The center of this account of the first missionary journey lies in Paul and Barnabas’s experience in Pisidian Antioch, of the Roman province of Galatia (13:13–52). The account begins by locating them in a synagogue (13:13). As Jesus began his public ministry with a sermon in a Jewish synagogue (Luke 4:14–31), Paul also begins his public ministry as a missionary in a synagogue. As in the case of Jesus’s Nazareth sermon, Paul’s sermon also provides a unique glimpse into his preaching in a Jewish synagogue, because although Luke mentions Paul visiting the synagogue often (14:1; 17:1–2; 18:4–5; 19:8), only here does he provide the content of his synagogue preaching.

The content of this lengthy sermon occupies much of the first part of this section (13:16–41). The first section (13:16–25) pre…