And having sailed from Paphos, Paul and his company came to Perga of Pamphylia; and John separated from them and returned to Jerusalem.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
But they, passing through from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia; and entering into the synagogue on the sabbath day they sat down.
Two travellers leave the coast and head inland. They reach a strange city. On the Sabbath they walk into the local Jewish meeting place and sit down. One short verse, and yet it raises a large question. Why did messengers sent to all the nations start among the Jews?
They left Perga without preaching there. One writer traces their route and what waited at the end of it.
From Paphos they sailed to Perga, the chief city of Pamphylia, on the river Cestus, about seven miles from the sea. Luke records nothing worth noting about Perga, except that Mark left them there and returned to Jerusalem. "He did not go with them to the work," Luke said some time afterwards (Acts 15:38). So they pushed on north to Antioch in Pisidia. The time to preach the gospel in Perga had clearly not yet come. They reached that city, the capital of the province, and there was a synagogue of the Jews there.
Another writer sets out what such travel cost.
The apostle covered hundreds and thousands of miles by sea, on foot, on an animal or by carriage. Mountain passes were impossible to cross for weeks at a time. The roads at best were poor, often only narrow tracks, or missing altogether. The country was full of robbers and bandits, who thought nothing of taking a life.
In the verse just before this one, Luke writes of "Paul and his company." One writer links that phrase to Saul's new name.
From this point in the story Luke gives Saul his new name of Paul, which means Little. At the same time we see the Spirit pushing him into the leading position in service and ministry. So in verse 13 the phrase used is "Paul and his company." There is a designed connection, we think, between the change of name and the change of position. He who is Little becomes the Leader.
Why begin in the synagogue? One writer points to a principle found in Paul's own words, and to the only religious setting where such liberty existed.
We may notice the practice of the apostle. It matched the principle so familiar in his inspired words, "to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." At Salamis they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. It was indeed the only place of a religious sort where any such liberty existed. This was also God's order until Jerusalem was destroyed… Until then the door stood open. Those with a Jewish standing were free to read or explain the Scriptures there.
The two men took a seat like everyone else and let the service run its normal course. What happened next came as an invitation.
Back on the mainland they come to Antioch in Pisidia, in what is now Turkey. It is not really that far north of Antioch in Syria. Visiting the local synagogue on the Sabbath day, they sit down. The regular custom of reading in the law and the prophets began the service. The rulers of the synagogue saw that Paul and Barnabas were Jews and men of clear ability. So they invited them to speak. Certainly this was the Lord's opening of the way for them.
The synagogue rulers gave the floor to total strangers. One writer turns that into an uncomfortable question for the church.
It is remarkable how much liberty they had… Can there be a more painful contrast with the habits of the Christian world? Surely we might expect more liberty where grace rules than among people raised under the restrictions of the law. Yet who ever hears of such an invitation nowadays? … In this case the visitors were only strangers. No one seems to have known them, except as serious, godly-looking Jews.
The day here is the Jewish Sabbath, not the Lord's day. One writer keeps the two firmly apart.
These Scriptures prove that the Lord's day holds a place quite unique, quite heavenly, quite divine. But they just as fully prove that the Jewish Sabbath and the Lord's day are two entirely distinct days. The New Testament speaks of the two days as distinctly as we speak of Saturday and Sunday.
- Road — The gospel travelled on foot. They passed Perga by, Mark turned back, and the two pushed north to the provincial capital. A synagogue was waiting there.
- Leader — "Paul and his company" marks the change. Saul's new name means Little, and the Spirit now puts him in front.
- Door — They went where the door already stood open. Any qualified Jew could read and explain the Scriptures in a synagogue, and "to the Jew first" was God's own order.
- Seat — They sat down and waited. The rulers of the synagogue invited them to speak. That was the Lord opening the way.
- Liberty — The rulers asked strangers to speak. One writer holds that up as a rebuke. Where grace rules today we often find less freedom than these people had under law.