In Community Bible Study this week, we looked at Acts 13:13-52. Surprisingly, it isn’t the pagan Gentiles (or non-Jews) who reject the gospel in this passage. It’s the religious people—the Jews—who reject the gospel. Verse 45: “But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.”

So what happened? When the Jews saw a crowd of Gentiles in line to receive the gospel, a kind of nationalistic zeal came over them. They were jealous for their unique identity as God’s chosen people, and they didn’t want the Gentiles to have any part of that.

Deep down, this group of Jews was prideful of their unique ethnicity and superior morality, and this pride blinded them to their need for Jesus.

I’m reminded of Mark 2:17, where Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Jesus is saying he didn’t come to rescue people who think they’re good to go. He came to rescue people who understand that they’re sinners. After all, healthy people don’t need a doctor: sick people do.

A lot of people today view themselves as moral people. They’re nice to other people, they help those who need help, and they don’t commit any of the “big” sins. And because of that, just like the Jews in Acts 13, they don’t think they need a Savior. After all, they’re handling things okay on their own.

However, what they fail to see is how thoroughly sinful they are on the inside. You see, the God doesn’t just give us commands about our behavior, he gives us commands about our heart. He tells us it’s a sin to have greed in our heart, to harbor bitterness toward someone else, to lust after somebody who’s not our spouse. He says it’s wrong to be selfish, harsh, or unloving in any way and with regard to anything.

And if we’re proud of our morality, the Bible says that that pride in itself is a sin against God. In fact, it’s a very serious sin because it robs God of his glory.

Actually, all of these sins are infinitely abominable because they’re committed against an infinitely holy God.

Just like people who are physically sick, people who are in this sinful state first need to be awakened to the reality of their sin before they can be cured. They have to come to see themselves as sinners who need a Savior. Only then will they turn to Jesus for rescue, realizing that they have no other hope.