Chapter 17

(Acts 17) Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: {2} And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, 

The word "manner" is the Greek ethos which refers to a standing custom. Synagogue attendance was a part of Paul's ethos, just as it had been for Jesus.

{3} Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. 

The idea that the Messiah must suffer was a new idea to most, though not all Jews. And it turned out to be very divisive right here.

{4} And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. {5} But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. {6} And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; 

When you think about it, this is an astonishing revelation. Paul and Barnabas had made one previous missionary journey which, while it was successful, one wouldn't normally call revolutionary. One can only assume that the impact of the seeds they had sowed had reached far beyond the work they themselves had done. There were also the disciples scattered by the persecution in Jerusalem mentioned an earlier chapter.

It is worth noting here that it was the unbelieving Jews who stirred up this trouble, not the Gentiles. Nor was it the believing Jews.

{7} Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. {8} And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. {9} And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go. {10} And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. {11} These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. {12} Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. {13} But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people. 

Keep in mind that he Jewish opposition in Thessalonica was especially vehement. In a matter of weeks, quite a number of the church in Thess. had been killed.

It is almost funny in reading the life of the Apostle Paul, how often his friends had to get him out of town to save his neck. Paul was a fire brand. He was a first class intellect, extremely well educated and highly intelligent. But what made him really troublesome was that he couldn’t leave a bad idea alone. Everyone knows the feeling you get when someone in your presence says something really stupid. Most of the time you let it go by because it isn’t worth the argument. For Paul, it was always worth the argument.

And reading between the lines, he was not always sensitive to other people’s feelings. So when he beat a man in an argument, he tended to turn him into an enemy. I don’t consider this Paul’s strong point. He is a powerful figure in the New Testament. He is arguably the most significant theologian in Christian history. He is correct and inspired in that theology as he develops it in his letters. But that doesn’t require us to imitate his abrasiveness in discussing the scriptures. As powerful a theologian as Paul is, and as important as he is to our understanding of Jesus and the early church, he was not necessarily the most effective evangelist of his time.

Historically, Paul only accounts for a fraction of the people directly converted in the first century. Who accounted for the bulk of them? Ordinary people who took the message with them wherever they went. They were a part of the cohort that turned the world upside down.

Now we find Paul in Athens, waiting on Timothy and Silas to join him. They had to hustle him out of Macedonia to keep him from getting killed, but Silas and Timothy stayed behind to finish establishing the churches.

{14} And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still. {15} And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed. {16} Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. {17} Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. {18} Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. 

It is safe to say that Paul’s message is the same one we have heard before. In the synagogue, it dealt with the history of Israel and how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Messiah.

{19} And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? {20} For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. {21} (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) {22} Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. {23} For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. 

This is a fascinating variation of Paul’s usual approach. Remember that most of the time he is talking to Jews-- and Gentiles who know about the God of the Jews. The Athenians had a multitude of Gods, and just in case they missed one (which they had), they erected a "just in case" altar to the God that was not known to them. Paul’s message to these people was not an in-your-face condemnation of their idolatry, which was on every side. For Paul, it was remarkably gentle.

{24} God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; {25} Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 

Note the appeal to logic. There is no appeal to scripture, because the scriptures are not known by these people, nor recognized as authoritative.

{26} And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; {27} That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: {28} For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 

This is truly fascinating, because it says that it was God’s desire that all men search for Him, "feel after Him," Paul believed and taught that the Gentiles could come to know the essentials about God by the things that are made, even though they had no scriptures. That logic, honestly followed, would bring them to God.

{29} Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. 

Once again, the logic is overpowering. He could have gestured toward stone gods nearby.

{30} And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: {31} Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. 

This is the prime objective in  Paul’s conversation:  the resurrection.

{32} And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. {33} So Paul departed from among them. {34} Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

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