A Passion for Christ Acts 17:16-34
Why is it that the Christian message seems to be making so little impact in western societies? This account of Paul’s first visit to Athens has much to teach us.
Paul had had to leave Berea urgently because of the animosity of the crowds that was stirred up by Jewish authorities. He travelled down to Athens and was waiting for Silas and Timothy, who had remained in Berea, to join him. As he looked around the city he was greatly distressed to see the many temples and idols there. Following his usual practice he first visited the synagogue and ‘reasoned’ with them that Jesus is the Messiah foretold in their Scriptures. He also went into the local market place where he met many people and there he discussed the Christian message with as many as possible.
Paul’s anguish
“While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.” Acts 17:16
The Acropolis is the rocky hill standing above the city on which the Parthenon sits. This was built as a temple to the goddess Athena in 438 after a military victory over the Persians. One writer has described this as,
“One vast composition of architecture and sculpture, dedicated to national glory and the worship of the gods.”
The area contained magnificent statues of Jupiter, Apollo, Mercury, Bacchus, Neptune and Diana. Paul must have visited this site as he said,
“For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship . . .” Acts 17:23
No wonder he was so distressed. Nothing motivates Christians so much as to see godliness prosper and Christ demeaned. There is much benefit to be had by reading the biographies of Christians who have gone before us. Henry Martyn was a late teenager who was encouraged to consider the claims of Christ by his older sister who had become a Christian. He became convinced and also committed his life to Christ. He was very gifted academically and went to Cambridge University to read Mathematics when just seventeen years old. He attended Holy Trinity Church where the minister was the great Charles Simeon who helped him get know and love the Bible. At the end of his first year he became Senior Wrangler, the top student in Maths in the whole university. He then changed to study Classics and in his final exams he again became the top student. His hobby was studying linguistics. He was ordained and became curate to Charles Simeon before being appointed as a Chaplain to the East India Company and he moved to India. He had studied Hebrew and Greek and set about producing a translation of the Bible in Hindustani so that the local people could read about the gospel for themselves. He then moved up to Peri and translated the Bible into Persian. He then developed a fever and died aged thirty one in 1812 AD!
On one occasion he was invited to have dinner with a Muslim friend. His host described a painting he had seen of Jesus bowing down before Muhammad. Martyn tells us what happened next:
“I was cut to the soul at this blasphemy. Mirza Seid Ali perceived that I was considerably disordered and asked what it was that was so offensive? I told him, ‘I could not endure existence if Jesus was not glorified; it would be hell to me if He were to be always dishonoured.’ He was astonished and again asked, ‘Why?’ . . . ‘It is because I am one with Christ that I am thus dreadfully wounded.”
A similar feeling must have passed over Paul as he looked at the idols that were being worshipped. He was indignant. God had entered his world as Jesus, his son and people reject him. He died on that cross so that people can be forgiven, but he is overlooked. He loves us and longs to be known by all but most turn the other way. Paul wasn’t willing for God to be misrepresented.
This love for Christ is the only thing that will cause people to speak out boldly for Christ at a cost to themselves. It is an offence to God that he is so tarnished. The great Bible teacher John Stott thought that this is why many churches are so week, saying:
“Why is it that in spite of the great needs and opportunities of our day, the church slumbers peacefully on, and that so many Christians are deaf and dumb? Deaf to Christ’s commission, tongue-tied in testimony. I think the major reason is this. We do not speak as Paul spoke because we do not feel as Paul felt.”
It is the glory of god that drives us to speak to others, it is a deep care for people who are facing judgment that drives us to keep sharing the news about Jesus.
Paul’s message
Some have suggested that Paul’s message in Athens was different to that delivered to Jewish audiences. This is not true. Luke explains what he talked about in both the synagogue and when talking to secular people in the public square:
“Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.” Acts 17:18
He passed on the same teaching as Jesus and the other apostles. He stressed that there is life after death and we will all be accountable to Jesus when we meet him in judgment. Yet this same Jesus is the Saviour of all because he is the incarnation of god who died to pay the price for the sins of all those who choose to follow him. This teaching was rational, its truth could be debated, and evidence for it powerfully presented. Those who heard him realised that he was claiming that Jesus was a God:
“He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” Acts 17:18
Paul was actually only talking about one God so who was the other. Some have suggested that they heard the word ‘Anastasis’, which means ‘resurrection’, and thought this was the name of another god!
Paul obviously made quite an impact. Some local philosophers, that Athens was famous for heard him. The Epicureans had originally taught that man’s supreme goal is happiness but by paul’s time this had degenerated into a more sensual form! The Stoics on the other hand taught that people should live in harmony with nature whilst realising that they are masters of their own lives and must suppress unhealthy desires. The problem was that by Paul’s time they were a proud group who considered themselves the elite. These people loved debating new ideas.
These thinkers were intrigued enough to think that what Paul was saying deserved a public discussion so they took him to the debating centre of the city, the Areopagus. This means ‘the hill of Ares’. Ares was the Greek god of thunder and war; he was called Mars in Rome. The Areopagus was located just west of the Acropolis, the ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens that now contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. In Paul’s time the Areopagus was the authority in areas of religion and morals.
It would seem these people were interested but sceptical. They called Paul a ‘babbler’ which literally means a ‘seed picker’, a bird that picks up seeds here and there. It came to refer to an idle person who picked up whatever ideas he could find without first digesting and sorting these out. How easy it is for people to be ‘babblers’ today. They pick up a few ideas and then speak as if they know it all!
Paul’s sermon
When Paul came to the meeting of the Areopagus they introduced him with the words:
May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears and we want to know what they mean.” Acts 17:20
Paul always wants to get to the subject of Jesus but he wisely gains the interest of his hearers to start with. This account can only be the outline or sermon notes of what Paul actually said. It is a brilliantly crafted sermon aimed to start by gaining their interest and then finsihing with their obligations.
Introduction
He begins politely by saying in a non confrontational way,
“Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.” Acts 17:22
What a great lesson this is for those of us who long to be able to talk about Jesus to others. Find some common ground, then get onto the subject of religion or church and show how much of this neither satisfies the facts or human longing. Paul continued,
“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. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.” Acts 17:23
God is Father of us all
He talks about God being our creator:
“The God who made this world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.” Acts 17:24
So far so good, he is asserting that there is just one creator God who is very great. He is asking his listeners not to minimise God.
“And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.” Acts 17:25
Nothing very controversial here either. God is much greater than man and does not need us to help him. He is refuting the authority of man by reasserting the authority of God. It is he who gives us life and sustains it so we should acknowledge him. Paul then moves this round to the obligations all men have to God. His message then becomes very challenging.
Behind all human religion is the idea that God needs us. He needs us to pray to him, sing to him, do things for him and his world. What he primarily wants is our hearts. He wants us to be forgiven members of his family who love him and are committed to living in a way that pleases him.
This one God is the creator he made all people and has all authority over nations so he must not be trifled with. Paul continues in an intriguing way,
“God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.” Acts 17:27
This is now moving onto new ground. Paul is asserting that this God can be known personally adding that he is within reach of us all. Talks of God being a living Spirit,
“For in him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:28
Paul wanted to show that this idea is not that novel, so he quoted two Greek poets,
“As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” Acts 17:29
The Cretan poet Epimenides (c. 600 BC) had said about God in his Cretica,
“In him we live and move and have our being.”
A Cilician poet Aratus (c. 315-240 BC) wrote in his Phaenomena,
“We are his offspring.”
Having laid this framework Paul begins to explain the implications of these facts. God can never be reduced to metal or stone idols – that is clearly absurd:
“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 man’s design or skill” Acts 17:29
By using the pronoun ‘we’ he continues to align himself with his hearers even though the pressure is mounting.
Jesus is our judge
Next comes the punchline:
“In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:30
The gloves are off. To worship idols instead of the one true God is stupidity itself! There is one true God, this God demands loyalty and therefore all people must return to live under his authority. Notice that although earlier Jesus had been the focus of all Paul said in the market, here amongst the philosophers, he takes his time to get round to him, even though Jesus is still the subject that he must get to. Paul continues with his theme that God cannot be trifled with by reminding people that there will be a judgment to come for all people when we will have to give an account for how we have lived before God.
“For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the hand of the man he has appointed.” Acts 17:31
The natural question that this would raise in people’s minds is surely, ‘Who is the judge?’ This is how Paul introduces Jesus and he gives evidence to support what he is saying,
“He has given proof of this by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:31
So Paul now returns to the subject of Jesus and his resurrection. How we would love to know more of what he said about Jesus. We have to read his other sermons in the book of Acts and his letters to the churches to get to know all he used to say about Jesus.
Jesus saves some
Whenever Jesus is mentioned people become polarised. It is a remarkable fact that many are happy to talk about god in abstract but the name of Jesus causes great offence. This may be why so many clergymen, and even Archbishops find it so hard to talk about Jesus.
“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.’ Acts 17:32
What a joy it is when people seriously want to investigate whether the story about Jesus is true. The work for Paul was just beginning. He had some bright people to convince. Again it would be useful to have a record of those discussion and the evidence Paul presented but some were convinced.
“A few men 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.” Acts 17:34
There is a later tradition that this Dionysius subsequently became bishop of Athens. All we can be sure of is that this small group of people joined a bible study group under the leadership of Paul and that they subsequently submitted to the leadership of Jesus.
Charles Simeon remembered Henry Martyn
Charles Simeon’s room in Kings college can be see fro the main road, His room was behind the large semicircular window on the first floor in the centre of the long block adjacent to Kings College chapel. Some eighteen months after hearing of the death of his beloved former curate a portrait of him was delivered and placed above the fireplace in the main room. Simeon used to have friends and students round and he loved to say to them, pointing at the picture,
“There! - see that blessed man! What an expression of countenance! No-one looks at me as he does – he never takes his eyes off me; and seems always to be saying, ‘Be serious – be earnest, don’t trifle, don’t trifle.’
Then smiling at the picture and gently bowing, Simeon would add, “And I won’t trifle, I won’t trifle.”
The lesson is clear. We must never shrink God so that he becomes our puppet and suggest that God must be answerable to me. He is our judge and can also be not only our Saviour but the Saviour of the world.
BVP
October 2022
