What does Acts 13:23 mean?
Barnabas is with Paul, in a synagogue in Pisidian Antioch in modern-day Asia Minor. It is custom for the synagogue leader to ask educated newcomers to speak at an assembly to give the regular attenders a new insight or news to discuss. This is a perfect opportunity for Paul to tell Jews about Jesus, and he uses this strategy throughout his church-planting ministry.Paul is nearing the end of the first of five sections in his message: God's saving work in Israel's history (Acts 13:16–25). He has covered how God saved the Israelites from slavery, homelessness, and enemy armies. Now he reminds his audience how God promised that David, the greatest saving king, would have a descendent that would be the ultimate Savior. As a hint, Paul identifies this Savior as Jesus.
Up to this point, Paul probably held the attention of his audience. They know how God used Moses, Joshua, the judges, and Kings Saul and David to save Israel as a nation. John the Baptist's ministry is well known, even far from Judea (Acts 10:37–38; 18:24–25; 19:1–3). They know that John promised the Savior was coming.
But to this point, God's saving work in Israel has always been corporate: for the nation as a whole. And what the Jews in the synagogue know even better than John's message is that Israel is still under the control of Rome. There is no Jewish king of the line of David sitting on the throne (2 Samuel 7:16). Although Jesus had the triumphal entry of a king (Matthew 21:9), the Romans killed Him. The Jews in Pisidian Antioch don't know that Jesus rose or that before He can save the Jews as a nation, He will first save individuals from their sins.
In the next sections of Paul's message, he will have to show how Jesus the Savior did die but was resurrected, how that resurrection was prophesied in Hebrew Scripture, how He presently offers a different type of salvation, and how the members of the synagogue need to accept that salvation (Acts 13:26–41). Just like in Jerusalem, many of the people accept this salvation, but the whole thing proves to be more than the Jewish leaders can handle (Acts 13:44–52).
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.
