44 The next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming. Acts 13:44–45
Paul’s message had struck a real chord with the people of Pisidian Antioch. The excitement was not based on a physical display of God’s power but on His Word. But right on cue, the enemy began a counteroffensive using contradictions and slander driven by jealousy. In modern terms, they began “fact checking” Paul and Barnabas. But historian Luke calls it out for what it really was, blasphemy. The question is in the final analysis, why be jealous of something you can freely have yourself?
In a dramatic move, the men boldly stated their intention to move on exclusively to the Gentiles in response, going as far as to claim that the jealous Jews we’re judging themselves “unworthy of eternal life,” a clear indication that they possessed no “appointment to eternal life” which emanates from belief. This state was shockingly sad when you think about it, to contest with the Spirit of God who is calling you rather than to acquiesce in faith.
Good came from this unfortunate reaction, in that the Gentile world was now cleared for takeoff. Why was it that the “devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city” led the opposition? Answer. They stood to lose their lofty positions of power and prestige amongst the people. Adulation was being redirected from them to God and their pride would not tolerate it, so they set out to drive these men out of the city.
But before they could, Paul and Barnabas dusted their feet off and moved on to Iconium. They’d meet their share of prominent men and women in the future who’d greet them with open arms. Like Crispus, the leader of the synagogue in Corinth, who believed in the Lord with all his household (Acts 18:8), and “a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, who after listening the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.” (Acts 16:14)
Luke concludes this section of his account (Acts 13:44-52) with this, “And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”
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