Written by: Pete McCahon

Acts 13 v 16-20
Paul stood up, raised his hand, and said, “You Israelites and you who worship God, please listen! The God of the Israelites chose our ancestors. He made the people great during the time they lived in Egypt, and he brought them out of that country with great power. And he was patient with them for forty years in the desert. God destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan and gave the land to his people. All this happened in about four hundred fifty years.
“After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. 

Notes
Paul is an educated Jew and he knows the rules of the game when trying to communicate to the Jewish community. Each time he enters a new town he heads straight for the local synagogue and stakes his claim to speak. The synagogues required ‘qualified’ speakers, folk who knew what they were talking about. Paul uses as the basis of his talk the history of the people of Israel. In doing so he is proving that he knows what he’s talking about and more importantly beginning the process of showing how Jesus is connected to the prophecies of the Old Testament. 

We can see that Paul although sometimes impulsive thinks through his strategy and understands about doing the groundwork. When we reach out to our friends and neighbours we too need a history to those relationships, you can’t just walk up to someone and assume they will want to listen, it takes time.

The key word here is preparation. A common theme used in the Bible to describe sharing the gospel, is one of growing things. Before you can grow anything you need to get the ground ready, you dig it over, remove the weeds and only then can you begin.

Acts 13 v 21-25
Then the people asked for a king, so God gave them Saul son of Kish. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin and was king for forty years. After God took him away, God made David their king. God said about him: ‘I have found in David son of Jesse the kind of man I want. He will do all I want him to do.’ So God has brought Jesus, one of David’s descendants, to Israel to be its Savior, as he promised. Before Jesus came, John preached to all the people of Israel about a baptism of changed hearts and lives. When he was finishing his work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the Christ. He is coming later, and I am not worthy to untie his sandals.’

Notes
Paul has begun preaching in the synagogue and has talked about the birth of the nation of Israel through Abraham. Now he moves onto the royal line of David, every Jewish person knows that the Messiah when he comes will be descended from David so Paul explains how Jesus fulfils that requirement.

John the Baptist had been a well known figure of the time and Paul brings the whole story right up to date by describing John’s preparation for and acceptance of Jesus as the Christ.

Just like today there were many different stories going around and people claiming divine powers and special ‘insight’ into God’s thoughts. Paul puts the whole situation into perspective by showing how Jesus is more than just an opportunist but actually fulfils historical prophecy. We have the added bonus that Paul and his listeners didn’t get, that we know how long Christianity has survived, definitely not a flash in the pan!

Acts 13 v 26-29
“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those of you who are not Jews who worship God, listen! The news about this salvation has been sent to us. Those who live in Jerusalem and their leaders did not realise that Jesus was the Savior. They did not understand the words that the prophets wrote, which are read every Sabbath day. But they made them come true when they said Jesus was guilty. They could not find any real reason for Jesus to be put to death, but they asked Pilate to have him killed. When they had done to him all that the Scriptures had said, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. 

Notes
Paul is eager that the people he is preaching to don’t repeat the mistakes of those in Jerusalem. There the religious leaders had been consumed with jealousy and fear by Jesus and eventually plotted to bring about his arrest and execution. Instead of welcoming the Messiah they had been waiting for they betrayed him.

Paul tells the story and tries to show how even these seemingly disastrous events actually fulfil the scriptures and prophecies' from the Old Testament. Just like today, many folk don’t understand why God allows bad things to happen and continually ask why he doesn’t step in and take over. The truth is that God is in control even if we can’t see the plan and we need to trust him that it will work out.

Paul has now finished his explanation of how Jesus fits into history and fulfils Old Testament scripture. He is ready to take the story a step further...

Acts 13 v 30-33
But God raised him up from the dead! After this, for many days, those who had gone with Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem saw him. They are now his witnesses to the people. We tell you the Good News about the promise God made to our ancestors. God has made this promise come true for us, his children, by raising Jesus from the dead. We read about this also in Psalm 2:
‘You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.’ 

Notes 
Paul is preaching in the local synagogue, he has already discussed the history of the nation of Israel, he has captured their interest by describing the events that took place in Jerusalem, now he lets loose with his declaration. Claiming the authority of the past and that Jesus is the ultimate fulfilment of Jewish hopes he declares that Jesus has come back from the dead and states the messianic divinity of Jesus!

This would really have knocked the folk out of their seats and caused chaos in the synagogue. This declaration shakes their world upside down. Sometimes after we have lived in a Christian environment too long it’s easy to forget the earth shattering impact the news about Jesus can have on peoples lives.

In one sweep Paul is not just declaring Jesus as the Messiah but also showing how he links in to scripture. This is a pivotal moment in Paul's sermon he begins to shift the emphasis away from the Jewish people and towards the Gentiles, those outside of Judaism who are in need of God.

Acts 13 v 34-37
God raised Jesus from the dead, and he will never go back to the grave and become dust. So God said:
‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings that I promised to David.’ 
But in another place God says:
‘You will not let your Holy One rot.’ 
David did God’s will during his lifetime. Then he died and was buried beside his ancestors, and his body did rot in the grave. But the One God raised from the dead did not rot in the grave.

Notes
Earlier in his sermon Paul had talked about Jesus being in direct line of descent from David, by doing so he had grabbed the attention of his Jewish listeners. Now he goes a step further and exalts Jesus above David! He describes how David although a follower of God died and his body is rotting in the grave. With another reference to Old Testament prophecy “You will not let your Holy One rot” he now declares that Jesus did God’s will and then when he died God raised him from the grave.

This is Paul's way of showing that Jesus is the fulfilment of everything God has promised in the past through scripture. He is the natural conclusion of all that the Jewish listeners have been waiting and praying for and now is the time to respond!

All the waiting is over the Messiah has come fulfilling all the prophecies and fitting in with scripture. Not quite what some had expected but Paul's use of scripture to ‘prove his case’ is very impressive and sure to create a great deal of debate and discussion in these synagogues.

Acts 13 v 38-41
Brothers, understand what we are telling you: You can have forgiveness of your sins through Jesus. The Law of Moses could not free you from your sins. But through Jesus everyone who believes is free from all sins. Be careful! Don’t let what the prophets said happen to you:
‘Listen, you people who doubt!
You can wonder, and then die.
I will do something in your lifetime
that you won’t believe even when you are told about it!’ ” 

Notes
Paul has declared the good news that Jesus is the Messiah now all that remains is the response. These people listening to him were being offered something that up to now hadn’t been available through the laws of Judaism. They were being offered the chance to receive forgiveness for their sins and ‘justification’ before God.

This was a whole new depth to their relationship with God they were being offered. Up till now they had been sorry for their wrongdoing and able to make sacrifice hoping that would make them acceptable (or justified) before God. Now in a relationship with Jesus the didn’t have to ‘do’ anything, in fact they couldn’t ‘do’ anything; it was Jesus and his sacrifice that made them acceptable to God and so brought forgiveness.

For religious people seeking to serve God and never knowing if they were right with him or not this was a fantastic idea. Gods blessing was available to everyone Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, man or woman!

Acts 13 v 42-43
While Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people asked them to tell them more about these things on the next Sabbath. When the meeting was over, many Jews and those who had changed to the Jewish religion and who worshiped God followed Paul and Barnabas from that place. Paul and Barnabas were persuading them to continue trusting in God’s grace.

Notes
Paul and Barnabas have finished preaching their message in the synagogue and by now a large crowd has gathered as news of their message has spread through the town. Amongst them are many Gentiles or non Jews who are especially excited because now they are being offered an equal chance to worship God and receive his blessing.

Many folk are crowding around bombarding them with questions and wanting to debate the things Paul has spoken about. However now it is time for Paul and his followers to move on to the next town ever expanding the list of towns that have heard the Gospel. In their wake they leave new believers who in turn tell their friends and family and so the message spreads.

Today we are still spreading the same message that Paul was preaching. It may be that it doesn’t seem quite so radical as when he first declared it but actually of course it is. A quick glance round any group of Christians shows us peoples lives changed dramatically. We are not all called to serve God like Paul but we do need to find our place in serving him and to do it with the same determination and purpose.


word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes