“Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, 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. 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” (Acts 17:1-4).
Scorned by the magistrates of the city of Philippi, Paul and his companions resolutely walked to another city called Thessalonica. There he entered into a synagogue of the Jews to preach to them (as was his custom) the person of Christ, His sacrificial death and His glorious resurrection, and Jesus, the Son of God, as the Messiah. For just three Saturdays, he had the opportunity to preach the good news of God to them. The result was marvelous: some of the Jews believed. In addition, a great multitude of religious Gentiles (Greeks) which had not known the true God believed, and not a few of the noble women. It was a blessed work of the sovereign grace of God.
“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” (Acts 17:5).
Satan (the adversary) does not lack resources: In Philippi, he had taken advantage of the frustrated greed of the slave girl’s masters to incite the Gentiles against God’s servants (see Acts 16:16-24). But in Thessalonica, he ignited the enmity of the Jews against Christ, and used as instruments “certain lewd fellows of the baser sort,” as before with the “the devout and honorable women, and the chief men of the city” of Antioch (Acts 13:50).
Paul and Silas were not found in Jason’s house: “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; Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go” (Acts 17:6-9). God is sovereign: He permitted the unjust magistrates in Philippi to throw Paul and Silas in jail, because, so to speak, they found there that “Macedonian man” which Paul had seen in a vision, and who said to him: “Come over into Macedonia, and help us” — the jailor himself! (read the story, Acts 16:9-34). Afterwards, in Thessalonica, the Lord made the magistrates’ minds unwilling to hear the Jew’s false accusations; thus, Jason and the rest were set free.
“And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 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. Therefore many of them believed; also of honorable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few” (Acts 17:10-12).
Paul was an “apostle” and Silas a “prophet” (Acts 15:32), but they were not independent from “the brethren” (still children in Christ) in Thessalonica. The brethren, full of love and realizing the imminent danger to which the Lord’s servants were exposed, decided to send Paul and Silas to another place — Berea. The Lord gave them the mind to do this. Otherwise Paul, a courageous soldier, may have had boldness to continue preaching the gospel in spite of the opposition (see 1 Thess. 2:2). Then the Lord’s servants accepted the resolution of the brethren (who were still young in the faith), and they went to Berea.
In Berea, there was great blessing, because the Jews received the word (of God) devotedly, searching the Scriptures every day, to see if the things Paul and Silas said were in agreement with them. We see a very important principle here: the inspired, written Word of God (the Holy Scriptures) is the only judge. Although Paul was an apostle and Silas a prophet, still, everything they said was tested against the Scriptures. Thus — their preaching having been proved true — the result was that many believed, including Greek women of high standing and not a few men.
“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. And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still” (Acts 17:13-14).
The bitter enmity of the religious man against the gospel of the grace of God cannot be calmed. Why? Precisely because the divine verdict is that man, whether Jew or pagan, whether religious or atheist, is found guilty before God: “all have sinned.” Man is totally lost. He cannot in any way save his own soul. He is so bad that nothing less than the “grace of God” can come to his rescue. Man’s pride does not want to accept this. Read, please, Romans 3:9-20, God’s sentence; and also read 1 Thess. 2:14-16 in relation to the hostile attitude of the religious man, just the same today as it was yesterday.
Paul, commissioned in a special way by the Lord Jesus as a “minister” of the gospel (see Eph. 3:6-7), was the primary object of attack by the Jews; so that in Berea just as in Thessalonica, the brothers in Christ believed it prudent to send Paul away from the danger. But Silas and Timothy, also faithful servants of Christ, stayed with the young believers to help them.
“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. Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. 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. 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. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (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.)” (Acts 17:15-21).
Athens, the Greek capital, was in those days the philosophic capital of the world. The proud Greeks sought “wisdom,” however, they were involved in idolatry, showing themselves to be opposed to reason and captive to the devil’s will (see 1 Cor. 1:22; 2 Tim. 2:26).
While Paul waited for Silas and Timothy’s arrival, he disputed “in the synagogue with the Jews,” who were always asking for “signs.” Among these Jews of Athens, Scripture does not mention any blessing — possibly because they were corrupted by the reigning idolatry.
Soon some of the epicurean and stoic philosophers attacked him. The epicurean philosophy was “enjoy life to the fullest;” they are well described by Paul in these words: “let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.” “Be not deceived” adds Paul, “evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Cor. 15:32-33). But the stoic philosophy took another point of view: the best way of life was to abstain from everything that is luxurious and gratifies man, thus achieving a certain merit (according to them). In Colossians 2:21-22, Paul mentions something similar: “(Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?”(Col. 2:21-22). Against all these philosophic concepts, he warns us: “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:8-9). We have everything in Christ and it is not possible for there to be anything else outside of Him.
Others mocked Paul, calling him a “babbler;” and others believed that he was a proclaimer of strange gods, because he preached to them the good news of Jesus and the resurrection. They insensibly thought that Jesus was one of so many gods and that the resurrection was another god! Then they brought him to Aereopagus (the supreme court of Athens). Since they were always occupied with hearing new things, they wanted to know about this “new doctrine.”
“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. 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. 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; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed any thing, seeing He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 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; 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: 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” (Acts 17:22-28).
Paul made use of the opportunity and had boldness in his God to immediately reprimand the Athenians for their idolatry. Then he called their attention to the only true thing in the whole city: that they did not know God, as the altar dedicated to Him demonstrated: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Then, he preached to them the living and true God, the great creator of the heavens and the earth. The One who had no need of anything — on the contrary — the One who sustained everything and everyone, who had also made the entire lineage of men from one blood and had prefixed the ends of their dwelling places and the order of their times. The God who in one word directed and controlled everything. And, finally, who being all-present, was not far from anyone, since actually, “in Him we live, and move, and have our being.”
Then, in order to condemn them by their own mouths, he quoted one of their own poets, “for we are also His offspring.” This quote and another on the criteria of a Cretan (Titus 1:12), are the only pagan testimonies employed by a servant of God. Both have the same purpose — to pronounce the pagans’ condemnation by their own mouths (“from your own mouth I judge you”).
Paul continued on with his thesis: “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. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 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” (Acts 17:29-31).
How Paul reprimanded the foolishness of the wise Athenians — making statues with their own hands out of any physical material, and then giving honor and adoration to them as if they were divine beings! “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Rom. 1:22-23).
Then Paul warned the Athenians that God was not going to tolerate their enormous sin which dishonored Him so much any longer. He told them that God had established a day of judgment and had chosen the judge, His Son, Jesus Christ, whom He had raised from among the dead, thus letting everyone know that judgment would be carried out by that glorious Man, the Man in resurrection.
“And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them” (Acts 17:32-34).
The natural man, always wise in his own opinion, rejects the supernatural and does not accept the well-proved fact of the resurrection of Christ. Nor does he accept that there will be a resurrection of all human beings: the believers or, rather, men of faith, to the resurrection of life, but the unbelievers to the resurrection of condemnation (see John 5:28-29).
Paul gave his testimony faithfully and left from among them. Those that told him, “We will hear thee again of this matter” lost their opportunity: “behold now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).
“Howbeit certain men ... believed.” The testimony of the living and true God and of His Son, Jesus Christ raised from among the dead, was received through faith by a judge of the city, Dionysius the Areopagite, by another woman whose name was also written in the book of God, and by others. They gathered together with Paul. There is no doubt that a Christian assembly was formed in Athens, but it is not mentioned in Scripture. The city centered in human philosophy did not merit the honor. “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh ... .He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:26, 31).