Acts 14:8-18

It’s so strange that Jews from Antioch would come all the way to Lystra (130 miles) just to harass Paul and Barnabas. Iconium was only 20 miles from Lystra, so some Jews from Antioch had probably followed Paul and Barnabas to Iconium and been part of the rabble that drove them out of Iconium. And then that harassment becomes deadly!! I’m trying to understand that Jewish mindset. Was it jealousy? Or was it fear? Why did they have such hatred for Paul and Barnabas that they would want them stoned and left for dead? The Jews could only stone people for blasphemy, so Paul and Barnabas talking about Jesus as that Messiah that the Jews had long expected must have set them off. It was a positive message that somehow got fully twisted in their minds.

So Paul and Barnabas flee a short distance to Derbe where they make more disciples. Then they re-trace their steps to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch strengthening the believers there. That is, Paul and Barnabas were not willing to leave their new converts (presumably, mostly Gentiles) without further encouragement and guidance. Theirs is a strong message of discipleship. And in the very next chapter we will see Paul and Barnabas desiring to return to these same cities, again to strengthen and encourage them (15:36). I truly admire their dedication to those new converts. Glory!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 14:1-7

Therefore they spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands. (v. 3) Luke makes a powerful statement here, that the Lord was personally intervening – that He “was testifying” (or “bearing witness”) to the words that Paul and Barnabas were speaking, allowing “signs and wonders to be done by their hands”. Luke also notes that Paul and Barnabas were speaking “with reliance upon the Lord”. So put these two items together – if we speak boldly with reliance upon the Lord, will He testify to His words with signs and wonders done by our hands? Do we have that kind of confidence in the Lord’s power in this day and age? I daresay that I fail in this regard. I have seen “signs and wonders”, but mostly they have come as a surprise. And I have spoken boldly about the Lord, but probably not with complete reliance upon Him. I’ve got a lot to learn…!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 13:42-52

But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. (v. 45) Again, Jewish leaders’ jealousy, even though in the previous verse we see “almost the whole city” gathering to hear Paul and Barnabas. But rather than listen themselves, jealousy overcomes the Jewish leaders to see that they are losing their crowds. Then they get belligerent just a few verses later (see below).

But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing… (v. 50a). I’ve always been intrigued by this verse, the “devout women of high standing” being recruited by the Jewish leaders to stand against Paul and Barnabas. Why would the Jewish leaders feel it necessary for women to speak up? Did their voices carry greater weight? In my (failed) memory I had thought that this incident had occurred on a number of occasions in Acts, but 13:50 is the only one. What surprised me, however, was just the opposite, that “…a number of the leading women…” in Thessalonica were mentioned as converts (Acts 17:4). Later we will see more women in leading roles in Paul’s ministry.

Slava Bohu!

Acts 13:26-41

There’s a lot of information in these sixteen verses; I can’t touch on them all, but I’ll hit a few.

Here’s the one that hit me the most: …and for many days He appeared to those who had come up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem… (v. 31). Paul is saying here that Jesus appeared alive after His resurrection ?only? to those who had come up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. That alone is strange, that Jesus would appear only to His disciples. But what is doubly strange is that Peter said the same thing a few chapters back: …but God raised Him on the third day and made Him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. (Acts 10:40-41). Peter even emphasizes, “…not to all the people…” (op. cit.) I posted earlier, wondering why Jesus did not appear to Pilate or the Jewish leaders. Again, I wonder – but I do not question!!!

Another item in that verse 31 quote above: …those who had come up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem… All of Jesus’ disciples came with Him to Jerusalem from outside Jerusalem. All twelve, in fact, were Galileans except Judas who very possibly was from either the Transjordan or the south of Judea – but still, not from Jerusalem. I wonder if this item had any bearing on the Jewish leaders’ unwillingness to accept Jesus as the Messiah – not only did He not come from Jerusalem, but also His entire group of followers was from outside Jerusalem. Paul certainly contrasts Jesus’ disciples with …those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers… (v. 27). Interesting…

For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize Him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning Him. (v. 27) Just a bit of clarity on this strange sentence construction: the “them” (five words from the end) refers to “…the utterances of the prophets…, earlier in mid-sentence. So leave out “which are read every Sabbath” and the sentence reads more clearly.

Finally, one last time Paul connects Jesus with His Old Testament forebears: what God promised to the fathers, this He has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus (vv. 32-33). Jesus IS the long-ago promise of the Father through the prophets!!

What a glorious passage!!!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 13:13-25

And John left them and returned to Jerusalem… (v. 13b) Some of you may not know it, but this is a key item in Acts. It will show up later when Paul and Barnabas are ready to go off on their second missionary journey (vv. 15:36, ff.). This “John” is John Mark, also known as Mark, the writer of the second Gospel.

Paul preaching: God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin… (v. 21). A small item here… Paul mentions Saul’s lineage here, from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest of the twelve tribes of Israel, but he does not mention David’s tribe, Judah, from whom the Messiah would come. Why this disparity? Paul was himself also from the tribe of Benjamin. And the tribe of Benjamin has a storied history. Read the full story in Judges 19-20 of how Benjamin came to be the smallest tribe. So both (King) Saul and Paul came from Benjamin – worth noting that two huge Jewish leaders would come from this smallest tribe.

Beginning in verse 16 we have the first and longest of Paul’s sermons that are recorded in Acts (see https://www.leadershipresources.org/blog/list-of-sermons-in-acts/). Paul’s sermons often follow a pattern of history, Jesus, repentance, and salvation. Today we have only the first half of that sermon, with Paul tracing highlights of Jewish history before introducing Jesus and John the Baptist. The rest of the sermon, focusing on Jesus’ death, resurrection, and salvation through Him, will come tomorrow.

Slava Bohu!

Acts 13:4-12

You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy… (v. 10) I chuckle every time I read Paul’s description of Elymas. I’m sure Paul was referring to his deeds, not his actual person, but he has harsh words, nonetheless! Recall that Peter had met up with a magician/sorcerer named Simon back in chapter 8 and Peter had properly chastised him – much less harshly than Paul’s words to Elymas. And with Simon we saw some hint of repentance; we don’t see any of that with Elymas. He is struck blind and that’s where the text leaves him, being led about by the hand. But Sergius Paulus, the proconsul believed, and Elymas was his friend; maybe Elymas also turned to faith. We can only hope!

But Saul, who was also called Paul… (v. 9) Here we have the first occurrence of Saul’s name being changed to Paul – and Paul never again being referred to as Saul. We also see a change from here on (except while in Jerusalem) of the listing of “Barnabas and Saul” changing to “Paul and Barnabas”. Paul, in fact, is the lead figure for the entire rest of the book of Acts. The proconsul may have been Paul’s first convert – and that conversion may have forever changed Paul. GLORY!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 13:1-3

That’s quite a diversity of prophets in Antioch – hailing from Cyprus, Crete, Tarsus, Lybia?, and Judea?!

We have not heard much about Saul since his visit to Jerusalem and his going back home to Tarsus (9:26-30). It’s now been about ten years since his conversion. We saw that Barnabas went to Tarsus to bring him back to Antioch (11:25-26) and that they have now been there for a year or so, including their trip to Jerusalem to bring famine relief to the disciples in Jerusalem (11:29, 12:25). Now, from this point forward most of the rest of this book will be devoted to Saul.

My Study Bible pointed out that this missionary trip to which the disciples were sending Barnabas and Saul was not the result of a planning meeting – not a “vision, goals, and objectives” retreat – but the Holy Spirit responding to their worshiping, praying, and fasting. A model for all of us, for all time, for all ways…!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 12:20-25

Luke is fond of his “summary verses” (v. 24 today). We’ve already seen them in Acts 2:43-47, 4:32-35, 5:42, and we’ll see more in Acts 16:5, 19:20, 28:31.

(From yesterday: “He’ll get his.”) Today, Herod got his! An awful, excruciatingly painful five days (Josephus), then death. I know that Jesus loved him to the end, but I wonder at Jesus’ meeting with him at Herod’s personal judgment day. How does Jesus show love when one of our number has chosen to reject Him? Again, sad…

Earlier in this chapter we saw the first occurrence of the young man named “John Mark”, when Peter went to his mother’s house upon his miraculous escape from prison. We see him again today in verse 25: And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark. So here Mark begins his role as a traveling companion to Saul and his cousin, Barnabas. More on that in the next few days…

Slava Bohu!

Acts 12:11-19

…he <Peter> went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark. (v. 12) A footnote in my Study Bible indicated that Mary was Barnabas’ aunt – with a reference to Colossians 4:10. Looking there I find Paul referring to Barnabas and Mark as cousins. That lends some understanding to Paul and Barnabas splitting in Acts 15:36-39 when Paul heads off on his second missionary journey. Barnabas wanted to take his cousin, Mark along, but Paul refused; he and Barnabas then went off in different directions. There is substantial evidence later in Paul’s letters that their split was not permanent, but healed over time.

At the beginning of this chapter, Herod (Agrippa) has James killed and Peter imprisoned. Now later in the chapter an angel rescues Peter and Herod has the prison guards killed because his soldiers could not find Peter in the prison. Seems excessively harsh to me, but that was the nature of the man. He’ll get his.

Slava Bohu!

Acts 12:5-10

I’m wondering this morning if a movie has ever been made of Peter’s life. Think about it – a successful, prosperous fisherman, possibly with a number of employees, has his own comfy house in a leading Galilean city. Gets called by and follows Jesus and is in His company for one to three years; becomes a part of Jesus’ closest three who are witnesses to the Transfiguration and other miracles. Witness to Lazarus being raised, Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, and Gethsemane. Denies Jesus three times – absolute low point…!! Then the Resurrection and a number of appearances, again with Peter at the center of the activity. After the Ascension, Jesus is now gone and the Acts story centers on Peter for most of the first twelve chapters. Pentecost; Peter and John and the lame beggar before the Council; Ananias and Sapphira; imprisonment and release; he and John to Samaria; he and James meeting Paul; raising Dorcas; Cornelius and visions and conversions and all that; now again prison and release. And a few more appearances in Acts before non-Biblical sources finish out his life. What a story!!

Slip on his sandals and walk in his shoes for a while. Better yet, slip on your own shoes and walk back your own life. Thank the Lord for where He has taken you and to where He has brought you. We each have his or her own “glory story”. Tell it!!

Slava Bohu!