Introduction
Acts 13:26–41: Paul continues his message to the people in Antioch and proclaims the Good News about Jesus. In verses 33 and 34, Paul quotes from Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 55:3, pointing to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Scriptures.
Today’s Key Verse: Acts 13:32–33a GNT
[Paul said]: “We are here to bring the Good News to you: what God promised our ancestors he would do, he has now done for us, who are their descendants, by raising Jesus to life.”
Read
26 “My fellow Israelites, descendants of Abraham, and all Gentiles here who worship God: it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent! 27 For the people who live in Jerusalem and their leaders did not know that he is the Savior, nor did they understand the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Yet they made the prophets’ words come true by condemning Jesus. 28 And even though they could find no reason to pass the death sentence on him, they asked Pilate to have him put to death. 29 And after they had done everything that the Scriptures say about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from death, 31 and for many days he appeared to those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now witnesses for him to the people of Israel. 32-33 And we are here to bring the Good News to you: what God promised our ancestors he would do, he has now done for us, who are their descendants, by raising Jesus to life. As it is written in the second Psalm,
‘You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.’
34 And this is what God said about raising him from death, never to rot away in the grave:
‘I will give you the sacred and sure blessings
that I promised to David.’
35 As indeed he says in another passage,
‘You will not allow your faithful servant to rot in the grave.’
36 For David served God’s purposes in his own time, and then he died, was buried with his ancestors, and his body rotted in the grave. 37 But this did not happen to the one whom God raised from death. 38-39 All of you, my fellow Israelites, are to know for sure that it is through Jesus that the message about forgiveness of sins is preached to you; you are to know that everyone who believes in him is set free from all the sins from which the Law of Moses could not set you free. 40 Take care, then, so that what the prophets said may not happen to you:[a]
41 ‘Look, you scoffers! Be astonished and die!
For what I am doing today
is something that you will not believe,
even when someone explains it to you!’”
Reflect
To whom does Paul say the message of salvation has been sent (verse 26)? What does Paul say about Jesus? Who are the witnesses that Paul speaks of (verse 31)? In what ways can you be a witness for Jesus?
Pray
Lord Jesus, I want to be a light that leads others to you. Help me to be a witness for you and to proclaim boldly your message of love and salvation. Amen.
Tomorrow’s Reading
Acts 13:42–52: Paul and Barnabas are invited to return to Antioch.
