Read Acts
13:13-25
13 From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed
to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. 14 From
Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the
synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the
leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a
word of exhortation for the people, please speak.” 16 Standing up, Paul
motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who
worship God, listen to me! 17 The God of the people of Israel chose our
ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty
power he led them out of that country; 18 for about forty years he endured
their conduct in the wilderness; 19 and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan,
giving their land to his people as their inheritance. 20 All this took about
450 years. “After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the
prophet. 21 Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of
Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. 22 After removing Saul,
he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son
of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ 23
“From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he
promised. 24 Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism
to all the people of Israel. 25 As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who
do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is one
coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’
Since Judaism and Christianity are now separate
religions, it is easy to assume that the early Christians viewed themselves as
breaking off from their Jewish past – a bit like in the manner shown below:
However, when we examine the speeches that the
early Christians made amongst their fellow Jews, it is clear that in their mind
it was the other way around!
This is not to say that what God did through Jesus
was not different from what he had done before – it was! However, from the
early Christian’s perspectives, it was fully in line with all that had come
before it. To their minds, they were the ones who had tracked with what God was
now doing and, in particular, the way he had fulfilled the promises found
within the Old Testament. The Jews who would not acknowledge their true Messiah
were the ones who had gone off on a tangent!
It is Messiah language that is very much at the
heart of Paul’s summary of the Old Testament – particular in the section we’ll
read tomorrow. “Jesus is the one you have been waiting for!” Is the overarching
proclamation. And he is a Messiah who fulfils all that has gone before him.
- Reread this part of Paul’s speech. Are you familiar with the stages in Israel’s history that he describes? If not, maybe it would be worth doing a bit of research and finding out more about them.
If you have a bit longer :-)
- Why do you think John Mark left them at this point? Why do you think Paul was so upset by it? (We are not told at this point that he is upset but what follows in Acts 15 demonstrates that clearly he was.)
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