:38-41)

The sermon reaches its climax as Paul solemnly proclaims salvation blessings, the forgiveness of sins and a release "from all for which the law was unable to provide justification." Here is the promised liberation--a spiritual salvation. The law could never "justify from"--that is, acquit of sin--since it could not produce perfect obedience in the one who observed it (compare 7:53; Jer 31:32-34; Lk 18:14; Acts 15:7-11; Gal 2:16; 3:11). Do we know this liberation? And these salvation blessings are for everyone who believes, again implying that Gentiles as well as Jews are within the scope of God's offer of salvation (Lk 24:47; Acts 2:38-39; 10:43).

Parallel to the offer of liberation is the warning of judgment for those who fail to recognize that God is truly effecting salvation through Jesus (supported by Hab 1:5/Acts 13:41; compare 1QpHab 2:7-16). Understood typologically, the spiritual pattern seen in God's surprise move of raising up the evil Chaldeans to punish Judah, even to the point of exile, could well be repeated in Paul's day and ours. The difference is that then God's work was judgment, whereas now it is salvation. But the warning is the same: Take heed lest you miss what God is doing. And the remedy is still the same: repentance. The warning was necessary, and is necessary today for those of a legalistic mindset to whom the "good news" of Jesus' offer of salvation by faith alone is unbelievable.

The Aftermath: Division, Rejection, Withdrawal, Progress (13:42-52)

From what transpired immediately, a week later and in the subsequent weeks or possibly months we can trace out a divinely ordained spiritual dynamic in Jewish and Gentile response to the gospel and the Christian missionary's reaction.

As Luke reports division, he highlights for us the positive response. The people invited (compare 13:15) Paul and Barnabas to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. Many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism (proselytes), however, made a definite positive decision, for they followed Paul and Barnabas (used only here in Acts to indicate Christian commitment; compare Lk 5:27; 9:23, 59; 18:22). By encouraging them to continue in the grace of God, Paul is not urging them to pursue Christ as they had trusted in God's grace given in the Old Testament (contrast Marshall 1980:229). Rather, in light of his exhortation (Acts 13:38-39) and the parallel thought at Acts 11:23, they are to remain in the salvation offered in the gospel (13:23, 26, 38-39) and not return to the performance way of obedience of the Old Testament law and Jewish tradition. This encouragement was well placed when we remember the attacks that these churches subsequently sustained from Judaizers (compare Gal 1:6-7; 3:1-6; 5:7-12; 6:11-13).

The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. Evidently the word had spread and brought fruit through those who had heard the gospel. Again, the preaching of the Word, in particular a word about the Lord Jesus Christ, is central to the church's missionary enterprise and its advance. The negative response seems only to be hinted at.

The initial rejection comes when the Jews' jealousy is aroused by the crowds of Gentiles flooding into synagogue service. Though envy over the newcomers' success may be a factor (Marshall 1980:229), the main issue seems to be Paul's willingness to receive Gentiles directly into the people of God. He offers them an equal share in the spiritual blessings of the Messiah's kingdom simply based on faith, without requiring that they become Jews first (Longenecker 1981:429). The Jews speak out against Paul's message abusively--from the Christian perspective "blasphemously" (compare Acts 18:6; 26:11).

The final rejection occurs when the unbelieving Jews [incite] the God-fearing women of high standing--that is, Roman women who are attracted to Judaism but have not received Paul's message (13:50). These, in turn, probably influence their husbands, the leading men or magistrates of the city (compare 28:7). Thus the Jews [stir] up persecution against Paul and Barnabas (8:1; 2 Macc 12:23) and have exile imposed on the missionaries. The magistrates banish them from the municipality. Since the magistrates' tenure was only for a year, the banishment is in effect temporary (Williams 1985:229; a violent expulsion is not necessarily indicated, despite Stott 1990:228).

Though the church's battle is for human hearts and minds and its weapons are spiritual, Christians must be prepared to face governmental attempts to restrict their evangelizing activities. Today, with the militant advance of Islam, the revival of traditional religions tied to resurgent nationalism, and secular humanism's systematic attack on religious faith expressions in public life, Christians have many opportunities to encounter the tactics employed against Paul and Barnabas at Pisidian Antioch.

In an initial but decisive withdrawal from the Jews, Paul and Barnabas set forth the divine priority of Christian mission: "to the Jew first." Although Paul consistently spoke of himself as "apostle to the Gentiles" (Rom 11:13; 15:16; Gal 1:16; 2:9), his mission was always to be carried out by going to "the Jew first" (Rom 1:16-17). This priority was a matter of theological necessity, and it applies to the conduct of Christian mission today. We must make sure Jews are not overlooked but are a priority in any evangelistic thrust into an unreached-peoples area.

The Jews' rejection of the gospel was a decision to judge themselves unfit for eternal life, the life of the age to come (compare 5:20; 11:18; 13:40-41, 48). Because of this and the Lord Jesus' mandate (Lk 24:47; Acts 1:8), Paul now turns to direct his preaching completely to the Gentiles. He finds his warrant in Isaiah 49:6, the Father's command to the Servant-Messiah. The Gentile mission is not "plan B." The declaration and quotation comfort Theophilus (and us as well) by asserting that the Gentile mission was part of God's original intent.

At their final, forced withdrawal, the missionaries [shake] the dust from their feet in protest against them (NIV adds in protest, v. 51). Some take the action as a sign of contempt, parallel to the Jews' practice of shaking off the dust of "unclean" foreign lands as they reentered the Holy Land (Lake and Cadbury 1979:160). Others, more correctly, see it, according to the Lord's instruction, as a sign of disassociation from a community doomed to destruction (Lk 9:5; 10:10-11; compare Acts 18:6). Such destruction will be so complete that if one is to avoid it, one must remove from oneself the very dust of the place. Because the disassociation is from the persecutors, Paul can later return to the city and work there.

Sometimes people reject the gospel so decisively that the only way to speak "the good news" is to inform the opponents of "the bad news" of the eternal judgment that they continue to face, in the hope that this "shock therapy" will lead to repentance (compare Rev 9:20-21; 16:9, 11, 21).

Jewish rejection never defeats the advance of the gospel (13:48-49, 52). There is always further progress. The Gentiles rejoice that the gospel is indeed for them (compare 15:31). They honor (literally, "glorify") the word of the Lord. And they believe and come to salvation (13:12; 14:1, 23; compare 13:39; contrast 13:41). Using predestination terminology, Luke is careful to point out here, as elsewhere, that this faith is above all God's work (2:41, 47; 5:14; 6:7; 11:21, 24; 21:19-20; compare Is 4:3; Dan 12:1; Lk 10:20; Phil 4:3; Rev 20:12-15; 21:27; Jubilees 30:20; 1 Enoch 104:1). We too must always keep before us the antinomy of faith as a personal human decision and as a divine gift according to God's election.

In conclusion, Luke notes that the gospel spreads to the whole region from this main garrison city with road links to five outposts (Acts 19:10). Qualitatively the gospel sustained itself in the disciples' joy though their church planter was forced to leave them (13:52; compare 8:8; 5:41; 11:23; 12:14; 15:3). Outward circumstances do not finally determine the well-being of the spiritually liberated.