Acts 13:38-49
Second Sunday after the Epiphanyย -ย 15 January 2017
Rev. John Derme
When John the Baptist's disciples saw him point to Jesus and say, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world," I wonder how much meaning they understood from his words. Did they understand that he wanted them to do more than simply look with their eyes, but rather behold Jesus for who he is by faith? Or that the Lamb of God is the perfect sacrifice, who was sent by God and who is God? Or that he takes away sin by winning forgiveness with his life and death? The most difficult part of that introduction for first century Jews to understand may have been the last word: the world. We know that even some of Jesus' own disciples later on had trouble understanding that one. Do we understand what it means for us? Who is "the world"? Whose sins does the Lamb of God take away?
The apostle Paul quotes the Old Testament Scripture to answer that question definitively in our Second Lesson. Acts chapter 13 records what happened to Paul and his colleague Barnabas when they took the good news of Jesus to a new place. On Paul's first missionary journey, he visited a city called Antioch. Since the home base of Paul's missionary journeys was another city called Antioch, and since the Antioch that Paul was visiting was in the region of Pisidia, we call this city Pisidian Antioch, so as not to confuse the two.
Pisidian Antioch had a Jewish synagogue, so Paul went there on the Sabbath, as he was accustomed to doing. The people there were not only ethnically Jewish, but there were also several Gentile believers in the promised Messiah. Since he was a visiting rabbi, Paul was asked to preach to the people gathered there.ย
Paul told the congregation the good news that they had not yet heard. Jesus had come and had fulfilled all of the Old Testament promises of the Messiah that they heard week after week. Jesus was the Savior! Paul told them how Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried. Paul told them that he rose again from the dead. Paul told them that they are not justified by their obedience to the Old Testament law of God. Rather, the only way to be justified before God is through faith in Jesus. Paul quoted an Old Testament warning to urge them not to reject this Savior.
When the synagogue service was over, the people were so excited about this good news that they wanted to hear more. They invited Paul and Barnabas to come back on the next Sabbath and tell them more about Jesus. Many of them followed Paul and Barnabas, and the missionaries encouraged them.
The folks who had enjoyed the message must have invited all of their friends and family. The next Sabbath nearly the whole city was gathered at the synagogue to listen. Not everybody was happy about Paul and Barnabas preaching this good news, however. The Jews became jealous when they saw the crowds. Was it because they'd never had crowds that big? Was it because there were so many Gentiles that it felt like they were taking over the synagogue? Whatever it was, they began to say disrespectful things about Paul's message โ disrespectful things about Jesus.
So Paul said to the Jews, "You had the first priority. It was necessary for us to bring the gospel to you first. But since you are rejecting it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we will take this good news to the Gentiles. Paul quoted the Old Testament one more time โ a verse from today's First Lesson. Through the prophet, the Lord had foretold that Jesus would be the Savior not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles, and that the good news would go out to all nations of the world.
What a shame that those Jews reacted the way they did, letting their jealousy cause them to reject the gospel. The Savior came from their nation! The gospel was theirs! They had first priority to hear it! But they gave it up. How wonderful, though, that the Gentiles received the good news with such joy. Until this point, they had been like second-class believers. But Paul showed them that already in the Old Testament it was God's plan that Jesus would be their Savior. As John the Baptist had said, Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
Jesus is the Savior of all nations from Old Testament times and Paul's time. Jesus is the Savior of every person alive in our world today. Unfortunately, not everybody receives the good news of Jesus in faith. Many people still reject him. What a tragedy! Jesus has earned eternal life for all. He gives it away for free. And yet so many people let other things become more important to them. People who reject Jesus will suffer eternal death in hell, instead. That's not what God wants! God sends his gospel to all nations. But some people don't consider themselves worthy of eternal life.
Do you consider yourself unworthy of eternal life? God has brought the good news of Jesus to you. Nothing is more important than eternal life. Don't reject it. If you do, you will regret it forever.
The truth is, we are not worthy of eternal life by nature. Because we are naturally enemies of God, we deserve death in this life and forever. But the Lord doesn't treat us as we deserve! He doesn't justify us based on what we have done. He forgives us based on what Jesus has done for us. Jesus has made us worthy of eternal life by being perfect in our place. Jesus has made us worthy of eternal life by dying to pay for our sins. And the Lord gives us this worthiness through faith in Jesus. What an honor it is that the Lord has appointed us to eternal life!
In our Sunday morning adult Bible class, we recently finished a study of the Bible's doctrine of predestination. That has to be one of the hardest teachings for our limited minds to grasp. But did you see how clearly and simply our Second Lesson teaches predestination? The people who believed weren't given any credit for coming to faith. They weren't given any credit for not rejecting the gospel, either. They believed, because the Lord had appointed them to eternal life. God brought them to faith. The Lord gets the credit. On the other hand, those who did not believe the gospel were completely at fault for their own decision. God doesn't decide that anyone would reject his gospel. Those people refused to believe, because they didn't consider themselves worthy of eternal life.
God doesn't choose to send anybody to hell. But he does choose to bring people to eternal life. The Lord has appointed you to hear his good news. Because the Lord is at work in you today in his Word and Baptism and Communion, you can be certain that he counts you worthy of eternal life. Rejoice and honor the Word of the Lord by continuing to hear and believe it!
The Lord brought the message of Jesus to both the Jews and the Gentiles. Jesus is the Savior of Jews and Gentiles โ of all nations. That is what John the Baptist meant when he pointed to Jesus and called him the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That means that, no matter who you are, Jesus takes away your sins!