Day 48- Acts 17

Ready for part 2 for today? Let's do it!

Acts 17 (Read it here)

If you've been following along, you'll notice that Paul, Silas and Timothy have been traveling all over Asia Minor and Macedonia (modern-day Turkey and Greece). It may continue to be helpful to keep referring to the map here to follow along with where the story goes.

From Philippi (which is where the book of the Bible Philippians comes from), Paul and Silas continued west to Thessalonica (where the books of 1 & 2 Thessalonians bears its name).  Here in Thessalonica, unlike in Philippi, there was a Jewish synagogue. (v. 1)

For three weekends in a row, Paul went to this synagogue and used the Old Testament scriptures to explain how Jesus fulfilled everything that was promised regarding the Messiah and his suffering. Some Jews were persuaded, along with God-fearing Greek men and women. (vs. 2-4)

But the other Jews became jealous of the influence that Paul and Silas were gaining so they got others like them and started yet another angry mob.  They were told that Paul and Silas were staying at Jason's home, so that's where the angry mob attacked. (v. 5)

Side note: Jason is one of the 70 disciples that was sent out in pairs to share the gospel by Jesus in Luke 10. Jason was also was from the same town as Paul (Tarsus). Later, Paul would be instrumental in making Jason the bishop of the church in Tarsus.

When the mob didn't find Paul and Silas there, they still had Jason and some other believers arrested and fined for, well, nothing. (vs. 6, 9) The mob, again, gave an exaggeration about Paul and Silas' "trouble-making" reputation and details about their controversial teachings (v. 7, such as following Jesus and not Caesar, which was most likely true) until the authorities decided to appease them by fining Jason and the other believers...since they couldn't penalized Paul and Silas. Ridiculous.

We don't know exactly where the believers had hidden Paul and Silas but we do know that the believers knew where they were because the believers told them to go to Berea. And when they arrived in Berea, where did they go? The local synagogue, of course! (v. 10) The preaching never stopped; an opportunity to share the gospel was never missed.

The people of Berea are just like all pastors hope their congregations would be.  They are open-minded and listen eagerly. But they didn't just take everything they heard as truth, they researched Scripture (in other words, they read their Bibles) each day to see if Paul and Silas were correct in their teachings. (v. 11) What pastor wouldn't want that? Instead most people who go to church listen to a sermon or message, don't question it or see what the Bible actually says and end up knowing less of the Bible's content than some atheists!

After reviewing the Scriptures, many more Jews and Gentiles believed! (v. 12)


But it's like a repeating story over and over again. Just like the men who traveled from Antioch and Iconium to stone Paul in Lystra, more Jews came from Thessalonica to get Paul in Berea. (v. 13) But the believers beat these Jews to the punch by sending Paul away. Apparently the Jews were only after him not Silas or Timothy. (v. 14) Paul was escorted all the way to Athens and then Silas and Timothy were advised to join him there. (v. 15)

While waiting for them to arrive, Paul sees so many foreign and false gods that he is saddened. (v. 16) As usual, Paul makes his way to the synagogue to persuade Jews and God-fearing Gentiles. And when he wasn't there, he was speaking out in public for all to hear. (v. 17)


Luke also mentions a debate that Paul has with some followers of Epicureanism and Stoicism.  (v. 18) The one who thought Paul's theology was just nonsensical babbling was probably the Epicurean philosopher because followers of Epicurus believed that superstitions and divine intervention was for the intellectually weak. And to a follower of Stoicism, the thought of Jesus having to suffer made no sense, probably because their founder (Zeno of Citium) taught that suffering only happened during a lack of wise judgement. So to this Stoic, it would be impossible for Jesus to be from God, because this God must have made a mistake for His Son to have to suffer.

It is also interesting to note that Epicureans and Stoics were rivals and often at odds with each other, but in this case, they were both interested in Paul's unusual views.

The philosophers took Paul to the high council of Athens. But instead of putting him in jail, which seemingly happened every time Paul was brought before a high council, the council actually wanted to hear the gospel! (v. 19) They were all rather curious about these strange teachings. (v. 20) Athenians loved philosophy and hearing multiple points of view (v. 21), which is probably why there were so many idols represented in the city in the first place.

Paul began addressing the council by complementing them on their religious curiosity. (v. 22) As Paul was investigating the many shrines to the multiplicity of gods, he noticed one alter that was dedicated to "an Unknown God." Paul notified them that his God, the God of heaven and earth was this missing god. (v. 23)

Our God has no needs. (v. 25) He doesn't need to be made out of wood, stone or a precious metal and be moved and cleaned. He, in return, satisfies humanity's every need! This God created the earth and all who inhabit it. He also determines when people are born, how long people live (the meaning behind rise and fall) and where they would reside. (v. 26)

Did you know that? God already knows exactly how long you will live and where you will and won't go in your life. That's amazing to think about!


Paul reminds them that this God is never far away. (v. 27) It is because of God that we live and move and exist. (v. 28) And if God created us, why would we feel the need to create Him? (vs. 28-29, in the form of an idol, as if we knew what he looked like anyway)

God gave humanity the opportunity to seek after Him in ages past (v. 27) but now He has made Himself known and commands everyone everywhere to repent...and turn to Him. (v. 30)

God has preset the Judgement Day for the world and it will be carried out by, Paul says, "the man he has appointed...and raised from the dead." (v. 31, no doubt talking about Jesus here)

The Epicureans and other "realists" were probably the ones who laughed in contempt but others were struck by Paul's words and wanted to hear more. (v. 32)  Some from the council joined Paul and became Christ-followers that day. The most notable new follower was Dionysius, who later became the leader of the church that started in Athens. (v. 34) Damaris, throughout church tradition is known as being Dionysius' wife, by the way.

Tomorrow, we'll see what happens when Paul visits Corinth (where the books of 1 & 2 Corinthians get their name)!


Questions

1.) Have you ever had someone attack, blame or straight-up dislike you for something a so-called Christian did or said (I'm referring to how the Jews had Jason arrested)? Have you ever considered a group of people to be evil just because of the actions of one or two? If so, what happened and why did you assume all of them were the same?

2.) Be honest, while reading the explanations about the views of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, did you relate to their thoughts about the seemingly absurdity of Paul's claims? Why or why not?

3.) During Paul's speech to the high council, he tells them that God knows exactly when people "rise and fall?" Do you believe this? Why or why not?