Recap

So far in Acts, we've read through the introduction, the disciples' time in Jerusalem, and the church spreading into Samaria. We noted how Acts, a sequel to Luke's gospel, explores the birth and growth of the early church. Jesus commissioned his disciples to spread the good news from Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. He instructed them to wait for the Holy Spirit to empower them and then ascended to heaven.

While the disciples waited, the Holy Spirit came as wind and fire, making God’s people his new temples. Empowered to speak in various languages, the disciples amazed the crowd, and Peter led over 3,000 to salvation. The church was born, and believers lived in community, sharing everything.

Peter and John healed a lame man at the temple, explaining that God’s presence now dwelt in his people. This led to conflict with the priests, who warned them to stop preaching. The believers prayed for boldness and shared their possessions. As struggles arose, the Apostles appointed seven men to manage daily tasks, and the church grew.

Stephen, one of the seven, performed miracles but was accused of blasphemy. He highlighted how Israel had rejected God’s chosen, including Jesus. This enraged the crowd who stoned him. His death triggered persecution, forcing Christians to spread the gospel to Judea and Samaria.

Philip, another of the seven, played a key role in spreading the gospel in Samaria. God also led Philip to an Ethiopian man who needed help understanding scripture. Meanwhile, Saul, intent on arresting Christians, was blinded by Jesus on the way to Damascus. He was then healed and filled with the Holy Spirit by Ananias. Saul immediately began preaching, moving from city to city due to enemies. At first, the disciples in Jerusalem were wary, but Barnabas vouched for him.

Peter then received a vision from God about not calling what He made clean, unclean. Visiting the Gentile Cornelius, Peter shared the gospel. The Gentiles there were filled with the Holy Spirit, becoming part of God's kingdom. Peter reported this to the Jerusalem church.

While there was initial push back, this soon led to a church being established in Antioch supported by Saul and Barnabus. This city in Syria was very Greek in culture, and would become a great place to launch a new mission to spread the good news of Jesus to the Greek world. 

Acts 13-14

The believers in Antioch are praying and fasting, seeking God’s will on what to do next. God speaks, telling them to set apart Barnabus and Saul for the mission he is calling them to. After laying hands on them and praying for them, the church in Antioch sent Saul and Barnabus off. The gospel is being spread to the ends of the earth.

Their first destination is Cyprus, and there they begin to preach the good news of Jesus. A man named Bar-Jesus, who practiced magic, began to oppose them.

We saw a similar event in Acts 8:9-25 with Simon the magician, but Simon was just ignorant of what the kingdom of God was really like. Here, Bar-Jesus is going out of his way to stop them.

Saul, filled with the Holy Spirit, rebukes Bar-Jesus and declares that he will be blind for his wickedness. Once again, the power of God’s kingdom overcomes the force of spiritual darkness.

A proconsul, a fairly senior official who saw what had happened, became a believer there and then. Christianity isn’t just a faith of the poor and the broken. Influential people were starting to get on board. It’s worth noting that this is the first time that Saul is also called Paul (Acts 13:9).

We often think that Jesus changed Saul’s name to Paul when he got saved. We saw him do a similar thing to Simon Peter (Mark 3:16). But we’ve gone four chapters since Saul encountered Jesus.

The reality was that Saul was his Jewish name and Paul was his Roman name. It wasn’t uncommon for people to have multiple names like this. These double names are sometimes called bynames of supernomens. As we move more into the Greco-Roman world, Paul is the name that gets used going forward.

From there they move on, travelling around before arriving in Antioch (not the Antioch they left, this one is Antioch in Pisidia. There, Paul shares the good news of Jesus with those who will listen, and we get a much more detailed description of the message that he gave.

Starting from Egypt, Paul walks them through Israel’s history, reaching up to John the Baptist and then Jesus. Jesus was the embodiment of all the promises God had given his people throughout their history.

Then Paul explains how Jesus was persecuted and killed, but that God didn’t leave him in the grave. Jesus was raised to life to be the promised king from the line of David. Now, Jesus offers forgiveness from sins, offering everyone life free from bondage.

Coming back the next week, Paul explains that this message isn’t just for the Jews, but also the Gentiles. Many of the Gentiles rejoiced at this news, becoming believers of Jesus. But many of the Jews were angered by this and chased Paul and Barnabus out of the city.

Luke mentions that Paul and Barnabus merely brushed the dust off their feet and moved on. This echoes Jesus’ command in Luke 9:5.

Next up is Iconium, and Paul and Barnabus witness to both Jews and Gentiles there. Many believed, but many didn’t. After a while, a group began to plot against Paul and Barnabus, so they took that as their cue to go.

From there, they travel to Lystra. Here there is a man who has been crippled from birth, and so as he normally would, Paul heals this man in the name of Jesus. But the people of Lystra don’t understand that this was Jesus’ power, not Paul’s.

They assume that Paul and Barnabus are gods and try to worship them and make sacrifices to them. Furious, Paul tries to correct them, but he doesn’t have much luck. A group of Jews from Antioch follow Paul and Barnabus to Lystra and whip up the crowd against them. The crowd that wanted to worship Paul as a god just days before now decides to stone him.

Fortunately, Paul isn’t killed, and after finishing up some work in Lystra, he and Barnabus move on to Derbe. They see a church established there and then make their way back to Antioch, visiting each of the cities they’d been to before to further encourage the churches there, and establish some level of organisation and leadership.

Arriving back at Antioch, they filled all the disciples there on how their journey went. This was Paul’s first missionary journey.

Psalm 123

This psalm isn’t attributed to anyone in particular and is named as a psalm of ascent. These psalms were sung by worshippers as they ascended to Jerusalem for the three pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Festival of Weeks, and Festival of Tabernacles) or possibly by the Levites as they ascended the steps of the Temple. Psalm 120-134 are all psalms of ascent.

Psalm 123:1-2 - My eyes are on the Lord

Psalm 123:3-4 - Have mercy on us, O Lord

In our progression so far, we started with the psalmist in a foreign land in Psalm 120, journeying in pursuit of the Lord in Psalm 121, and arrive at Jerusalem, the seat of God’s presence in Psalm 122. Now, here before God, the psalmist appeals to the Lord for help.

It is to the Lord the psalmist sets their eyes. They recognised the Lord as the one ‘enthroned in the heavens’. They look to the Lord as a servant might look to their master for support. The reason they need support is that they have been surrounded by enemies who scorn and treat them with contempt.

The journey of ascent has been about the psalmist travelling from a far to the Lord’s presence. Now that they are here, they start with recognising the Lord as their master and source of help.