Acts 17 - The Only Absolute In Our Culture is That There Are No Absolutes!

 Acts 17 - NIV

In Thessalonica

17 When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. 4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

Paul continued his missionary model of preaching in the local synagogues on the Sabbath. This time they came to Thessalonica, which was near Greece. 

This was an important port city, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) and a three-day walk from Philippi. Modern Thessalonika is still a large, thriving city.

For three weeks on the Sabbath, Paul reasoned with them. To "reason" means to explain why Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead, thus proving He was the Son of God. Paul starting by teaching them who the Messiah was, and then connected this with who Jesus was. He started with something they should have known and then inserted Jesus into the conversation. Not only were some Jews "persuaded", but also Greek men and prominent women came to faith. 

Again the word "persuaded" means they came to believe through Paul's reasonable and understandable proclamation of who Jesus was and is. Persuading someone is not just giving them information but leading them to believe in what you are saying but not in a manipulative way.  

5 But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.[a] 6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” 8 When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9 Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.

As was always the case, the conversions caused the other Jews to be jealous. Since they could not reason against Paul, they used physical force and violence to exert their will. Apparently Paul and Silas were staying at the house of a man named Jason, so they raided his home. Paul and Silas were gone so, they brought Jason into the city and accused him of harboring them. Their case was that Jesus claimed to be king and was trying to overthrow Jesus. Though Jesus was a king, he never compared himself to Caesar or tried to usurp his authority. Jesus said, 

"My kingdom is not of this world, If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” John 18:36 

Later Paul would teach the Christians in Rome to obey the law of Caesar and to give to Caesar what was his due, and give to God his due. God never uses earthly governments to usher in his kingdom, though a government can sure try to stop it. This is especially true of theocracies who use political power for theological purposes. Iran would be an example of this type of government.  The rule of law is to be a Muslim. It is part of being a citizen of Iran. 

In Berea

10 As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

The believers snuck Paul and Silas out by night which led them to Berea. Again they went into synagogue but this time they found something different. What was it? These people examined the scriptures night and day to test what Paul was saying and if it was true. What was the result? In seeking the truth they came to know Jesus. 

Once again many Jews came to faith and again it mentions both prominent Greek men and women who came to faith. What is the importance of Luke labeling them as "prominent"? What this means is that they were "influencers". It could have been with wealth or position, but God could use them to use their influence to lead others to Christ. 

13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. 15 Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

The Jews from Thessalonica followed after Paul when they found out he was in Berea and again tried to stir up the crowds against him. So they took Paul away, and left Silas and Timothy at Berea. Before it was Paul and Silas and now Luke mentions Timothy, Paul's younger disciple. 

In Athens

16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

Paul then went to Athens which was the intellectual center of the world at that time. There was a lot of idolatry going on in the city. This time Paul not only reasoned (preached persuasively) to the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, but Luke adds those in the marketplace as well. Many of these men were philosophers opining about the latest philosophies including Epicureanism and Stoicism. 

Then certain Epicurean… philosophers encountered him: The Epicureans pursued pleasure as the chief purpose in life, and valued most of all the pleasure of a peaceful life, free from pain, disturbing passions and superstitious fears (including the fear of death).

The Stoics were pantheists who put great emphasis on moral sincerity and a high sense of duty. They cultivated a spirit of proud dignity, and believed that suicide was better than a life lived with less dignity. The Stoics believed that everything was god, and god was in everything. So they believed that all things, good or evil, were from “god,” and so nothing should be resisted, and they believed there was no particular direction or destiny for mankind. - Guzik

When Paul preached about the resurrection of Jesus, some thought he was advocating Jesus as just another god amongst many. Others called him a "babbler". But there was enough interest in what he was teaching that they brought him to a meeting at the Areopagus. The people were open to new ideas because that's what they sat around doing most of the day. 

22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

We once again see Paul's evangelism strategy as he addresses the men. Paul notes that these people are religious in every way What does that mean? It means that they are seeking God, or at least some higher power. In an effort to appease the gods, they built altars to worship them. The more gods they had, the more they figured they had a chance to win God's favor. To cover their bases, they even had an altar which read, "To and unknown god". 

Paul uses this to bring home his punchline, "I am going to lead you to a God you can know!" This is not too unlike the smorgasbord of religious we see today with everything from crystals to channeling to Ouija boards to the New Age movement. These are people looking to connect with and know God but have no assurance of personal experience of Him or that He is the one true God. 

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[b] As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’[c] 

 Paul teaches them that there is one, true God who created all things including them. After all, if there was something God did not create, then that person or thing would be God. As such, God doesn't need anything from us, but He created us to enjoy him, know him, and serve him. God made man to inhabit the earth and to show His glory. Our purpose as human being is to know God and enjoy him forever. 

Then Paul quotes two of their philosophers who are actually saying the same thing as he is. All truth is God's truth no matter who quotes it. 

Acts 17:28 From the Cretan philosopher Epimenides

Acts 17:28 From the Cilician Stoic philosopher Aratus

In explaining God to them, Paul started at the beginning: God is the Creator, and we are His creatures. “This view of the world is very different from either the Epicurean emphasis on a chance combination of atoms or the virtual pantheism of the Stoics.” (Stott)

Paul recognized that these philosophers had to change their ideas about God. They had to move from their own personal opinions to an understanding of who God is according to what He tells us about Himself in the Bible. - Guzik

29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” 32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” 33 At that, Paul left the Council. 34 Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.

Since God made us in His image, as the crown of His creation, we should not think in our intelligence we can somehow create Him in our image. When we make an image of God to our own liking, it is idolatry. Of course idolatry can also be worshipping other gods like money, sex, and power. In all of these cases we are worshipping something other than the Creator, which is sin. It offends God and causes us to break our relationship with Him. 

But in God's grace and mercy God sent His only Son, who will one day judge the living and the dead. God even gave the world the greatest proof of Jesus' divine nature, when He raised him from the dead. After hearing this some of the men sneered, but others had their interest piqued and wanted to hear Paul again. Other came to faith including Dionysius was a member of the club, a woman named Damaris, and many others. 

The Greeks were fond of the idea of the immortality of the soul, but not of the idea of the resurrection of the body. They felt that anything material was inherently evil, so there really could be no such thing as a glorified body. They thought the ultimate form of glory would be pure spirit. - Guzik

The world that Paul was evangelizing is very much like ours today. People are into all kinds of things and think their way of worshipping God is no better or no worse than anyone else. Every image of God or way of knowing Him is considered equal. The only thing you cannot do in our society is to claim that Jesus is the only way to God, as John 14 clearly teaches. The only absolute in our culture is that there are no absolutes!