Acts 13:16-26
16So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak: “You Israelites, and others who fear God, listen. 17The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18For about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. 19After he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance 20for about four hundred fifty years. After that he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel. 21Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. 22When he had removed him, he made David their king. In his testimony about him he said, ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.’ 23Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised; 24before his coming John had already proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25And as John was finishing his work, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but one is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of the sandals on his feet.” 26“My brothers, you descendants of Abraham’s family, and others who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.
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Whenever my Aunt Patty meets someone new, she tries to find out if they are related to her, or if they know other relatives. In this way she expands her family. On his first missionary journey, Paul and his companions went into a synagogue on the Sabbath, here in Pisidian Antioch. During the service, the synagogue rulers asked if they had a “message of encouragement for the people” (Acts 13:15). Paul stood up and addressed the Jews and Gentile believers who were present, recounted their shared Biblical history, and noted that God “chose our ancestors and made the people great.” (v. 17) Paul and his audience are kin.
The listeners knew well Paul’s references to events from Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and the Psalms. Which is why Paul zeroed in on King David and proclaimed that from David’s descendants, “God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised” (v.23 quoted from Isaiah 11). The very scriptures studied in their synagogue pointed to Jesus.
Paul declared that descendants of Abraham’s family and those who fear God are his brothers. Salvation through Jesus, the son of David, descendant of Abraham, is for all people.
Prayer: Dear Father in Heaven, Thank you for your holy scriptures. Thank you for Paul, who used that scripture to authenticate Jesus for people in Biblical times and for us today. Thank you for providing our salvation through your son, Jesus. Help us to remember that we are all brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. Amen
—Anita Platt