²³”From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, ²⁴after John had proclaimed before His coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’ ²⁶Brethren, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.

Until this point, Paul had been laying out standard Jewish history, which his hearers would know quite well. But at this juncture, he gives an interpretation of the promises given concerning David having a Messianic descendent, and he asserts that descendent is Jesus. His point is clear: the message is not contrary to Scripture, but a fulfillment of it. His message is not anti-Jewish, but pro-Jewish in the fullest sense.

The promises concerning David were quite well known to all Jews. We have already seen that King David was the prototype of a man whom God commended as having a heart for God. In fact, the relationship between the king and God is described in the psalms:

“But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, my holy mountain.” “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’” (Ps 2:6–7)

“Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” (2 Sam. 7:16, also 1 Chr. 17:11–14)

The Jews understood this to mean a Messiah (“anointed one”) would be coming in the ancestral line and likeness of David to rescue God’s people from oppression, like Moses did in leading the people out of Egyptian slavery, and like David did in bringing victory over all the surrounding nations.

Curiously, the apostle next refers to “John,” who we as readers know is John the Baptist, but why this focus? Would the Jews of Pisidian Antioch have heard of John? In Acts 19, when Paul first arrived in the city of Ephesus on his third mission tour, some had already heard of the ministry and baptism of John the Baptist, even though they had not heard the full story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. So word of John’s teachings had apparently spread widely, and Paul uses that in developing his justification for preaching that Jesus is the Messiah, descendent of David. John was the forerunner of Jesus (Mal. 3:1). So Paul is saying, as he directly addresses his listeners, that the message of Jesus as Savior is for all of us.

Lord, thank You that Jesus, in fulfillment of prophecies, came to save even me.