The first Scripture reading for this week from the Lectionary from the Book of Common Prayer takes us to the Book of Acts. We pick up with following the Apostle Paul, Barnabas, and their companions as they continue their first missionary journey, bringing the Gospel of the Lord Jesus to the people in what is now Turkey.
In just about every village that Paul visited throughout each of his missionary trips, he had a practice that he almost always followed, wherein Paul first searched out a local synagogue while they were in whatever village they stopped in. On the next Sabbath they would attend the Sabbath services. As was the usual custom, as a visitor Paul would be invited to speak. Paul would then proceed to show through the Old Testament Scriptures that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah.
Last week we read about how Paul and his group came to Antioch in what today is west-central Turkey, and preached at their local synagogue. In today’s passage, the group gathered again a week later at the synagogue, and even larger crowds have come together to hear them preach. Many people, both Jews and Gentiles, were interested in what they had to say (vs. 44). This must have been very encouraging for them, as we all like to see success in what we endeavor to do. They would have been especially heartened, as this was a sign that the Gospel message of salvation was being received by the populace in the city. Preachers, evangelists, and missionaries all like to see a well-packed church, and that would have been the same for these men. They had a message to bring, and the more that came to hear, the better.
However, not everyone was glad to see that people were interested in hearing about Jesus being the Messiah. Many of the Jews the week before had immediately rejected Paul’s teaching that Jesus, who had been crucified and rose again, was the Messiah. Now they were very disturbed that more people were interested in hearing this message (vs. 45). Right away they tried to shut Paul and Barnabas up. They didn’t want more people accepting this message. Paul’s opponents here didn’t just try to quietly lead Paul away from the speaker’s platform. Instead, they loudly argued, shouting them down with blasphemies, and opposed them.
So what did Paul and Barnabas do? Did they say, “Sorry to disturb you. We’ll quietly leave.” ? No! Paul told them that since they were rejecting God’s message, they would now bring it to the Gentiles (vs. 46-48). This was a fulfillment of a prophecy in the Book of Isaiah, as Paul indicated when he quoted Isaiah 49:6. In God’s original plan, back in the Old Testament, the Jewish people were to be a light, bringing the truth of Yahweh to the Gentiles. However, they very rarely did that, thinking that they, alone, were special to God. They were not supposed to turn the Gentiles away from God’s salvation and blessings.
The Gentiles in the community were overjoyed that Paul and his missionary companions would not reject them. Unfortunately they had so often been turned away from God by others before, even when they wanted to hear about Him. That is not what God wanted. God loves all people, no matter what their nationality or race is. God has provided eternal life for all who will believe (John 3:15-20; Romans 10:9-10). Now as the door to the synagogue was closed to them in Antioch, they focused on bringing the message of Jesus to the Gentiles in the area, and the Word of God spread (vs. 49). This is what happened repeatedly when Paul preached the Gospel. He would start out in the synagogue in any village he was in, and usually within a few weeks, though sometimes immediately, they would be cast out. Then he went to the Gentiles, where he would have much more success in bringing souls to Jesus.
For some reason the Jewish people who had rejected the message of Jesus that Paul brought were not happy to see Gentiles accepting Jesus. They got many prominent people in the community to stir up trouble and bring persecution against Paul, kicking them out of town (vs. 50-51). They refused to accept the truth, but didn’t want anyone else to accept it, either. When confronted by a disturbing truth, people often turn away and refuse to listen. Paul and Barnabas responded exactly as Jesus had instructed them to do (Matthew 10:14; Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5, 10:11), by shaking the dust from their feet, a very dramatic gesture which held strong meaning to the Jews.
When bringing the Gospel to others, we, too, may face opposition, sometimes strong or even violent opposition. Paul and his companions did not get discouraged. They turned to others, and when forced out of town, they did not respond with similar hostility. They responded just as Jesus had said to do, and proceeded on bringing His message to others.
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