Good Friday to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Are you a person who believes everything you hear or read or are you a person who wants proof, wants to dig deeply before you’ll believe? Yesterday I left you with the apostle Paul in the great city of Athens, Greece. I think he was having the time of his life! Paul was incredibly intelligent, a well-trained scholar, particularly in Jewish history and the Scriptures, and more than that, Paul had encountered the resurrected Jesus Christ personally, and been taught by the Holy Spirit of God for the past several years. Finally in Athens Paul was finding highly intelligent, well-educated men who loved scholarly debate. Paul was in his element!
Dr. Luke describes Paul’s first days in Athens this way: “While Paul was waiting for Timothy and Silas in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that city full of idols. So Paul 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. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with Paul… Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took Paul and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus where they said to him, ‘What is this new teaching that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears and we would like to know what they mean!” (Acts 17:16-20)
Can you see why Paul was so excited? His whole life he had trained for ‘such a time as this’! His experiences in both his first missionary journey and thus far in his second journey, bringing the Gospel to Gentile cities where it had not before been proclaimed, had been sharpening his skills in debating God’s truth, especially with those who did not have any previous understanding of Jesus Christ! Now in Athens, Paul was in the global center of philosophical education and debate. Well educated people came TO Athens from all around the world simply to sit and discuss great education and religion and philosophy.
Over the century’s names like Aristotle, Plato and many others would be associated with Athens. Luke gives us this brief commentary: “All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.” (Acts 17:21) Now that was probably a bit of an exaggeration since obviously a major city function with most of the people working their jobs, still Athens had become famous as the great intellectual debate center of the world. And if Paul had a ‘bucket list’ of places he wanted to visit, certainly Athens would have been at or near the top of his ‘bucket list’!
Luke tells us Paul was invited to move from discussing his Gospel in Jewish Synagogues and the marketplace, to what we might call the Supreme Court of religious/philosophical
Similar to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, these men met primarily to discuss issues that might become divisive or distracting for the revered Greek way of life. Greek culture was strongly built on Greek mythology of many deities and their involvement with the human race on planet earth. That is why Paul “was greatly distressed to see that city full of idols.” Those idols were carefully carved marble statues of every imaginable being all representing the many gods of Greek mythology.
The opportunity for someone, from as far away as Jerusalem, to be invited to speak to these Areopagus leaders and present his beliefs was a great privilege for Paul and there was no one, in all of Christianity, who was better prepared for this moment!
Luke records this historic moment with these words: “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. 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 things you worship – and that is what I am going to proclaim to you.” (Acts 17:22,23) Paul’s delicate yet direct approach fascinates me. Nothing would have been appreciated by these Athenian scholars more than Paul’s compliment that as a visitor, after days of walking around town, he concludes Athenians are a people who highly value religion and the knowledge of God. Is there a lesson here for you and me, my friends?
When we find ourselves in discussion with people who hold strong opinions which disagree with our Christianity, can we find a truthful way to honor them as we enter into discussion about the error of their ways? Now ponder that a moment as you consider the loud and sometimes vicious voices which oppose the Christianity that I and many of you cherish.
Do you see Paul made it clear he had not stepped off the boat and done nothing, rather as a newcomer to Athens he had immediately set about to investigate this great and famous city, learning as much as he could firsthand, not believing the rumors or reputation which he had heard prior to coming to Athens. Again, do you see a lesson here? How easily do we believe the rumors we hear, regardless of their source? When our ears hear something new, what is our normal pattern of due diligence to investigate the truthfulness of what we’ve heard?
In the world of scholarly people like Paul, everywhere in the world, no city was held in higher esteem or talked about more than Athens. Paul wanted these men to know he was serious about seeking to know the truth in Athens directly from those who know it best! That demonstrates honor for the truth and a respectful resistance to believing rumors.
Thirdly, do you see Paul found a perfect platform for presenting his Gospel message and it was something they in Athens highly revered… the altar and monument to ‘an unknown god’. Clearly in the Greek passion for religious knowledge and the great development of their Greek mythology, this monument and altar proclaimed their acknowledgment that they did NOT assume they knew everything there was to know about God and the spiritual realm. They assumed there was more out there beyond the reaches of their sophisticated knowledge, maybe even other gods they’d never heard of.
That provided the perfect platform for Paul to introduce them to a God they did not know, the one, true, Almighty, Creator God! Again, let’s learn a lesson here. When engaged in serious spiritual discussion with someone can you and I learn to listen well so guided by the Holy Spirit we can identify the platform the person provides us to present to them the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Let’s pause right here. We are witnessing one of the most remarkable events in the New Testament. We are learning from one of the best debaters and evangelists of all time. Before we watch Paul and listen to his masterful presentation to the Areopagus, have we already learned some important techniques for engaging people in discussion about Jesus Christ and His Gospel?
Even though in many parts of the world the mere mention of the name ‘Jesus Christ’ awakens ridicule from people who have rejected Jesus and any notion that discussing Jesus is worth the time or breath it requires? Let’s ponder what Paul has taught us today and compare that with how you and I normally engage in a spiritual discussion, and let’s ask God to teach us HIS Way! Do you and I have teachable spirits today?
Today’s Scripture is Acts 17:18-23.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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