Acts 13 - IVP New Testament Commentaries

THE CHURCH IN ALL NATIONS: PAUL'S MISSIONARY JOURNEYS

The Jerusalem church has faithfully carried the gospel across many cultural thresholds as witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria (Acts 1:8). Through Paul it will embark on fulfilling the "to the ends of the earth" phase of the Great Commission (9:15-16; 13:2).

What the non-Christian seeker and the believer find in Luke's account of this next phase is an effectively contextualized message for increasingly diverse audiences (13:16-41; 14:15-17; 17:22-31); a mission progressing triumphantly, even over the forces of darkness (13:8-12; 14:8-20; 16:16-18; 19:11-20; 13:45-52; 14:19-20; 16:16-40; 19:21-40); a church spiritually united though ethnically diverse (15:1-35); and a movement innocent before the state (16:35-40; 18:12-17; 19:37-40).