April 17, 2016
Fourth Sunday of Easter
First Reading: 13:14, 43-52
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041716.cfm
It’s a fact of life that not everyone will like you. But beyond that, when you come preaching a message about a man who died and rose again, inviting people to change their ways and repent, you’re inviting rejection. Some will believe, but many won’t. Jesus warned us about this many times: “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matt 22:14 RSV). “Do not throw your pearls before swine” (Matt 7:6 RSV). He insists that when we go out and proclaim the Gospel, not everyone will want to hear us and even among those who do, some will reject the message that we carry.
The Expanding Orbit of the Gospel
In this Sunday’s first reading, we find the apostles back at it again, proclaiming the gospel fearlessly. However, they are in a radically different setting than we’ve seen before. The apostles start proclaiming the word to Jews in Jerusalem at a Jewish feast (Acts 2), yet Jesus had told them to preach “in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The Book of Acts shows them proclaiming the gospel in these places in order. But now, after the miraculous conversion of the household of the Gentile Cornelius, we find Paul and Barnabas launching out on a mission trip from Syrian Antioch (Acts 13). They start off by preaching the gospel to Jews in synagogues in Cyprus, but end up encountering a Gentile Roman ruler, Sergius Paulus, as well. After Cyprus, they sail north into what is modern-day central Turkey and make their way to the city of Pisidian Antioch.
Preaching to the “End of the Earth”
In this city, they establish a new and radical pattern in their evangelistic approach: they first preach in the synagogue and then afterwards preach also to the Gentiles in that city. Our reading omits Paul’s remarkable speech to the Jews in the Antioch synagogue (Acts 13:16-42), which at first won the Jews’ approbation. Our reading picks up on the following Sabbath, when Paul and Barnabas return to the synagogue for a second round of preaching. After the positive reception of their message on the first Sabbath, it seems like everything would go well, but it does not. “The whole city” turns out to hear them preach and this makes some of the synagogue Jews jealous and unhappy so they start heckling the apostles.
Jew First, Then Greek
In the face of this public opposition, Paul and Barnabas make a theological argument. They say, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you” (Acts 13:46 RSV). That is, the apostles view it as part of the divine plan that in every place, the Jews should have a chance to hear and respond to the gospel first, before the Gentiles do. As Paul says elsewhere:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Rom 1:16 RSV)
Yet the many of the Jews at Pisidian Antioch reject the message of the gospel, so Paul and Barnabas then preach to the Gentiles instead. To justify their switch to the Gentiles, a radical departure from regular Jewish practice, they cite Isaiah:
I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth. (Acts 13:47 RSV)
This quote is a slight re-working of the text of Isaiah:
I will give you as a light to the nations (goyyim = Gentiles), that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. (Isa 49:6 RSV)
The point is that the apostles are reading the Old Testament and seeing a hidden message in it: that God’s plan of salvation includes not only the Jews, but also the Gentiles. Now in the time of the New Covenant, they are called to implement this final stage in the plan of salvation. They are the “messengers of the covenant,” to bring salvation to those who have never heard of the God of Israel.
Shaking the Dust
In response to Paul and Barnabas announcing their turning toward the Gentiles, the Gentiles who hear them preach celebrate and many come to faith in Christ (Acts 13:48). However, the Jews who had disputed with Paul and Barnabas plot against them and stir up the leaders of the city to kick the apostles out. When the apostles are driven out, they perform a symbolic act of rejection against those who have rejected the gospel message: they shake the dust from their feet (13:51). Interestingly, this accords with one of Jesus’ instructions to his disciples:
And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them. (Luke 9:5 RSV)
The proclamation of the Gospel is a serious obligation, but when a group rejects it, then the preacher has discharged his responsibility and is free to move on to preach elsewhere. Paul and Barnabas do continue on their way and have more adventures on their mission, but they do not forget the new Christians at Pisidian Antioch, returning there later to appoint leaders and encourage the community (14:21-23).
The apostles reveal that while not everyone likes them, they remain faithful to their calling. They are doing what Jesus wanted, proclaiming the gospel. And they do not let a little discouragement, rejection, even persecution thwart their mission. They keep on proclaiming, baptizing, making converts and they even support the communities of believers that they establish. It takes serious discernment to know when to “shake the dust off your feet” and when to persist in proclaiming the message to a certain person, yet there are always more souls who need to hear the message of a God who loves them so much that he sent his Son to die for them. That story will never get old.
