Day #330

Sermon - Audio
Acts 17-18:18 - Reading
Acts 17-18:18 - Audio

Daily Insights - Please Comment

• 17.1 Thessalonica is a city of 200,000 people and capital of the province of Macedonia. It is interesting to note that while Jesus carries out the majority of his ministry in small villages and rural areas, Paul finds himself in the vast urban centers of his day. In these different circumstances Paul has to interpret the words of Jesus for that situation.
• 17.5: For some reason jealousy seems to be an ongoing challenge that Paul has to face.
• 17.6: “city officials” in Greek is “politarch” this word is found in no other Greek literature but in 1835 an inscription with this title was found in Macedonia. Since then about 16 more inscriptions have been found.
• 17.6: “causing trouble” is literally “turned the world upside down”.
• 17.7: “another king” For a Jew the most powerful accusation you could level against him was blasphemy, but for the Roman, treason--supporting a king as a rival to Caesar was the worst accusation.
• 17.9 Jason has to post a financial bond assuring that there will be peace and quiet in the community. If there isn’t he could end up losing all his property and perhaps face death. Later Paul will write Timothy who is on this journey with him and say, 1I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. (1 Timothy 2). He also writes to Titus and says, 1Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men. Both of these texts seem to reflect the experience Paul had in Thessalonica.
• 17.11: The Bereans were people of the text.
• 17.12: One scribe in translating this verse changed the order so Greek men are mentioned first and dropped the idea that the women were prominent. Apparently he didn’t like the high place accorded women by Luke.
• 17.16; “full of idols” Idols were not only in the temples but in the marketplaces as well.
• 17.18: Luke puts a bit of humor in this book. A babbler in our language would be a birdbrain. These wise and knowledgeable Athenians area speaking down to Paul, but a few words later they believe that Paul is speaking about two people, Jesus and Resurrection (in the Greek Resurrection is also a woman’s name)--they have completely misunderstood Paul, they are the birdbrains.
• 17.23: “Unknown God” Many years before a plague had struck Athens, the people sacrificed to all their gods but it did not stop then they made an altar to an Unknown God and the plague came to an end. Since that time they kept an altar to an Unknown God to make sure they didn’t miss some important deity.
• 17.30: “overlooked” i.e. he took into account their limited knowledge.
• 17.31; God will come to judge and when he does people need to be ready for his coming.
• 17.32: Resurrection of the body was rejected in Greek thinking.
• 17.34: Notice that a member of the elite Areogapus joins Paul after hearing him. According to tradition this man, Dionysius becomes Bishop of Athens.
• 17.34: Damaris as a woman would not have been allowed in the Areogapus. She most likely heard Paul in the marketplace. If she is a native of Athens she most likely is a prostitute since only prostitutes would be in the marketplace or she is a foreign woman.

• 18.1: Corinth was the economic and political center of Greece. Its influence in beliefs and ideas was huge. Having a strong church in that community which could spread the gospel was very important. Corinth is another one of those crossroad places like the land of Israel and the city of Antioch. At the same time, it is one of the most difficult places to establish a church because of the deep immorality, pride of the people and deep pagan practices.
• 18.2: in 49 A.D. Claudius ordered all Jews out of Rome because of unrest over a certain Crestus. Many believe that this is a misspelling of the name for Christ. If so, one of the earliest mentions of Christ outside the gospel comes to us via the Roman historian Suetonius who writes biographies of Roman Emperors in the 2nd century A.D. and mentions this incident.
• 18.6: In Ezekiel 3.16-19 God tells Ezekiel that if he fails to warn the people of their coming destruction that their blood will be on him, but if he warns them they are responsible for their own fate. Paul seems to be following this pattern while warning the people that as their forebears had ignored the prophets now they were doing so.
• 18.7: Paul shows his continuing boldness by moving his ministry right next door to those who would not listen to the message.
• 18.8: The synagogue ruler (one who arranges synagogue services, usually a wealthy person of status) becomes a follower of Jesus. Again, we need to remind ourselves that when Luke speaks of “the Jews” it does not mean all Jews are opposed to the gospel. We find out in 1 Corinthians that Paul is the one who baptized this ruler.
• 18.9-10: God’s promise is shown to be good in the following incident when Paul is hauled before the local authorities.
• 18.10: “I have many people in this city…” i.e. people who the Spirit will move to become followers of Jesus.
• 18.13: If the Jews who did not believe in Jesus could convince the authorities that Paul’s message was outside the Jewish faith, then Paul would lose his protection under Roman law.
• 18.14-16: Gallio rejects their argument and so provides protection for the Christian faith.
• 18.17: In 1 Corinthians 1.1 we find a Sosthenes in the Corinthian church who is called “brother”. It is possible that a second synagogue ruler becomes a follower of Jesus.
• 18.18: It is not clear what type of vow Paul has taken. If it is a nazarite vow (see Numbers 6) then it is one that ignores the centrality of Jerusalem and the necessity of practicing this vow in the land of Israel.