Both Blood & Word
Last week we read together the beginning of Acts chapter thirteen in which Barnabas and Saul are set apart, that is made holy, and promptly sent on mission to Cyprus where they encounter the faithful Roman Proconsul, Sergius Paulus, and the false Jewish prophet, Elymas the Magician. Both chapters twelve and thirteen within the book of Acts carry considerable parallels; the Church remains triumphant despite the wickedness of the world around them. In chapter twelve it is King Herod Agrippa who exploits his political power to lead his nation neighbors, those stricken by poverty and famine, into idolatry, and in chapter thirteen it is Elymas the Magician who tries to “turn the proconsul away from the faith.” Herod and Elymas represent for us dire warnings of the severe judgment that will follow those who become themselves stumbling blocks to the vulnerable among us, the novitiate of the faith and the poor. Jesus communicates to us, in the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, the punishment that awaits those who lead theirs brothers and sisters into sin; “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” When God strikes down Herod Agrippa and consumes him with worms, and when God strikes Elymas blind through the Paul we ought to count this a grace, a gift from God. Not only was God decisively and unambiguously bringing judgment against those who stand against his Bride, the Church, but He was sparing both Herod and Elymas from a greater judgment.
The other parallel between the texts from the last two weeks is the flourishing of the first century Church. After the death of Herod, in Acts chapter twelve, scripture immediately follows by declaring that despite the political corruption around them “the word of God increased and multiplied.” And in the next chapter, after Elymas is stricken blind, “the proconsul believed, when he saw what has occurred, for he was astonished as the teaching of the Lord.” Like I taught two weeks ago Jesus assures the Church, we who proclaim with Peter that He is the Christ, that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against” us. That is the Gospel, Amadeo. May we live in the splendor of that truth!
This evening we will be reading together the end of Acts chapter thirteen wherein which (1) Paul teaches how Christ is the fulfillment and end of the family of Abraham, (2) and brings division among the Jews and salvation unto the Gentiles. Paul’s preaching is a powerful testament of the potency of the Gospel and the word of our testimony.
Let us read together the end of Acts chapter thirteen, verses thirteen through fifty-two:
Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said:
“Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’
“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,
“‘You are my Son,
today I have begotten you.’
And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,
“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’
Therefore he says also in another psalm,
“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’
For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:
“‘Look, you scoffers,
be astounded and perish;
for I am doing a work in your days,
a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’”
As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.
The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,
“‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Exposition
As we discussed together last week Jesus did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them. After arriving in Antioch Paul and those traveling with him go the synagogue on the Sabbath, as was customary for the Jews. After the reading of the word was proclaimed the rulers of the synagogue opened discussion to those present by asking “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” This is not much different from the ritual we have at Amadeo known as wait on the Lord, where we carve out a time in the service to open dialogue to anyone present who might have a “word of encouragement for the people.” When we read this in light of Saint Paul’s teaching in his letter to the Corinthian church that “the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation” we understand that the priests in the synagogue were seeking a prophetic word, to upbuild, encourage, and console. Paul answered the invitation. When Paul speaks I am reminded of Acts chapter seven where Stephen gives his speech to the Sanhedrin shortly before his stoning, where he recounts the history of Israel up until the murder of the ‘Righteous One.’
Saint Paul begins by recounting the exodus from bondage in Egypt, to the raising of David as King, to the advent of John the Baptist. He teaches how again how Christ is the end of each of these stories. He preaches which great persuasion the Good News of Jesus’s death and resurrection. He teaches, like any great preacher does, with a wide range of scriptural citations; he quotes Psalm 2 (how Jesus is the Son Promised to David), Isaiah 55 (that Jesus is the Rightful David Heir), Psalm 16 (that Christ is resurrected and will no more see death or decay), Habakkuk 1 (that there will be scoffers of the Gospel), and Isaiah 49 (that Christ came to bring salvation to the Gentiles). After preaching in the synagogue we are told “The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.” Again, as I remarked two weeks ago this is why, as Jeryl reminds us, the preaching of the Gospel is central to the vitality of the Church. When we teach the word of God faithfully and with conviction it is compelling to those who have ears to hear.
Yet, it will likewise will reap division and persecution. Jesus taught his disciples that
you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
When Jesus taught his first sermon in the synagogue of his home town he was chased out, and here we find that Paul and those traveling with him became “reviled” as the Jews who saw the great crowds “filled with jealously.” Paul and Barnabas reply to the jealously of the Jews that
It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.
“When the Gentiles heard this”, it follows, “they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.” Again, like it did in chapter twelve, “the word of God increased and multiplied.”
Let us take encouragement from the testimony of Saint Paul, and let us be encouraged and emboldened to, whenever welcomed in conversation, preach the word of God faithfully and with conviction. John of Patmos, in his Revelation, prophesies that
the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down — he who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
May we have the grace to preach the Gospel, to proclaim he who “is a light for the Gentiles that [we] may bring salvation to the ends of the earth” through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
As we prepare to take communion I would like us to again mediate upon the words of John; that the Devil has been defeated “through the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” Every time we approach together the table, and partake of the bread and the cup, we proclaim the triumph of Christ on the cross. It is the cross which secured for us the blood of the lamb which washes our sins white as snow. It is the cross which we proclaim, like Saint Paul, through our testimonies. It is the cross which makes us not love this temporal life, but the eternal and everlasting one. Let us take a moment to examine ourselves, and confess silently within our hearts our sins, and ask for the forgiveness of God.
The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
