Chapter 16 – Antioch in Pisidia

Narration

Acts 13:14-52

Obviously, the stresses of such an uncertain task as preaching were more than John Mark could bear, but Paul and Barnabas could not give up so easily.  They headed north to Antioch in Pisidia.

Once again, the Sabbath found them in a synagogue, sitting with the rest of the congregation.  After the readings from the Law and the Prophets, they received a quick message from the synagogue officials: “If you have any words of encouragement for the people, please speak.”  Paul stood up and motioned with his hand for silence.

He spoke to them briefly of the history of Israel and how God had looked after them.  Speaking of David, he referred to the offspring God had promised and introduced them to Jesus as the son of David.  Crucifixion and resurrection completed his discourse, and the entire presentation was very well received.  People begged them to come again the next Sabbath.

They did.  So did almost the entire town, news of this new message having spread widely.  A perfect opportunity for all to hear about Jesus.

However, the Jewish leaders were less happy with the good turnout.  Jealousy ate them up and they denied everything Paul and Barnabas said.

Paul and Barnabas responded with the devastating news that, although it was necessary for the Jews to be offered salvation through Jesus first, since they didn’t want it, it would be offered to the Gentiles instead.

The Gentiles were pleased and many believed, but the Jews stirred up some important men and women to start persecuting Paul and Barnabas until they could drive them away.

As Jesus had suggested to his disciples, Paul and Barnabas wiped the dust off their feet as a sign of rejection and moved on.

Although they left trouble, threats and persecution behind, they also left behind some new believers, men and women filled with the joy of salvation.

Sketch 16.1

A large crowd moved noisily down the road out of Antioch, their loud, aggressive words directed at two men whom they pushed ahead of them.

“Get out of our district,” shouted a voice.

“And stay out,” snarled another.

“We don’t want heretics here,” came a slower but authoritative voice from the back of the group.  From the group’s response, it was clear he was their leader.  His clothing showed him to be an important man in the city.

Anyone looking closely at the group would have noticed two distinct categories of people within it: the majority, well-dressed but unarmed; and the minority, the ones doing most of the shoving, well armed.

As for the two men at the front – the ones being prodded and harried – they were dressed in the common working clothes of the working class.  They weren’t openly resisting, but they obviously didn’t want to go, leading to frequent manhandling.

From time to time, more forceful shoves caused them to stumble and almost fall, but they still didn’t complain.

Their clothes were certainly not new, but some of the large tears they sported probably were.  Each man held tightly to a large bundle slung over his shoulder.

Suddenly, the smaller man received a particularly heavy push.  He staggered and fell, dropping his bundle as he flung out his hands to break his fall.  One of the armed men immediately kicked the bundle, catapulting it off the road into the drainage ditch, while another kicked at the fallen man, hitting him in the thigh.

Laughter rose among the group, but the man jumped quickly to his feet and scrambled to rescue his bundle from the damp earth of the ditch.  He picked it up by the carry ropes and slung it over his shoulder again as the party came to a stop.

The laughter died down as the slow, authoritative voice announced, “This is as far as we need go, ladies and gentlemen.  All except for you two,” he added, speaking to the pair who had been the focus of so much undesirable attention.  “You two must keep moving.  Get out of our district and don’t come back.”

“If we see you back in Antioch again, someone might take matters into their own hands,” said a woman’s harsh voice.

“True, true,” agreed the leader, “and our civil authorities may decide to take firmer action than the unofficial step we have taken today.  Of course, some of us would be involved in the decision-making, and I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard to convince our fellow councillors to take serious punitive action once they knew how much disturbance you two have already caused.”

Paul faced the incongruous group that had driven them out of Antioch: Jewish religious leaders rubbed shoulders with pagan priests and important men and women from the city’s upper classes.  Catching his breath, he answered, “We have not caused any disturbance or rebellion.  We have told you the solemn truth.”

“Truth?” began a Jewish leader, his voice coldly contemptuous, screwing up his mouth until his beard jutted out.

The slow voice hushed him, then said, “We’re not going into all that again.  You two,” he pointed to Paul and Barnabas, “are leaving our district right now.”

Paul was obviously about to speak, but the leader held up his hand.  “Without further discussion,” he ordered firmly, “or these guards will deal with you immediately.”  His eyes narrowed and his voice hardened as he concluded, “And if either of you ever comes back to Antioch, together or separately, you’ll pay for it with your lives.”

Once more, Paul looked as if he was about to speak, but Barnabas grabbed his arm.  “Come on, Paul,” he said, “let’s go.”

Paul pursed his lips, then sighed and nodded.  “Very well,” he said, bending over and taking off his sandals.  He stood and banged them together, saying, “Since you reject God’s offer of salvation, we shake the dust of your town off our feet as evidence against you.”

Barnabas did the same.

They put their sandals back on without a word, then turned away from their persecutors.  Packs over their shoulders, they walked away.

The watching group stood in silence for a while, then turned towards Antioch, strangely subdued.  Perhaps they unwillingly acknowledged the significance of Paul and Barnabas’ symbolic action.

Soon the crowd was out of sight and Paul and Barnabas were on their own again, following the road to Iconium.

“Why do our religious leaders choose to stir up hatred?” asked Paul.

“They just can’t cope with new ideas,” answered Barnabas.  “Their entire life has been dedicated to maintaining tradition in the face of paganism and fighting off newfangled ideas.  They can’t see that these aren’t new ideas at all, just the fulfilment of ancient prophecies.”

“Our leaders fought Jesus, and now they’re fighting us.”

“And all because they don’t understand that Jesus was presenting the only way of salvation, living a life that truly fulfilled the intentions and goals of Moses’ law.”

“I suppose you’re right,” sighed Paul.  “They’re wedded to their own traditions rather than God’s truth.  And when they hear anything they weren’t brought up with, they reject it.”

“Utterly.”

“Almost without any attempt at thought.”

“Thankfully, though, not everyone is like that, so now there are some new believers in Antioch.”

“Which makes it all worthwhile,” said Paul.  “That’s why we went there.”

“And the enemy didn’t kill us,” smiled Barnabas.

“They didn’t even hurt us,” said Paul.  As Barnabas questioned him with a look, he added, “At least, not much.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes.

“Jesus warned me that I would suffer many things in his name,” mused Paul.  “It hasn’t happened yet.”

“Give thanks to God, then, and keep preaching – but don’t go looking for trouble.”

Paul laughed.  “You’re right.  My suffering so far is trivial compared with crucifixion.  In fact, I think we’ve both been looked after so that we haven’t suffered as our enemies hoped.”

“And we’re free to go to Iconium and keep preaching.”

“Will we ever go back to Antioch, Barnabas?”

“You heard their threats.”

“True, but now there are believers to think about.  Little children in the faith who will need support.”

“Perhaps others could go there.  Maybe some of the believers from Antioch in Syria could visit them.  It wouldn’t be so dangerous if people just visited to see the believers, rather than preaching publicly.”

“Danger didn’t keep Jesus away from Jerusalem.”

“I’m convinced that we shouldn’t run away from danger,” said Barnabas, “but I don’t think we should go looking for it either.”

“I’m sure you’re right.  Danger will always be present if we preach Jesus Christ as the coming king.  Most of the Jews reject him as Messiah and want to kill his supporters, the Romans consider him an enemy to the empire and want to kill his followers, and the Greeks say we’re introducing a new religion and want to kill us for that.”

“Fortunately, the Greeks also want to laugh at us because they think we’re celebrating a loser, so that takes the edge off the danger we face from them!”