A BOLD APPEAL TO RESPOND
Opening Prayer
Your grace, Father, is deep and wide and free. Undeserving as I am, I am amazed and thankful that you pour it out on me—that you give me forgiveness leading to abundant and eternal life in Christ.
Read ACTS 13:26–41
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
26 “Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. 27 The 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. 28 Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and 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 ancestors 33 he 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.’[a]
34 God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said,
“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’[b]
35 So it is also stated elsewhere:
“‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’[c]
36 “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. 37 But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.
38 “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. 40 Take 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.’[d]”
Footnotes
- Acts 13:33 Psalm 2:7
- Acts 13:34 Isaiah 55:3
- Acts 13:35 Psalm 16:10 (see Septuagint)
- Acts 13:41 Hab. 1:5
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.’1
Following his summary of Jewish biblical history, Paul goes on to focus more on Christ and the message of salvation in this portion of his Pisidian Antioch synagogue speech. However, he continues to preach in a thoroughly Jewish way, lacing his speech with references to the familiar figures of Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets, and Israel itself. Toward the end, he quotes four Old Testament passages (vv. 33–41).2 These have a messianic thrust and focus on the reality of the resurrection, which seems to be the crux of Paul’s salvation message. Paul emphasizes the prophetic fulfillment of the Christ event: ‘what God promised our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus’ (vv. 32, 33).
Paul is building affinity with his hearers by speaking as a Jewish insider, as one of them, yet he is not afraid to confront them. After tying his Christological message as convincingly as possible into the Jewish scriptural worldview and framework, he declares that, because Jesus has been raised from the dead, believers are ‘set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses’ (v. 39). He finishes with a solemn warning against unbelief, quoting Habakkuk about scoffers who will perish.
This is no tame speech! Paul offers forgiveness of sins through Jesus in a masterfully crafted Jewish speech, full of rhetorical flourishes that establish rapport and common ground. Yet he does not let his hearers off the hook—they must respond to this news, one way or another. He presses them for a reaction to the good news about Jesus.
Apply
We may feel cultural pressures about how we speak about Christ today. Luke, however, encourages us to follow Paul’s example in boldly asking our hearers to respond to the gospel.
Closing prayer
Father, help me to remember that in Christ, I have been made an overcomer (1 John 5:4). Continue to increase my faith and give me boldness to proclaim the gospel and call others to believe in Jesus.
1 Acts 4:31 2 Ps 2:7; Isa 55:3; Ps 16:10; Hab 1:5
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