Acts 17 Commentary
Paul’s sermon at Athens carries a lot of weight for our world – a world that has confined the creator God within the walls of the church building. The LORD God is also in the marketplace, at the club, and also at home. Do our business transactions reflect the presence of the LORD?
Since the Creator God doesn’t live in temples made by humans, it remains true that the LORD God is present when you present your report. Is it true? Are you strong enough to lie in the presence of the Creator God?
What trouble are you in for believing in Jesus? Jason was in trouble for believing and welcoming other believers. Trouble like Jason’s trouble still exists in many places. At the same time, another form of trouble exists in the so-called “Free world”: Isolation, missing out, physical loneliness, lack of belonging, lost opportunity, inner conflict, a constant feeling of ‘wrong’, a constant feeling of being a wrong design for the world systems, among many others.
Nevertheless, a church exists at Thessalonica. The church exists amid darkness. Her purpose is to bring light to the world. It’s never an easy task. Darkness fights back. Believers respond by changing location but they never stop. Launch an attack from different locations but never stop.
Paul’s sermon to the Jews differs from his sermon to the ‘learned’ Greeks. There is never a size that fits all. Jews need convincing that Jesus is the Messiah while Greeks must know about the existence of the Sovereign God who created all things.
God’s servant must know what message to preach at any given point. Even good people, “of more noble character” need to know the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Many of such people at Berea decided for Jesus at Paul’s preaching.
The scripture reports the number of prominent women turning to Jesus on a couple of occasions. A woman named Damaris is another. We are looking at a culture where women took little interest in such matters. Our own world has women focused on other things. Making it big and looking great; their ambitions often way above men’s measured visions.
Won’t they stop and ask an important question? What next?
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