Unshaken: Chapter a Day

Acts 13 Discussion

• Pastor Plek

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 18:32

Send a text

A blinding confrontation, a city stirred, and a sermon that threads centuries of promise into a single moment—Acts 13 hits like a drumbeat you feel in your chest. We open in Antioch where worship, fasting, and prayer lead to a clear calling: the Holy Spirit sets apart Barnabas and Saul. That shift from casting lots to listening to the Spirit reframes how we think about direction, leadership, and courage. What follows is a tour through power, envy, truth, and grace that still reads like this morning’s headline.

On Cyprus, Paul faces down a false prophet whose influence reaches the proconsul. The result isn’t theatrics for their own sake but a decisive sign that points back to teaching—the kind of clear, rooted proclamation that astonishes thoughtful people. From there, the journey moves through Perga and onward, where John Mark’s departure exposes the human side of mission work: fatigue, fear, and the friction that can linger when trust is tested. We sit with the tension without losing the thread of hope.

Inside the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch, Paul tells Israel’s story with care, honoring the Old Testament as the living soil from which Jesus rises as David’s promised Savior. Then the crowd swells. Some rejoice; others burn with jealousy. Control slips, and grace pushes past familiar borders. Paul turns to the Gentiles, not out of spite, but in step with God’s promise to be a light to the nations. We talk about why envy is so tempting when God moves through unexpected people, how to keep preaching a clear gospel without flinching, and why rejection often reroutes rather than ends our calling.

If you’re hungry for a faith that is both intellectually honest and spiritually alive, this conversation will meet you where you are. We explore Spirit-led decision-making, confront deception with compassion and backbone, and draw practical applications: refuse jealousy, persevere when it’s hard, honor Scripture’s story, and keep sharing good news with courage. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this with someone who needs a push toward bold faith—what part challenged you most?

Text us at 737-231-0605 with any questions.

Pastor Plek:

And welcome back to a chapter day. Keeps the devil away. I'm Pastor Plek. That's Jacob Lawland. And we are talking Acts chapter 13. We're going to outline it. We're going to find some observations, get into some interpretation, land the plane with some application that you can take with you along your journey today. So Acts 13 starts out with verses 1 through 3 of the commissioning of Barnabas and Saul in Antioch. Then verses 4 through 12, the ministry on Cyprus, where they go to Cyprus and they have this incredible experience. Then you've got the journey to Perga and Antioch in Pissidia in verses 13 through 15. And then you got Paul's sermon in the synagogue, verses 16 through 41, where Paul addresses Israelites, God fears, and he recounts Israel's histories from Exodus, the wilderness, the conquest, the judges, King Saul, and David. Then he presents Jesus as a promised savior from David's line. Then in verses 42 through 52, he responds uh to uh the Jews who get jealous and begin to contradict him and blaspheme, and he turns to the Gentiles, shakes the dust off his feet, so to speak, and heads to Iconium. Uh and this is a lot of excitement here. All right, let's get into this. What observations are you making here?

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah, a few of the first ones I made, I'll just give two in this first section. Um, it's wild that a lifelong friend of Herod the Tetrarch uh is also a friend of Saul. And now he's uh just here doing ministry with them. Um I just think that that's wild. Yeah, I like that.

Pastor Plek:

The other one is I mean, so wait when you think about Herod the Tetrarch, he, you know, he's uh so there's there were several Herods, and that's what gets confusing. It wasn't Herod Agrippa, or sorry, it wasn't Herod.

Jacob Laldin:

Is this the Herod who had John the Baptist beheaded? Or no? Yeah, I guess it must have been. Herod the Tetrarch.

Pastor Plek:

But which Herod then uh yeah, it could have been a well which Herod then is killed in Acts 12? That's the that's where it gets right. Is it Herod Agrippa? I mean that's where you're like, which Herod is it? Because it's wild. Now Herod was angry at the people, uh, and he comes down, that's Herod, that's Acts 12, and then Angel Lord struck him down. Uh, and then Acts 13, you've got the next Herod, and it's Herod the Tetrarch, different from not I don't even uh different from the Herod that kills off uh James.

Jacob Laldin:

Okay, so some scholars think that this is Herod Antipas.

Pastor Plek:

Okay, Herod Antipas. All right, so remember Herod Herod the Great had four sons, and I think he made him Herod Herod Antipas, Herod Agrippa, and then like Herod, like Philip. Okay. So there you go. Kind of a wild thing. Um, but anyway, so yeah, he is clearly the Herods have it out for God's people, right?

Jacob Laldin:

Right. But they weren't for right. And so I just think that that's interesting. Like they grew up together, and now a Manaean, he's here worshiping God. Yeah. And then here's something that I found super cool. Holland was teaching us this at the youth retreat that all of us just went on. Um, the last time that they cast lots was when they chose uh the the newest uh disciple. Matthias. And uh yeah, but it was it chose Matthias, but it yeah, the other guy as well. Right. And and and so now here they're not casting lots, they're asking the spirit asking the Holy Spirit, and and the Holy Spirit's guiding them and speaking to them. Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul. It's not like they just cast lots and rolled some dice, which I mean, hey, if that's how God wants it to speak, he can. But here they have the Holy Spirit. Nice, and then they also send them out by praying and fasting. Um, how great is that that they're praying and fasting before sending these guys out. They didn't just say, You guys are good, Holy Spirit said that y'all should go, so just go on and do and uh do your thing. They still interceded alongside them.

Pastor Plek:

That's good. Okay, so I love when they get to um we're talking about the islands of you know, Cyprus, you've got um Portsei Salamis, and they come across a magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar Jesus. Now, if you're not familiar with Hebrew, uh uh Bar is son of, so son of Jesus. So he comes across a guy named Son of Jesus, which is sort of a wild deal.

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah. And do you think that this magician is like actually claiming he's like, hey everyone, like Jesus had a son and I am he?

Pastor Plek:

I think it's it could be something like that. Um, but I'm thinking it was probably more like there the Jesus was such a normal name. Um so I don't know. That's that's kind of where I I go there. But it's kind of wild that that that that this guy is just it's wild. Yeah, like I'm the son of Jesus.

Jacob Laldin:

Um I almost wonder too, like he gets blinded, just like Saul was blinded. And as I'm like reading through, I'm like, is he gonna get like unblinded and and become a follower? Yeah, but I don't think that that's what happens here.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, and you know, Jesus also could mean savior, so son of a savior. So, you know, it it's kind of wild, anyway. So I I do like that then he gets struck blind, and that's what gets some the pro council to believe. He's like, I believe this teaching. And I love that they don't call it a miracle, they call it a teaching.

Jacob Laldin:

Wow, kind of an odd thing, yeah. And and Paul's like super straightforward. I mean, he's like, you son of the devil, you enemy of all a righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy. Like he does, he does not stand for blasphemy. Right. He calls it out in front of everyone, probably. Like he's super bold in that way. Who knows what kind of following this guy, this false magician might have had.

Pastor Plek:

The question I always have on this was does that supernatural revelation that he could see how awful he was, or was he just like, nah, anybody can see it? This guy's a complete idiot. And he just goes off on him. You know, I always sort of wonder that like, what is it? Was it both? I don't know. Um, because I I feel like if I were to go up to somebody and just sort of say that, I better be right. You know what I mean? Like, right. Now, granted, he is probably dressed weird and and doing like satanic stuff, and so clearly that would be a bold move that would not be that hard to discern. Yeah. Um, I and I think it's interesting, he goes straight for the history of the Jewish people. Yes, and he says, Here's your history, and then now here Jesus completes that.

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah, he he doesn't start from Adam or even Abraham, he he starts from the nation of Israel. Yeah, which yeah, I think that that is fascinating. Um talk to me about these. I don't know a whole lot about these cities and what's going on here, and he's talking about the Gentiles and the Jews. Like, what's how does that play into this this chapter here?

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, so he's talking, he first goes to the Jews, and then as he does, he actually brings on more people because more people want to hear, and there's god fears all over the place. And then when he kind of gets away from circumcision, that there is a there is the a sense of freedom with Christ, the Jews lose their minds because they're like, you can't, you're making our religion something that it's not, and so therefore, don't talk about Jesus. We are not down with that. We're down with the Messiah, we're not down with a godman. And the remember the the Greeks have no problem with godman, like gods becoming men happen all the time in there, but the Jews definitely had a problem with it. It was definitely a reason to kill somebody, and that causes quite the uproar.

Jacob Laldin:

And he was in an area that had like it was very Hellenistic, like he's kind of like in the diaspora. Okay, yeah.

Pastor Plek:

So this so we're we're in pure Greek area. This isn't this is not like um, you know, you're close to to Jerusalem where headquarters of Jewishness is. This is like if they're Jewish, they might be Jewish in name only. However, there's still a lot of cultural pride there that that's you know, don't mess with that or you will die.

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah. I I love seeing their response. Like they hear the gospel and they want more. Yeah. And they're like pleading with him to keep preaching, like, tell us more. Um, I just think that's such a great example of like when the Holy Spirit's moving and working in in someone, like they they're hungry for it. They they want it, they feel the life that it brings.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah. I love too that you know, Elvis Bar Jesus. His he he calls himself son of Jesus, but uh Paul calls him son of the devil. Yeah. Isn't that fun? He like mocks his name. He's like, You son of a devil, you know. I thought that was sort of interesting. Uh and what about John Mark? It's just a minor mention here. But initially he assists, but then deserts the mission in Purga, revealing his just vulnerability, the weakness of what it is to be a man, and like, ah, things are a little hot.

Jacob Laldin:

I'm out. Yeah.

Pastor Plek:

And they said something about it like later on, like they were uh yeah, Paul and Barnabas are gonna are gonna go get such tension over this that they'll they won't, you know, you won't see them talking ever again uh beyond that uh mission.

Jacob Laldin:

So um it brought a lot of heartache, him him abandoning. Like it was Yeah, yeah, that's very true.

Pastor Plek:

All right, let's get into some truths about the nature of man. How about humans can oppose truth for personal gain? Uh like I mean, who would have thought that would happen? Uh people resist the gospel when it threatens their status, their power, their influence. Uh, they resort to deceit and even in in Paul's words, villainy to pervert God's straight paths. I thought that was sort of wild.

Jacob Laldin:

What do you got? Yeah, I think here I just there's something inside of all of us that's craving truth. And so these people hear truth, uh, and and and they just like I said earlier, right? Like they just they want more. And that just, you know, I'm kind of dipping into application, but like preach the gospel, preach truth. Because even if it's truth, like it might not be like specifically Jesus died on the cross for my sins and rose from the grave, but like we know truth when we hear it, like it it resonates with us in a certain way, or it challenges us. Like, you know, the Bible says, like, we're constantly trying to uh suppress a truth.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah. How about the the jealous Jews in Pisidia? Contrast Surgis Paulus. Like, here's a guy that um is smart, he's open-minded, and he listens and hears, and then the the Jews, out of their jealousy of seeing these big crowds, they're like, nah, and they double down and they're like, I don't want to hear anymore, and they just reject the truth. And I think we're facing in a day of just the reality, there's just differences of you just never know what somebody's response to the gospel might be.

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah, it's very polarizing.

Pastor Plek:

All right, let's get into the character of God. What about um God actively directs his mission through the Holy Spirit? I love how the Spirit clearly set apart workers, he guided the journey and he powers the confrontation, like even blinding Elamas. Like you don't just blind somebody, yeah. Like God did that through Paul and confirms the message, showing everyone that his sovereignty in initially spreading that gospel, which I thought was great. Yeah. Um, I I love that uh that God's offers salvation to all, and specifically, he turns to the Gentiles after being rejected by the Jews. The Jewish people who are the chosen people who are supposed to be ones on the front lines of receiving salvation, then when they reject, God shifts his attention, shakes the dust off his feet, so so to speak, with Paul, and then goes after the Gentiles.

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah, I love how um like God's story of how he he brought about his nation. Um like that's important. It means something. Like we shouldn't just like look over the old testament and we should just say, well, Jesus died for our sins, so everything before him, it doesn't matter. Like Paul makes it clear here, like God's story of what he's done with his people, it does matter.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah. And the thing that's weird is like the Jews were really excited about hearing from Paul. And then all of a sudden, they because they urge him to continue in the grace of God the next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jew Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul Revilium. Why would the crowds get upset? Like to me, I'm like, more crowds, more better. But the Jews are like, who are these outsiders? Do you know how many problems these people are? Like, they don't really love God. Their lives are such a mess. They're pagans. And I think, and we're not to get into application, but I think that's a tendency of the human heart to just go to that place, even though God is choosing and directing people beyond um an ethnic category.

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah, that's a really good point. Like, I would imagine like I'm I'm sitting here just uh painting this picture in my head, and they're looking out to a crowd that they're not familiar with.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah.

Jacob Laldin:

And they realize we don't have control over this crowd like we do a crowd of Jews.

Pastor Plek:

Right. But why? I mean, why do they get jealous? That like if like man, I get it. You you're you might be frustrated that Jesus doesn't fit your mold, but why be so against someone who's so for you in many other ways? Anyway, all right. Let's get into some uh application. Sin to avoid or confess, a promise to claim, an example to follow, command to obey, or knowledge to believe. What do you got? Preach the gospel. I love it. All right, yeah. Get out there, share the gospel, share the hope that you have. Uh, how about sin to avoid, avoid jealousy and opposition to God's work, especially if God's working in and through some other people, don't get upset that he's not working with you. He probably is. And it might be the very blessing you're looking for is found in rejoicing and enjoying the people he's blessing.

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah, I think another application is John Mark, he's not mentioned a whole lot here. Um, but he was there helping them and assisting them. And like he like, you know, granted, it didn't end super well. He left. But before that, he's there assisting them and he wants to be of use. Uh, and he's his part isn't greatly mentioned here, but it's it's it's it's mentioned as he's just there to serve and whatever way he he does.

Pastor Plek:

Sure. However, he does quit. He does quit. Bad example. I'd say like, I'd say like, don't be don't be like John Mark, don't quit. Yeah, be like John Mark and help initially, but be like John Mark and sustain and don't give up when it gets hard. Right. Um yeah, I I I I can I mean like his quitting caused a it made two guys have to debate something they didn't want to debate. That was not like he made it like that division made their friendship have to be about what they your view of John Mark was and not about the gospel, which is sad. So don't quit. Don't quit. Um follow through on what your word is. Uh, what about uh any command to obey? I I I do like the call to continue in God's grace, like the Jewish people that instantly were gonna be calling him to die, who initially said, Hey, continue in the grace of God. They wanted to hear the word, um, but then ultimately rejected it when it got too personal. That's good. Yeah. I do think that's how people are. It's like we love hearing God's word that's convicting, but then when it's like convicting towards me, it's like that's so rude.

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah. You know, and I think that that has like it's great hearing a sermon uh that's super theologically sound and you're learning and you're growing, but it takes a lot of time to actually sit and reflect and be introspective and ask yourself, like, right, all of God's word is is a reading me. So how do I actually like make this about me specifically?

Pastor Plek:

Nice. Uh, how about knowledge to believe the God's sovereignty launches and sustains the spread of his word through the Holy Spirit, turning rejection by some into opportunity for others, uh, ensuring the gospel advances to all nations, which I think that's great with power and with joy, and even in spite of opposition.

Jacob Laldin:

Amen. Yeah. Um, I have made you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth, it says in verse 47. And like God desires for all people to be saved. In our minds, we might write certain individuals off. Oh, they're never gonna come to Christ. Yeah, I've been praying for them for years, it hasn't happened.

Pastor Plek:

Like, and it might have been the Jews were so frustrated with the Gentiles, with I don't know if they had dirty dealings, I don't know if they had treated them poorly, but whatever it was, they were just mad that they're being included into the family of God and they were just not gonna stand for it. They would rather not be in the family of God than they'll have let those guys in. And I wonder if there's that part of us that sort of gets like that. When somebody walks in uh into your life, is there an initial annoyance or is there an initial like rejoicing? And my hope is that you rejoice that you have opportunity to bring the gospel and share and have hope and bring it into somebody's life. Hey, thanks so much for joining us today. We'll see you next time on A Chapter a Day.

Podcasts we love

Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.