Chapter Thirteen –
First Journey of Paul
ACTS 13:16-29:
In our previous lessons, we began the first journey of Paul. It began in
Antioch
of Syria and from there; Barnabas, Saul, and John Mark went down to
Seleucia.
From Seleucia, they caught a ship to
Cyprus
and landed at
Salamis.
They would share the Gospel of Jesus as Christ in the synagogues of the
Jews.
As Barnabas
and Saul came to
Paphos,
they crossed paths with the proconsul and a sorcerer who had been acting as
his advisor. As the proconsul wanted to hear from Barnabas and Saul, the
sorcerer withstood them.
Saul, who
will now be called from this point forward, Paul; openly denounced the
sorcerer and struck him blind by the power of the Lord. This would give
cause for the proconsul to believe the words concerning the teaching of the
Lord.
Paul and
Barnabas left Cyprus and came to
Perga
in
Pamphylia
where John Mark would leave them and return to Jerusalem for unknown
reasons. From Perga they would travel north inland to
Antioch
in
Pisidia,
where they would go into the synagogue of the Jews on the Sabbath. As the
invitation is given to speak, Paul is going to preach the Gospel and this
becomes Paul’s first recorded sermon, as Luke reveals it to us. We will look
at this sermon in detail in this lesson; please use this outline:
Outline:
16-22
– Introduction (History of Israel introduced).
23-25
– Jesus Proclaimed the Savior (Savior - “Participle”; in this case, not a
title, but a verb describing just what He will do!).
26-29
– Fulfilling prophecy.
30-37
– God vindicating His claim to be the Messiah by raising Him from the dead.
38-39
– Through Him, the remission of sins is preached.
40-41
– Summary warning issued.
Please use the map provided:
http://www.plvcc.org/articles_live_by_faith/acts_13_map.html
Text #1:
Acts 13:16-22
- Introduction (History of Israel introduced).
“Then 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 exalted the people when
they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He
brought them out of it.
18
Now for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the
wilderness.
19
And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He
distributed their land to them by allotment.
20
“After that He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty
years, until Samuel the prophet.
21
And afterward they asked for a king; so 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 for them David as king, to whom
also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of
Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’”
– 1 Samuel 13:14;
Psalms 89:20
Men of
Israel and You who fear God:
As Paul
gains the attention of those gathered, we also see that the audience is
comprised of true Jews and proselytes as well (Gentiles converted to
Judaism). This is something we will see with regularity outside of
Palestine.
The God of
this People Israel:
Paul begins
his sermon with a historical reminder and we will find that this part of his
sermon is reminiscent of Stephen’s in
Acts
7. He begins with Israel in Egyptian bondage and then moves to
how their fathers misbehaved in the wilderness as God led them (17-18
will encompass briefly
Exodus
through
Deuteronomy’s
history).
Paul
reminds that God gave them the Promised Land after they destroyed the seven
nations of the Canaanites (these are listed in
Deuteronomy 7:1); so,
Verse 19 briefly encompasses the
book of
Joshua.
Next Paul
moves to the time of the judges of Israel. This is a lengthy piece of
history that Paul mentions in brevity; if you add the years of oppression,
years of peace, and the years that some of the individuals judged (minus
Samuel and counting Eli –
1
Samuel 4:18), it is exactly 450, which encompasses briefly the
book of
Judges (Verse
20).
Paul sums
up this portion of Israel’s history with the people clamoring for a king; so
God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin. Saul
disobeyed God and was removed. He was replaced by David. David was the one
whom the promises made to Abraham would be advanced; Jesus would be his
fleshly descendant.
Verses 21-22 cover briefly
1st
and
2nd
Samuel.
Text #2:
Acts 13:23-25
-
Jesus Proclaimed the Savior.
“From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for
Israel a Savior—Jesus—
24
after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel.
25
And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am
not He. But behold, there comes One after me, the sandals of whose
feet I am not worthy to loose.’”
A Savior:
Whereas the opening of Paul’s sermon was reminiscent of Stephen’s, it is now
going to follow much more closely to Peter’s on the day of Pentecost (Acts
2). This first portion coincides with Peter’s opening
“Jesus of Nazareth,
a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did
through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know” –
Acts
2:22.
Paul
publicly identifies Jesus of Nazareth as the Savior of promise; from David’s
seed as the prophecy of Nathan to David spoke (2
Samuel 7:12-17). The term given the Lord is a participle instead
of a title; it simply is attached to Him as the reality of what He will
do (in addition, it also happens to be the meaning of the name Jesus)!
Paul
includes here that John prepared the way of the Savior and His kingdom (Isaiah
40:3;
Malachi 3:1;
Mark
1:2;
John
1:23); as another identifying sign of legitimacy.
Text #3:
Acts 13:26-29
-
Fulfilling prophecy.
““Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among
you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent.
27
For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not
know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every
Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him.
28
And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate
that He should be put to death.
29
Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took
Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.”
The Word of
this Salvation:
The word of
this salvation is the subject of Jesus as Savior from
Verse 23. Paul does the same thing as Peter; even though He came
with the testimony of miracles, wonders, signs, and of John’s testimony, you
killed Him even though you read every Sabbath that this would be the
identifying characteristics of legitimacy.
They
literally, because they did not know Him through the hardness of their
hearts, killed the very one sent to deliver them from sin, which would in
turn, give the very ones who killed Him the opportunity to life!
Note
Peter’s words:
Acts 3:15
“and
killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we
are witnesses.”
Paul
emphatically states that this fulfilled all that was written concerning Him.
Note the words of the Lord to His chosen after His resurrection:
Luke 24:44 “Then He said to them,
“These are the words which
I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled
which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the
Psalms concerning Me.””
To those
who would blasphemously state that the Lord failed because the Jews killed
Him; they would be better served to comprehend that because of the
righteousness of God, everything God planned concerning the coming of the
Messiah had to transpire exactly as it did, and could not have happened any
other way! Peter stated with this same assurance, that the Christ was on the
throne promised in prophecy to the seed of David (Acts
2:30). This fulfilled that not only would the Great Servant of
God suffer; but would through His suffering, be victorious and establish His
kingdom!
See:
Isaiah 53.
Verses 1-3:
His
Life – He would be acquainted with grief.
Verses 4-6:
His
Suffering – Smitten and afflicted to carry our grief.
Verses 7-9:
His
Submission – He did not resist what was set before Him.
Verses 10-12:
His
Reward – His sacrifice would appease God for us once and for
always, God would then reward Him (spoken of earlier by the prophet in
9:6-7).