God’s Word for You
Acts 17:13-15 Athens
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Tuesday, October 13, 2020
13 When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The brothers sent Paul immediately to the seacoast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea.
Just as had happened in Lystra, when the Jews heard that Paul was preaching in another city, they hurried there to stop him. Luke very carefully says nothing at all about any Bereans, whether Jews or Gentiles, taking part in the attack on Paul. The Bereans had searched the Scriptures and were completely satisfied that what Paul was preaching was the truth, lining up with everything proclaimed in the Word of God.
Once again, Paul evades capture. I wonder whether he was still healing from the awful beating he had received in Lystra when they stoned him and left him for dead almost two years before (Acts 14:19). The story of what happened to him must have traveled with him; his companions couldn’t help but tell and re-tell the stories as the mission work continued. Now the brothers tried to do everything they could to prevent that shameful incident from happening all over again. They hurried Paul out of the city under cover of darkness to save his life and to spare him for more ministry. We see the Holy Spirit’s hand in this too, using circumstances and friends to rescue his servants. Remember Ehud slipping away from Eglon’s palace (Judges 3:25), David’s wife helping him to escape from her murderous father (1 Samuel 19:12), four of Job’s servants who barely escaped death in order to bring news to their master (Job 1:15-17,19), and Paul himself rescued in a basket from Damascus (Acts 9:25).
A curiosity in the text is Luke’s mention of the seacoast, literally “right up to the edge of the sea.” There was a road that led south through Thessaly with a lovely view of Mount Olympus north of Larissa, but we must assume that either Paul went to Athens by ship (there was no major harbor near Berea, but an anchored ship could have been reached with a small boat or dinghy), or else the trip “up to the edge of the sea” was a ruse. Paul could have traveled south at his leisure by road if the Thessalonians thought he had embarked on a ship with an unknown destination. God used confusion of this kind when he had Moses lead the Israelites south into the Desert of Sinai when they escaped from Egypt rather than turning northeast into Canaan (Exodus 16:1).
15 The men who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
Whichever way Paul reached Athens, the Bereans who escorted him there returned home and gave Silas and Timothy Paul’s instructions to come down and join him there. The gospel had arrived in the center of the Greek world: Athens.
The importance of ancient or classical Athens for the modern world can hardly be overstated. About the time of the prophet Daniel (600 BC), the harsh laws of the Athenian statesman Draco (from whom we get our word “draconian” = harsh) were replaced by the more equalizing laws of Solon. Later on, Solon’s reforms were modified into what we think of today as a true democracy, and from that time onward, ordinary citizens began to be truly involved in the development of their city as they began to see beyond their own neighborhoods. Athens soon became the intellectual and cultural center of the world. In 87-86 BC, the Roman general Sulla attacked Athens and burned the port but would not allow his soldiers to burn the city. The Parthenon and other treasures were spared. When Paul arrived in 50 AD, the court of Athens met at an ancient rock outcropping on the northwest side of the acropolis overlooking the city. It was there that Paul would bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to some of the greatest minds of his generation. But, as the Pharaoh of Egypt knew (Genesis 41:39) and as Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon knew (Daniel 1:4), knowledge and wisdom are two separate things. Intelligence and faith do not always walk hand-in-hand.
May God bless your walk of faith. Whatever you may think of the quickness of your wit or the depth of your own intellect, your faith is the greatest gift God has given you. Rejoice over your faith, since by the grace of God your faith has given you everlasting life.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.