Acts 13:13-43 Paul & Barnabas deliver the gospel to Psidian Antioch

Acts 13:13-43 Saul and Barnabas travel to Pamphylia and Saul delivers a sermon in the Synagogue. Paul and his companions now sailed from Paphos, which is on the westernmost end of Cyprus, to Perga, which is on the southern coast of what is now Turkey, a sea voyage of approximately 325 km. [A side note, John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. This departure will be revisited in Acts 15:38.] From Perga, Paul and Barnabas traveled overland to Psidian Antioch, a mountainous journey of approximately 240 km. Most likely that would have taken quite a while as the terrain is reportedly quite rugged. There is no record that they shared the gospel in Perga; perhaps there was no synagogue or perhaps this was simply because the Holy Spirit did not lead them to do so.

          In verses 16-41, Paul delivers a gospel message at the synagogue in Psidian Antioch. Since the synagogue officials asked if they had anything to say, Paul had an open door. This being a Jewish setting, he drew strongly from the Old Testament. There is some parallel between Stephen's defense and the first part of Paul's message, referring to Israel's early history, then king David, but then Paul goes into greater detail about Jesus. The difference of course is that Stephen's listeners all knew what had happened to Jesus, had seen His life, death, and resurrection first-hand. In this remote mountain city far from Jerusalem, they most likely had heard nothing about it. So Paul, after quoting I Samuel 13:14 to the effect that God had found David a man after His own heart who would do His will, identifies Jesus as the descendant of David. He then goes on to John the Baptist's identification of Jesus as the Savior, and that the rulers of the Jews asked Pilate to have Him put to death, and then the resurrection of Jesus, to fulfill God's promises. Paul quoted the Old Testament to the promise of the resurrection of the Messiah. Verses 33-35 cite Psalm 2:7, Isaiah 55:3, and Psalm 16:10.  Paul then delivers the bottom line message, that everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins and is freed from all things, which the Law of Moses could not do. He closes in verse 41 with a quote from Habakkuk 1:5 as a warning not to miss what God is doing. In the context in Habakkuk, the prophet is warning of the coming of the Chaldeans as God's response to the Jews' flagrant sinfulness. Paul is trying to make the point that God is doing something today that is hard to believe because it is so amazing, but they should not miss the opportunity that God presents. Upon completion of the invitation, many of those at the Synagogue responded and begged for more.