ACTS 13
Bible Study Notes Rev. Betsy Perkins
Paul’s First Missionary Journey Begins
- Have you ever engaged in fasting as a spiritual practice? If so, were you fasting for a particular purpose? If you have never done a spiritual fast, is there a reason you have not?
Mission and Magic (13:1-12)
- How do the leaders of the church in Antioch discern the mission God is leading them to? What is that mission?
- What do they do after they have discerned God’s will? How do you imagine they feel being asked to send off the two main people on their church leadership team for a mission trip?
- Who is doing the sending (compare vs. 3 and vs. 4)?
- Who did Barnabas and Paul take with them on the trip (see also 12:12,25)?
- Where do they go to find audiences to share God’s Word and their message about Jesus with?
- What is the opposition they face in Paphos? What surprises you about that opposition? What does not surprise you?
When Barnabas and Saul arrived in Paphos, they met two people in particular: the Roman governor and a local magician. Both of these are important, as well as in themselves, for what they signify, for Luke and for us. We have already seen that Luke is very much aware of the larger Roman world for which he is writing, and though Roman officials in his book sometimes do the wrong thing for the wrong reasons he want everyone to be aware that he will give credit where credit is due, and is not prejudiced, or eager to regard all officials, and especially all Romans, as automatically a danger to God’s world and God’s people. This is not unimportant for us to remember in our own world, where political polarization easily leads people into simplistic analyses and diagnoses of complex social problems, and to a readiness to dismiss out of hand all authorities and anyone in power, whether locally or globally. In this case, the fact that Sergius Paulus had heard about Barnabas and Saul indicates well enough the kind of impact they had been making in his territory. The fact that he wanted to give them a fair hearing – and ended up apparently believing their message – is a wonderful start for their work. But there is no advance for the gospel without opposition. Indeed, so clear is this truth that sometimes, paradoxically, it’s only when an apparent disaster threatens, or when the church is suddenly up against confrontation and has to pray its way through, that you can be quite sure you’re on the right track. On this occasion the gospel was invading territory which was under enemy occupation, and the enemy was determined to fight back. The enemy in question was the power of magic… N.T. Wright
- What does Paul see as he looks intently at Elymas, Bar-Jesus?
- Has a church you have been a part of faced opposition against following God’s will? How did God help you through? Have you ever had to confront and speak out against a powerful enemy?
Preaching in Pisidian Antioch (13:13-43):
- Where do Paul and Barnabas go next? What about John Mark?
- Where do they go first upon arriving in Pisidian Antioch to make connections in the community and to share God’s good news message?
- How does Paul begin his message to those gathered in the synagogue? What does he highlight from the long history of the Jewish people?
Paul makes his way swiftly through the early years to arrive at the monarchy of Saul and David. What he says about the early period, though, is enough to establish the fact that God’s method of operation is to choose his people, to prepare them, to lead them through one stage after another, and then, finally, to give them ‘the man after my own heart’ as king. In other words, perhaps the main point of verses 17-20 is to stress that God’s purposes normally take a while to unfold, to get to the place where the ultimate purpose can be revealed. N.T. Wright
- How does Paul introduce Jesus?
Notice that Paul refers to Jesus, right off the top, as a ‘savior’ or ‘rescuer’. He hasn’t said what Israel needed rescuing from. Later on he will talk about ‘forgiveness of sins’, but every Jew in the first century knew that all was not well on several levels: that Israel, though God’s people, were not living in freedom, were not being much of a light to the nations, and were often finding it difficult to keep their own law, whether because of pressure from pagan society or laziness within the Jewish community. All was not well… N.T. Wright
- What are the things within the church today in America that are ‘not well’ and that we need to be rescued from?
- What does Paul emphasize about God’s plan in verse 27?
- What is the invitation Paul gives in verses 38-39? Who is it for?
- What is the warning Paul gives at the conclusion of his message?
A Light for the Gentiles (13:44-52):
- What is the response to Paul’s message a week later? How do the Jews react to that? Why?
- In verse 47, they quote from Isaiah 49 where God is speaking to the “Servant of the Lord”. Read Isaiah 49:1-7. What do we learn about God’s plan from this prophesy?
- What do you think Paul and Barnabas meant when they referred to ‘eternal life’, perhaps also translated ‘the life of the coming age’ (the age without corruption, decay and death)?
When Paul and the others spoke of ‘eternal life’, they didn’t mean something (as we say) ‘purely spiritual’. The life of the coming age had already begun when Jesus came out of the tomb on Easter morning, and will be complete when God does for the whole world what he did for Jesus that day. And all those who share in that Easter life in the present are assured of a full share in it in the future. That is what it means to be part of ‘the life of the coming age’ now, and on that great day.
N.T. Wright
- Why did Paul and Barnabas shake off the dust from their feet as they left town? (See Luke 9:1-5)
- What is the mood of the two groups of people that they leave behind?
In light of this passage and our discussion, what one truth about God and about yourself stand out as something to “take to heart” this week?
Are there steps you will take, by God’s grace, to more fully apply it to your life?
Resources: NIV Zondervan Study Bible, 2015
N.T. Wright, Acts for Everyone, Part 1 2008
Max Lucado, Life Lessons from Acts: Christ’s Church in the World, 2018
Joe Boyd, Bible Experiment – The Acts of the Apostles (RightNowMedia), 2014
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