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Acts 13:42-43 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. 43 When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.
 
THIS is the kind of response every gospel teacher hopes to experience. The people wanted to know more!  Luke, the historian, continues to emphasize the missionaries are speaking to both the Jews and devout converts to Judaism. For his gospel purposes, God has brought people from different economic, social, political and religious backgrounds into an essential unity of faith. Luke calls them devout because they are devoted to obeying God’s laws and understanding the prophets. The gospel is revealed first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. This is God’s order established when he called Abram to father a nation to bless the world: Gensis 12:2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”
   Paul later confirms God’s plan is to deliver the gospel to the Jews first. Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. Jesus called Paul to be his apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15), but this did not exclude Paul’s work among the Jews. In fact it was Paul’s pattern to enter a city and meet first with the Jews. He then spoke to the Gentiles. Paul knew his commission. He was a man trained to follow orders, so he did what Jesus commanded him to do. For a time the gospel door seemed to be wide open.
 
Acts 13:44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.
 
The Spirit was stirring people to the good news of Jesus Christ in Pisidian Antioch. We can picture Paul and Barnabas on a crusade, and the stadium is filling to hear a message from heaven. People are hungry and thirsty for love, joy, peace and kindness in their lives. Will this message of Jesus of Nazareth, Son of the Living God, satisfy their hunger and thirst?