“Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.”
My Notes
What Does Acts 13:46 Mean?
Paul and Barnabas face rejection from the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia and make a pivotal declaration: it was necessary that the word be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, we turn to the Gentiles.
The phrase "judge yourselves unworthy" is striking — Paul does not say God judged them unworthy. They judged themselves. By rejecting the gospel, they made their own determination about their fitness for eternal life.
The turning to the Gentiles is both strategic and prophetic — fulfilling Isaiah 49:6 (a light to the Gentiles). The Jewish rejection opened the door for Gentile inclusion. What was intended as Israel's light became the world's.
This moment is a hinge in Acts — the gospel begins its decisive movement from Jewish synagogues to the Gentile world. The rejection in one place becomes the opportunity in another.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What does it mean to 'judge yourself unworthy' through rejecting the gospel?
- 2.How does rejection in one place become opportunity in another?
- 3.Where might you be putting God's word from you through disinterest rather than outright rejection?
- 4.How does the gospel's movement from Jews to Gentiles demonstrate God's unstoppable purposes?
Devotional
Seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. Paul does not say God rejected them. He says they rejected themselves. Their dismissal of the gospel was self-judgment.
Judge yourselves unworthy. That phrase should haunt. When you reject what God offers — not out of honest searching but out of resistant dismissal — you are passing a verdict on yourself. You are declaring your own unworthiness. God offered life. You said no.
We turn to the Gentiles. The rejection by one group becomes the opportunity for another. God's purposes are not dependent on any single audience. If one door closes through human stubbornness, another opens through divine sovereignty.
This is both a warning and an encouragement. A warning: do not reject what is offered, because the offer may not wait forever. An encouragement: God's gospel cannot be stopped by any human refusal. It simply finds new ears.
Where are you putting the word of God from you? Not dramatically — quietly, gradually, through disinterest or delay? The gospel does not chase. It offers. And when it is refused, it turns to someone who will receive it.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. That is, of Pisidia, in which Antioch was; not by the…
Waxed bold - Became bold; spake boldly and openly. They were not terrified by their strife, or alarmed by their…
Waxed bold - Παρῥησιασαμενοι; Having great liberty of speech; a strong, persuasive, and overpowering eloquence. They…
The design of this story being to vindicate the apostles, especially Paul (as he doth himself at large, Rom. 11), from…
It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you That, as Christ came first unto His own, so…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture