Paul’s missionary journey to Thessalonica, Berea, Athens (Acts 17) 4/22/2026
By Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce
Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospel
music
Scriptrues reading Acts 17:1-34 (NIV)
To Thessalonica
1 When they had passed through Amphipolis and
Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica,
where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As his custom was, Paul went
into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the
Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer
and rise from the dead. “ This
Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ”
he said. 4
Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas as did a large number
of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.
5 But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad
characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city.
They rushed to Jason’s house in
search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. 6
But when they did not find them, they dragged Hason and some other brothers
before the city officials, shouting: “ These men who have caused trouble all
over the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying
Caesar’s decrees, saying that thereis another king, one called Jesus.” 8When they heard this, the crowd
and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9Then they made
Jason and the others post bond and let them go.
To Berea
10 As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 Many of the Jew believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. 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.
To Athens
14 The brothers immediately
sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea 15The
men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for
Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly
distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned
in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the
marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A
group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of
them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to
be advocating foreign gods.” Thy said this because Paul was preaching the good
news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and
brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “ May we
know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are
bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.” 21
(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing
nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said :
“Men of Athens ! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23
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.
24 The God who made the world and everything in it is
the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25
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. 26 From
one man He made every nation of men, that they sould inhabit the whole earth;
and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should
live. 27 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. 28
For in Him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have
said, “We are His offspring.”
29 Therefore, since wew 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 and skill.
30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now
He commands all people everywhere to respent.
31 For He has set a day when He will judge the world
with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men
by raising him from the dead.”
32 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.” 33At
that, Paul left the Councel. 34 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.
Verse 15 The capital of
Achaia, a province of the Roman Empire. It was the center of enlightenment in
science, literature, and art for the ancient world. Through the apostle Paul’s
visit to such a center, the gospel of the kingdom of God reached the people of
the highest culture.
Verse 16
Paul’s human spirit (Zexh.21:1;Job 32:8;Pro.20:27), regenerated by the
Spirit of God (John3:6), indwelt by the Lord the Spirit (2Tim
4:22;Rom.8:10-11), in which spirit he worshipped and served God (John 4:24; Rom.1:9).
Such a spirit was provoked by the many idols in Athens. Even the highest culture did not prevent these people from
worshipping idols. Within them, as within all mankind, was a God-worshipping
spirit created by God for man to seek and worship Him. However, because of
their blindness and ignorance, they took the wrong objects for their worship
(v.23). Now the very true God, who created the universe and them, sent His
apostle to announce the true object whom they should worship (vv.23-29).
Verse 18 The Epicurean philosophers were the followers of the Greek philosopher Epicurus (341-270 BC), whose philosophy was materialism. They did not recognize the Creator and His providence over the world but sought sensuous pleasures, especially in eating and drinking. Some of Paul’s words to the Philippians (Phil.3:18 and the Corinthians (1Cor.15:32) referred to the Epicureans who was believed that happiness was the chief end of life.
The Stoic philosophers were members of a school of philosophy
founded by Zeno (340-265 BC). They were
pantheists who believed that everything was governed by fate and that all
happenings were the result of the divine will, and therefore that man should
calmly accept them, free from all passion, grief, or joy. They emphasized that
the highest good is virtue and that virtue is the reward given to the soul.
Some of the words in Paul’s Epictle to the Philippians referred to the Stoics
(Phil 4:11). Stoic Poikile (Painted Porch) where he taught in Athens,
emphasized the retional over the emotional. They were pantheistic. Their ethics
were characterized by moral earnestness and a high sense of duty, advocating
condust “accordin got nature.”
Verse 19 Areopagus. The
venerable council that had charge of religious and educational matters in
Athens. It met on the Hill of Ares W. of the Acropolis, the hill also being
known as the Aeropagus Mars’ Hill (in Athens) the seat of the ancient and
venerable Athenian Court, which judged the most solemn problems of religion.
Verse 22 The Greek word here
means fearing a demon, a supernatural spirit; hence, given up to demon worship;
very much revering the deities. The same word is used in noun form in 25:19.
Verse 24 The Apostle’s Word
in vv 24-25 was a very strong inoculation to both the atheistic Epicureans who
did not recognize the Creator and His providence over the world, and the
pantheistic Stoics, who submitted themselves to the will of many gods
concerning their fate.
Verse 26 Adam. Some ancient
MSS read, one blood. Appointed seasons- The migrations to America in their
times and with their boundaries are strong proof of this word and the first
part of the succeeding verse.
Verse 27 because God is the
omnipresent Spirit.
Verse 28 denoting that man’s
life and existence and even his actions are in God. This does not mean that
unbelievers have God’s life and live, exist, and act in God like the believers
in Christ, who are born of God, possess His divine life and nature, and live.
Exist, and act in His divine person.
Poets -Probably referring to
Aratus (about 270BC) and Cleanthes (About 300 B.C), both of whom uttered these
same words in their poems to Zeus (Jupiter), whom they considered the supreme
God. In the writings of the two poets His refers to Zeus as the supreme God.
His race- Just as Adam was thought to
be the son of God (Luke 3:38) Since God is the Father of them all (Mal.2:10) in
a natural sense, not in the spiritual sense in which He is the Father of all
the believers (Gal.4:6), who are regenerated by Him in their spirit(
1Pet.1:3;John3:5-6).
Verse 29 Greek. Theion,
meaning that which is divine. It is not the same as theiotes in Rom.1:20, which
denotes the characteristics of divinity, nor is it the same as theotes in
Col.2:9, which denotes the Godhead, God Himself theion is a more vague and
abstract word than theiotes and is not as definite as theotes, which is
definite in denoting the Godhead, God Himself .
Verse 31 The Day when Christ will judge living men,
the nations on the earth at His coming back, on the throne of His glory before
the millennium (Matth 25:31-46). This probably does not include the day when He
will judge dead men at the great white throne after the millennium
(Rev.20:11-15) as in 10:42 2 Tim.4:1 and 1 Pet 4:5, because on the day
mentioned here, He will judge the world, which should refer only to living men.
This day of Christ’s judgment on earth will be brought in by His coming back.
He was designated by God to execute this judgement, and God’s raising Him from
the dead is strong proof of this. In their preaching to the Gentiles, both
Peter in 10:42 and Paul here and in 24:25 stressed the coming judgment of God.
Faith, assurance, guarantee. The resurrection of Christ is proof and assurance
that He is coming back to judge all the inhabitants of the earth. This is
guaranteed that we may have faith in it and that it may lead us to
repent. (v.30).
Bibliography,
King James, The Holy Bible (KJV), Cleveland,
OH: The world publishing company
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible(NIV).Chicago,
IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986
Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA:
Living Stream Ministry, 1985.
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