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Acts 13:14 |
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But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.
Note 1 at Ac 13:14: Antioch in Pisidia was different than Antioch in Syria, where Paul and Barnabas had spent so much time teaching and where the disciples were first called Christians (see note 3 at Ac 11:19). Antioch in Pisidia was a strategic city, with roads radiating from it in every direction. It was visited by Paul on all three of his missionary journeys.
Note 2 at Ac 13:14: This is the second time that Scripture mentions Paul and Barnabas entering into Jewish synagogues to preach the Gospel (first - Ac 13:5). This was Paul's normal method of bringing the Gospel to these regions (Iconium, Ac 14:1; Thessalonica, Ac 17:1; Berea, Ac 17:10; Athens, Ac 17:16-17; Corinth, Ac 18:1 and 4; Ephesus, Ac 18:19; 19:1, and 8, etc.) insomuch that Ac 17:2 says that it was "his manner."
This is especially interesting when we realize that the Lord had already told Paul twice (Ac 9:15-16 and 22:21) that he was specifically sent as an apostle to the Gentiles. Also, twice when Paul was in the Jewish synagogues and the Jews rejected his message of Christ as the Messiah, Paul clearly spoke that from that time on he was going to take the Gospel to the Gentiles (Ac 13:46 and 18:6), yet in both cases he went back into synagogues to proclaim Jesus as the Christ. It is true that Gentiles who were seeking the true God went to the Jewish synagogues (Ac 13:14, 47-48; 14:1; 17:1, 4, 10, 12; and 18:4), but most of the Gentiles were not in the synagogues.
Paul's motives for doing this are not explained in the Scriptures. It is true that the Gentiles who attended the synagogues were seeking the true and living God of the Jews, and they were probably the most receptive Gentiles to the Gospel message in these cities. Therefore, this was a logical place for Paul to begin. However, because of Paul's own statements about how he longed for the Jews to be saved (Ro 9:1-3) and his actions to pacify the Jews in Jerusalem (Ac 21:20-26), it would appear that Paul never limited his ministry to Gentiles alone but always sought to reach the Jews with the Gospel message too.
