Having walked out of a closely guarded cell, escorted by an angel in the early hours of the morning (Acts 12:5-10), Peter made his way quickly to the large house in Jerusalem where the church often met. Initially, Rhoda the servant girl who heard Peter knocking did not open the outer door, presumably for security reasons, but joyfully reported that he was outside.
King Herod Agrippa had a privileged upbringing in Rome. He enjoyed having power and wanted popularity but was self-centred: he was his own god. The Jews liked him because he appeased them, but he disliked minorities such as the coastal people of Tyre and Sidon, and also Christians. Having failed to secure Jewish approval, because God foiled Peter's execution (Acts 12:6-11), Herod's servant Blastus provided him with another opportunity to be popular.
Despite all the persecution, which had centred on Jerusalem after Stephen's murder, God was at work to move and use His people. Barnabas had previously gone to Tarsus to find Saul, and bring him to Antioch where they taught many people about Jesus (Acts 11:25-26).
We are used to thinking that Paul the Apostle was a great spiritual leader. But he had to start his ministry somewhere. He had not spent almost three years watching and helping Jesus, like the other apostles. Paul's theological education was through Jesus' personal tuition (Galatians 1:15-17) but he needed the practical experience.
On the island of Crete, Barnabas and Paul's east to west training-evangelistic tour was almost completed. In Paphos they met spiritual opposition from Bar-Jesus, known as Elymas 'the sorcerer'. He was the governor's servant. But, the more this occultist spoke badly about the trainee missionaries the more his master, Sergius Paulus, wanted to hear what they had to say about God (Acts 13:6-7).
This is the first episode where Paul takes the role of primary evangelist. Barnabas was there (Acts 13:42) but his job in encouraging Paul and mentoring him in mission (Acts 13:2, 7) was over.
All good communication needs to make a connection with the audience: something they already know or have experienced. The parables of Jesus are an example of that kind of communication. Paul had been invited to speak in the synagogue in Antioch, in Pisidia (Acts 13:15). Synagogues provided a place to worship in prayer and to hear God's Word read and explained.
Paul was teaching in the synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia on his first missionary journey. He wanted to talk about Jesus but started by describing the heroes of Israel, who were all disappointing in one way or another. After settling His people in the Promised Land, God gave them a succession of fifteen 'judges' or 'deliverers' to bring them back to His plan. The same cycle repeated itself: Israel turned away from the Lord … He allowed their enemies to bring hardship to them … they cried out to the Lord and He sent a deliverer. The last of those was Samuel.
The Jews always looked forward to God's Saviour. Although they idealised their national heroes, the Scripture is quite honest about their failings. Under David's reign the kingdom was the most extensive and wealthy so they saw him as the model of God's Saviour to come. Paul, teaching in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, followed their logic to introduce Jesus. Jesus was a direct descendent of David, born in David's city of Bethlehem. But He was much more than a copy of David; Jesus was the real Saviour of whom David was just an imperfect model.
Paul's missionary activity was all about helping people to recognise Jesus as God's Saviour, and respond to Him in repentance and faith (Acts 20:21). Speaking in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch to displaced Jews and God-seeking Gentiles (Acts 13:16), Paul started by saying that the religious leaders in Jerusalem did not realise who Jesus was.
