Commentary on Acts of the Apostles · Matthew Henry

050 - Acts 1314-41

·1 hr 7 min·4 clips

Paul ties Jesus to David, John the Baptist, and "the forgiveness of sins."

1. Commentary on Acts of the Apostles, episode 050, covers Acts 13:14-41 and Paul's synagogue sermon at Antioch in Pisidia. 2. The narration follows Paul and Barnabas, while Matthew Henry supplies the explanatory commentary on why their sermon matters to Jews and Gentiles. 3. The passage asks what the gospel does with Israel's history, the law and prophets, and the promise of a Savior from David's seed. 4. Paul and Barnabas leave Perga and come to Antioch in Pisidia, then enter the synagogue on the Sabbath and sit down. 5. The rulers of the synagogue finish the reading of the law and the prophets and invite them, saying, "if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on." 6. Matthew Henry pauses on that invitation and argues that Scripture reading alone was not enough without exposition and exhortation. 7. Paul stands up, beckons with his hand, and addresses "Men of Israel" and those who "fear God." 8. He begins with God's choice of the fathers, the exodus from Egypt, the forty years in the wilderness, and the destruction of seven nations in Canaan. 9. He moves through the judges, the request for a king, Saul the son of Cis, and David, "a man after mine own heart." 10. Henry says those stages show God's favor to Israel and also show that earlier arrangements were not the final form. 11. Paul says that "of this man's seed" God raised up Jesus "according to his promise." 12. John the Baptist appears as the forerunner who preached "the baptism of repentance" and said, "I am not he." 13. Paul then says the rulers in Jerusalem did not know Jesus or "the voices of the prophets" read every Sabbath day. 14. He states that they found "no cause of death in him" but asked Pilate that he should be slain. 15. The account says they took Jesus down from "the tree" and laid him in a sepulchre. 16. Paul counters that God raised Jesus from the dead and that he was seen "many days" by witnesses from Galilee to Jerusalem. 17. The sermon calls the resurrection "glad tidings" and ties it to the promise made to the fathers and to Psalm 2, "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." 18. Henry's tone is explanatory and text-heavy, with many cross-references to Deuteronomy, Romans, Psalms, and Luke. 19. Listeners interested in Acts, Paul, and Bible exposition will get the most from it. 20. Listeners seeking a short, modern conversation or light banter may skip it.

As heard by us

A solemn, text-heavy argument that traces Israel's history into Jesus and presses the warning home.

The piece makes a sober case that Israel's story is not set aside but carried forward into Jesus, moving from David to the promised seed with deliberate weight.

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Why you'd press play

You want a careful case for Jesus built from Israel's own history.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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