When Paul the Apostle was preaching at Antioch, he had originally directed his message to the Judeans. However, as he was preaching about the end of the Law of Moses and of salvation by believing in Jesus Christ, the Jews of that city became very angry. They were angry that so many people were listening to him.
Acts 13:45
But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. [ESV]
In order to obstruct his preaching, they started to contradict what he was saying and to basically heckle him while he was speaking. The response that Paul and Barnabas gave to this behavior is rather interesting. Note the next verse.
Acts 13:46
And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. [ESV]
He told the Judeans that were gathered there that they had every chance to believe what was being spoken. They had every chance to accept what they had said during their preaching. If you take the time to read the first part of Acts Chapter 13, you will see that, among other things, Paul had told them these things:
That God had sent a Savior to the people of Israel by the name of Jesus – just as had been promised by the prophets
The Israelites in Jerusalem had not recognized Jesus as the Messiah and had condemned him and then had him executed
After this, he was laid in a tomb, but God had raised him from the dead
Now all those who had been listening to Paul had the opportunity to accept Jesus as lord and to believe that God had raised him from the dead. However, instead of doing that, some of them decided to be jealous and to try and obstruct the message of the Christ. When they did this, Paul said that they had decided that they were “unworthy of eternal life”. Now that is some statement!
Because they had refused to accept the truth about the savior, they had also decided that they did not want eternal life! By their rejection of the Messiah, they had judged themselves to be unworthy of eternal life – and that is about the most serious mistake that a person could ever make. At the same time as those of Israel were doing this, many of the Gentiles readily accepted the truth and received eternal life.
Acts 13:48
And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. [ESV]
Anyone who was listening that day could have accepted the truths concerning the Messiah – it did not matter if they were Jew or Gentile. When the Judeans that were present that day chose to reject the teaching, they had judged themselves to be unworthy of eternal life. That is, if they did not believe in Jesus Christ, they would not have eternal life. Note I John 5,
I John 5:12
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. [ESV]
By their own choice, they decided that they did not want eternal life. The words that Paul had been speaking were very simple. God had sent the Messiah promised by the prophets of old. He had been crucified but God had raised him from the dead. All they had to do was to accept Jesus as lord and believe that God had raised him from the dead and they would have been granted eternal life. However, they rejected the Messiah and judged themselves unworthy of eternal life.
The truths that Paul preached that day have not changed since they were first spoken so many centuries ago. Have you made Jesus your lord? Have you believed in your heart that God has raised him from the dead? Have you accepted the simple truths of salvation that lead to the same promise of eternal life that Paul preached so long ago? Or – like the Judeans that were there that day, have you judged yourself unworthy of eternal life? You are only unworthy of it if you choose to be.