Acts 13:24 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

NIV: Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.

NASB: after John had proclaimed, before His coming, a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

CSB: Before his coming to public attention, John had previously proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

NLT: Before he came, John the Baptist preached that all the people of Israel needed to repent of their sins and turn to God and be baptized.

KJV: When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

NKJV: after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

To this point, Paul has been reminding a synagogue in Pisidian Antioch how God has saved the Jews throughout the history of Israel. He rescued them from slavery in Egypt, relented from judging their rebellion in the wilderness, and provided judges and kings to conquer their foreign enemies. Finally, God promised that a final Savior would come from the line of King David, a Savior that the famous John the Baptist announced was imminent (Acts 13:16–23).

Now, Paul must do the equivalent of turning a fully laden cargo ship. God chose the Jews as a people. He interacted with them as a nation. He promised them salvation as a group. John called the nation as a whole to repent. And God's promised Savior will sit on the throne of David forever. But not yet.

Jewish national leaders rejected their own Savior (Acts 13:27–29). So, despite Jesus' triumphal entry (Mark 11:1–10), He will not sit on David's throne yet. Paul will explain that God's Savior still offers salvation, but it is salvation from sins, not foreign oppression (Acts 13:38–39). And this salvation is offered freely to Gentiles as well as Jews. Paul would love it if the synagogue as a whole took John's offer to repent and Jesus' offer of salvation (Romans 9:3); sadly, they won't (Acts 13:44–52).

"Repentance" is from the Greek root word metanoia. It means to make a complete switch in paradigm, to admit you are wrong and Jesus is right. It is not a work, and it doesn't mean to ask for forgiveness. It is a change in understanding of the world, Jesus, and yourself, and a working desire to live according to God's commands. John's message of repentance was very popular among the people, but soundly rejected by the religious leaders in Jerusalem. They erroneously relied on their ethnic status as descendants of Abraham for their right standing with God (Luke 3:7–9). Paul will spend much of the rest of his life trying to explain that the children of God are not the descendants of Abraham but the followers of Jesus (Romans 11).

Acts 13:16–41 gives the transcript of Paul's message in Pisidian Antioch. It is the only recording of Paul's many synagogue sermons. Paul's message can be broken into five parts, each identified with a call to heed Paul's words: 1. God's saving work in Israel's history and promise of a future Savior (Acts 13:16–25); 2. The Savior's story (Acts 13:26–31); 3. The prophecies of the Savior (Acts 13:32–37); 4. The nature of ''salvation'' (Acts 13:38–39); 5. A warning to accept the Savior (Acts 13:40–41). Some Jews and many Gentiles do accept the message, but the synagogue leaders drive Paul and Barnabas out of town (Acts 13:42–51).

Acts 13 transitions Luke's account (Acts 1:1) fully into a record of Paul's ministry to spread the news about Jesus. The Holy Spirit calls Paul and Barnabas for their first missionary journey. They teach about Jesus' offer of forgiveness of sins on the island of Cyprus and in the district of Pisidia in modern-day south-central Asia Minor. Along the way, they face opposition, desertion, and persecution: themes that will follow Paul throughout his life. But they also experience the joy of watching the people they'd least expect come to a saving faith in Jesus.

The first chapters of Acts, save for a quick account of Paul's conversion (Acts 9:1–31), cover the ministry of the apostles, particularly Peter. Those passages also detail the spread of the news about Jesus from His followers. That message goes to the Jews of Jerusalem (Acts 2—7) and Judea (Acts 8:26–40; 9:32–43), the Samaritans (Acts 8:4–25), and God-fearing Gentiles (Acts 10—11). Now, Paul's contribution to the ''end of the earth'' portion of Jesus' commission in Acts 1:8 begins, as he and Barnabas start their first missionary journey. Luke will record two more of Paul's journeys (Acts 15:36—18:22 and 18:23—20:38) before settling in on his return to Jerusalem, arrest, and sea voyage to Rome (Acts 21—28).

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.