Acts 13:44-51 – On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” 48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. 49 The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.50 But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
“On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.” A very large crowd gathered on the next Sabbath to hear the Word of the Lord. The population in the area was estimated to be about fifty thousand people. How large the crowd that came is not known, but it certainly large enough to draw the attention of all who were there.
“When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy.” Again we see the jealousy of the Jews and as jealousy is and does it is very ugly and brings about evil. Notice it does not say that because of what was being preached that the Jews became upset. They were upset because the crowds drawn to hear Paul and Barnabas preach were so awe-inspiring large. Again it was not the common Jew who was upset, but the leaders. The common Jew had no reason to be jealous. However the leaders were jealous because Paul and Barnabas were drawing the kind of crowds they wished that they could. Family, the sin of pride and resulting jealousy and fear of lack of position and status is not something only of the past. It is alive today even in our churches in the different positions of the church. We all must be careful of pride and instead let love for God and each other rule. Pride should have no place in the church.
“They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.” When one is jealous or resentful or both then a reason to be so must be found. If one is afraid that another will make them seem insignificant or take their place then tearing down the other person is often what follows. For those filled with pride their position matters more than following God. Pride is pernicious and burrowing and must be continuously guarded against in ourselves and in our churches.
“Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” The Word was first preached to the Jew as God ordained, but when the Jewish leadership rejected it and began to turn others against them then Paul and Barnabas would take the Word to the Gentiles. Yes, Paul was specifically called to preach to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13, Ephesians 3:8) yet this should not have surprised him or any other Jew. After all, Israel had been called to teach all gentiles throughout the world about God (Isaiah 49:6). Paul is merely called to do what the Jews should have been doing. God had prophesied that the Messiah, Jesus, would be rejected by His own people (Psalm 118:22-24). So Paul lived out what he taught, that salvation first came to the Jew, and then to the Gentile (Romans 1:16).
“When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. 49 The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.” The Jewish leaders were angry with what Paul and Barnabas were teaching, but the Gentiles rejoiced to know that God was bringing His salvation and Word to them. It was a very sad day for Israel who in large part rejected their Messiah, but it was a great day for the Gentiles, and most of us are Gentiles. As proof of God’s call to preach to the Gentiles He blessed it and many throughout the region were saved.
It is said in V48 that “all who were appointed for eternal life believed.” This is best explained by Romans 8:29-30 “For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.” Predestination to salvation from God is by our omniscient God who knew the hearts and minds of all of us before all of creation. He knew who would receive Him and who would not. We have free will (a big subject that cannot be covered today). Jesus did not come to condemn anybody, but to lift them out of a pre-existing condemned position to salvation (John 3:16-18). It is through the foreknowledge of God that some are called and others are not. We know God is good and that He loves all of us, but we also know that most of all people throughout all of history will reject Him. God does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9) and yet He has always known who would perish because they reject Him. Only God knows who will perish and who will not. This is the kind of judgement that we should not do, it is only God who is able to and who can judge the eternal position of a person’s soul.
“But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium.” The prideful inciting the prideful. The prideful fearing loss of position and control.
Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet. This was a Jewish tradition to shake the dust from the lands of people who don’t love God from their feet. Like one wipes their feet before entering their home so that dirt from the outside is not tracked inside, that is what the Jews did after being in Gentile land. Jesus had told His disciples, concerning people who would not receive the Word that He had given them to share, in Matthew 10:14 “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.” Oh my, what that means for person who has rejected is terrifying. Praise God that His grace remains.
“And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” One of the most often stated reasons for Christians not sharing is the fear or rejection and ridicule. Here Paul and Barnabas, though rejected by many and driven from the city, they were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. They had fulfilled what they were sent to do, to preach the Word. They had been faithful to their calling. They had been faithful to the Lord. Results were not what drove them, love and faithfulness to their Lord did.
Again, why is it mentioned that they were filled with the Holy Spirit? Is it to remind us of the fact that they were Christians with the Holy Spirit within? No. They had not depleted what cannot be depleted, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They received a special presence and blessing from the Holy Spirit and their hearts was filled with joy. Thank God that the same blessing is available to all of us. We all need the refreshing as we wage the battle of faith. Praise our God who loves us so! Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.