2 June. Paul reaches out to non-Jews at Pisidian Antioch
"[Paul and Barnabas] continued their trip from Perga and went to Antioch, a city in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down."
"After the Law of Moses and the writing of the prophets were read, the leaders of the synagogue sent a message to Paul and Barnabas: Brothers, if you have any message that will encourage the people, please speak."
"Paul stood up, raised his hand and said, 'You Israelites and you who worship God, please listen! The God of the Israelites chose our ancestors. He made the people great during the time they lived in Egypt, and he brought them out of that country with great power... God destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan and gave the land to his people.'..."
"'After this God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet, Then the people asked for a king, so God gave them Saul son of Kish... After God took him away, God made David their king [and] said about him... "He will do all I want him to do."'"
"'So God has brought Jesus, one of David's descendants, to Israel to be its Saviour, as he promised... Those who live in Jerusalem and their leaders did not realise that Jesus was the Saviour... They could not find any real reason for Jesus to be put to death, but they asked Pilate to have him killed... But God raised him up from the dead! After this, for many days, those who had gone with Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem saw him...'"
"'Brothers, understand what we are telling you: You can have forgiveness of your sins through Jesus. The law of Moses could not free you from your sins. But through Jesus. everyone who believes is free from all sins...'"
"While Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people asked them to tell them more about these things on the next Sabbath..."
"On the next Sabbath day, almost everyone in the city came to hear the word of the Lord. Seeing the crowd, the Jewish people became very jealous and said insulting things and argued against what Paul said. But Paul and Barnabas spoke very boldly, saying, 'We must speak the message of God to you first. But you refuse to listen... So we will now go to the people of other nations...'"
"When those who were not Jewish heard Paul say this, they were happy and gave honour to the message of the Lord... But the Jewish people stirred up some of the important religious women and the leaders of the city. They started trouble against Paul and Barnabas and forced them out of their area... But the followers were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit."
(Acts 13:14-52)
From Perga, Paul and Barnabas headed inland to Antioch in Pisidia (see 4 on the map on 31 May). On the Sabbath, Paul preached a long sermon on ‘justification by grace’ (being put right with God through faith in Jesus Christ) to the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles assembled in the synagogue.
The following Sabbath, nearly all the city turned out to hear Paul. The Jews became jealous and abusive to Paul, so he started to take the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles instead.
This marked a radical turning point in Paul’s ministry. From this time on, Paul began to focus his preaching on the non-Jewish Gentile population.
Eventually the Jews expelled Paul from Antioch, so he and Barnabas moved on to Iconium.
The photo shows the Decumanus Maximus and the Roman theatre at Antioch in Pisidia.
You can see more photos of Antioch in Pisidia @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/…/paul-barnabas-travel-inl…/