Grace & Truth Church
Acts of Jesus through the Holy Spirit - wk 18
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- Acts 18Corinth was a relatively new commercial metropolis. It’s geographical location made it a hub for trade and commerce. As such, it also became a hub for pagan influence and immorality as well. Temples and statues to Greek gods have been uncovered in key places in the city, but worship to Yahweh was also present due to Jewish settlement in the region.
Acts 18:1–2 NIV 1 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them,Historians say that Claudius expelled the Jews because they “constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus.” Many believe that Chrestus is a corruption of Christus, or Jesus Christ. If that is true, it would appear that Aquila and Priscilla were already Christians when Paul finds them.Acts 18:3–6 NIV 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. 4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. 5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. 6 But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”Paul follows his typical pattern of preaching the Good News, first to the Jews until they reject him, and then to the Gentiles. This passage also has an interesting detail about Paul doing his work as a tentmaker until Silas and Timothy show up, presumably with supporting funds donated by Macedonian churches that allow him to devote all of his effort proclaiming the Gospel.Something very interesting happens in verse 6 that I don’t want to just pass over…Acts 18:6 NIV 6 But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”First the phrase, “Your blood be on your own heads!” That comes from Ezekiel 33 where God identifies the prophet as His watchman, or someone who speaks to the people and warns them of impending punishment.Ezekiel 33:4 NIV 4 then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head.Paul is identifying himself as a watchman like the Lord’s prophet. The Gospel he preaches is the warning to God’s people, but they refuse to listen. When he shook his clothes he was performing a symbolic act of protest and separation from these people similar to Jesus’ command to “shake the dust off your feet.”Matthew 10:14 NIV 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.We know that this is all important, but WHY is it important? WHY does this symbolic act even exist? In Paul’s day, the Jews and Christians had a much more supernatural worldview than we do today. They believed in theological boundaries and sacred spaces that acted as spiritually charged spaces. I like the term, “cosmic geography.”The view was that people who reject the Gospel defiled or contaminated the ground where they stood. So when the disciples were rejected by these people, they would shake the dust off of their feet so that the defilement or contamination from the ground would not return with them to God’s people.We don’t shake the dust off of our feet today, so when I was reading about all of this I was trying to think about what might be the symbol if Jesus set this precedent today? Maybe we would say, “Talk to the hand ‘cause the face ain’t listening!”God talks about the concept of “moral evil polluting the land” in the book of Numbers…Numbers 35:33–34 NIV 33 “ ‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites.’ ”This concept appears all over the Bible. It also helps to understand more about other stories in scripture like when God told Moses to take off his shoes at the burning bush in Exodus.It also helps us understand who Paul is talking to. These people knew all of this. They lived it. They know that Paul is essentially saying that this once sacred ground, the synagogue, is defiled and contaminated. They know that Paul is accusing them of rejecting God. Obviously, this is a very serious accusation. In comparison, this next verse is actually pretty funny!Acts 18:7–8 NIV 7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. 8 Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.It’s funny to me because Paul has this dispute with the Jews at the synagogue, “and I don’t ever want to see you again!” then moves in with someone next door. It’s like in the movie, “The Jerk” when Steve Martin’s character decides to move to the city so he moves out, but after saying his goodbyes he winds up awkwardly standing just a few feet from the house for a long time trying to hitchhike. To make Paul’s situation even more awkward, the synagogue leader and his entire household become Christ followers!There are a couple more interesting things I want to quickly point out from this chapter. One thing we often talk about in regards to the early church was their boldness. Especially Paul’s boldness. As an example, when he was stoned, thought dead, then dragged out of the city, the first thing Paul did when he got up was return to the city that attempted to murder him. That’s bold. This next verse is a subtle reminder that Paul was just a human being like the rest of us. He was probably often afraid or felt too weak to do the work God called him to…Acts 18:9–11 NIV 9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” 11 So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul describes that moment…1 Corinthians 2:1–5 NIV 1 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.This is a very important passage for us to remember. It’s easy to get caught in our own mind’s cycle of duty, qualification, or wisdom. It’s human nature to want to be admired, appreciated, or respected to some degree. We sure don’t want to be seen as stupid, ignorant, or flawed! For me it’s important to remember to have a faith that rests on God’s power instead of my own wisdom. Paul gives us another way of looking at it in Romans…Romans 1:16–17 ESV 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”The Gospel is the power of God! In the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from His faith for our faith! What does faith resting on human wisdom look like? Works, right?Romans 4:1–4 NIV 1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.That is an interesting way of looking at works. The payment for your work is not credited as a gift but as an obligation! So when our faith rests on human wisdom, we feel ether obligated to work or owed payment for our work! On the other hand, when we walk by faith in the power of God’s faithful Gospel of righteousness, instead of being obligated to impossible good works, we are enabled to do good works in Christ!We would never be able to boast about our good work, but because of our faith resting on God’s power we boast in the hope of the glory of God!Romans 5:1–11 NIV 1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.Mike talked about some of this last week, but I thought Paul’s experience in Corinth really added a lot to the conversation.The last important point I wanted to bring out from this chapter in Acts is the fact that Christianity finally has some legal precedent in Rome…Acts 18:12–17 NIV 12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment. 13 “This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.” 14 Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to them, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. 15 But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” 16 So he drove them off. 17 Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the proconsul; and Gallio showed no concern whatever.In other words, Gallio determined that Christianity is not a threat to Rome. My commentary describes Luke’s writing this way…The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 10: Luke–Acts (Revised Edition) Overview[Luke] presents that situation (1) to demonstrate that one of the wisest of the Roman proconsuls declared Christianity to be a
Acts 18:1–2ESV
Acts 18:3–6ESV
Acts 18:6ESV
Ezekiel 33:4ESV
Matthew 10:14ESV
Numbers 35:33–34ESV
Acts 18:7–8ESV
Acts 18:9–11ESV
1 Corinthians 2:1–5ESV
Romans 1:16–17ESV
Romans 4:1–4ESV
Romans 5:1–11ESV
Acts 18:12–17ESV
