As Paul was preaching in the Pisidian Antioch synagogue a number of Jews and God-fearing proselytes had believed and wanted to hear more the next week. The response was so great that Luke tells us that "nearly the whole city" gathered to hear. We discuss possible locations where that could have happened. This turn out sparked opposition from some of the Jews. In class we look at some of the Greek words in verse 45 and show how Luke used the same terminology early in Luke and at the end of Acts to demonstrate his point. In Luke 2:34 Simeon spoke by the Spirit saying that Christ would be a "sign to be opposed" using the same Greek word as translated "contradicting" which is found in Acts 13:45. The enemies of the gospel are doing exactly what Simeon said would happen. Luke tells us that the motive for this opposition was "jealousy." That Greek word is also used elsewhere in Luke/Acts such as Acts 5:17.

There was opposition to Christ before He ascended and opposition to the church that preached Christ after the ascension. That God was saving Gentiles and making them a part of the church created jealously in the Jewish leadership. At the end of the class we explain how a 7th Day Adventist in 1930 created the KJV only doctrine based on the KJV version of Acts 13:42 which implied that Christian Gentiles kept the Jewish Sabbath. However, this particular verse in fact does not teach that nor does the rest of the NT. Many decades later, some evangelicals took up the same KJV only doctrine based on a conspiracy theory. We discuss why that teaching is not valid and should be avoided.  

Class handout and slides are available under the downloads tab.