Paul Preaches the Gospel of the Resurrection

Acts 13:26–41
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Paul told the people of Antioch (both Jews and God-fearing Gentiles) how God had sent a Savior, but how the rulers in Jerusalem had put him to death, and God had raised Him from the grave (vv. 26-37). Since he was addressing a synagogue congregation, he used Old Testament Scriptures to support his argument. He quotes Isaiah 55:3, which refers to the covenant God made with David.  God had promised David that a Messiah would come and establish a throne forever. If Jesus was the Messiah and remained dead, this covenant could never be fulfilled. Therefore, Jesus had to be raised from the dead. Next, he quoted from Psalm 16:10. Since the Jews considered this to be a Messianic Psalm Paul was saying that it had to apply to Jesus Christ. Paul makes it very plain that the law of Moses could not justify anyone, but Christ offers complete justification to everyone (vv. 38-39). Furthermore, he warns his hearers not to ignore what they have just heard (vv. 40-41). Habakkuk warned the people of his day of the impending Babylonian invasion (Hab. 1:5). Isaiah warned the people of his day in view of the impending Assyrian invasion (Isa. 28:21). Now Paul warns the Jews of the Roman invasion that is only a decade or so away. 

This chapter contains an extremely important passage, because it is the only full-length report of a sermon by Paul that we possess. When carefully compared with the sermon of Peter in Acts 2, the main elements in it are seen to be precisely the same. Paul insists that the coming of Jesus is the consummation of history. He outlines the history of the Jews to show that it ends in Christ. Although men in their blind folly, rejected the crucified Jesus, God could not be defeated, and the Resurrection is the proof of the undefeatable purpose and power of God. The people wanted to hear more, so invited him to come back the next week. This time the synagogue was jammed, and hostility emerged. It was not so much from what he preached, but rather the fact that so many people came to hear Paul and Barnabas, and the rulers of the Jews were jealous.

Application

This is the Good News of the gospel that forgiveness of sins and freedom from guilt is available through faith in Christ to all men. Thank you, Lord, for making this available to me!