Acts 17 — The Appointed Man

Today’s Passage: Acts 17

Acts 17 follows Paul across three cities, and it is really one journey carrying one message. In Thessalonica he reasons in the synagogue for three Sabbaths, showing from the Scriptures that the Christ had to suffer and rise, and that this Jesus is the Christ. Some believe, but jealousy stirs up a mob, and the charge they shout in the streets is that these men proclaim another king, named Jesus. By night the brothers send Paul on to Berea, where the people prove more noble, receiving the word with eagerness and searching the Scriptures every day to see whether these things are so. When agitators follow him even there, Paul travels on to Athens and waits, deeply troubled to see a city full of idols. At the Areopagus he stands and proclaims the God who made the world, the God who now commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has set a day when He will judge the world by a Man He has appointed. And the proof He gives is that He raised that Man from the dead. Some mock, some ask to hear him again another time, and some believe. Do not read these three cities as three separate sermons. The synagogue, the daily search, and Mars Hill are one climb toward a single truth: the appointed Man whom God raised from the dead.

As you read, hold this: God has appointed a Man whom He raised from the dead.

Acts 17:1–9 (BSB)

¹ When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. ² As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbaths 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 declared. ⁴ Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few leading women. ⁵ The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas, hoping to bring them out to the people. ⁶ But when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have now come here, ⁷ and Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, named Jesus!” ⁸ On hearing this, the crowd and city officials were greatly disturbed. ⁹ And they collected bond from Jason and the others and then released them.

It is Paul’s custom to begin in the synagogue, and there he reasons from the Scriptures, showing that the Christ had to suffer and then rise, and that this Jesus is the Christ he proclaims. The word bears fruit at once, among the Jews, among God-fearing Greeks, and among a good number of leading women. But fruit draws opposition, and jealousy gathers a mob and hurls a charge that is half slander and half unwitting truth: that these men are turning the world upside down, and that they follow another king named Jesus. Both things, in their own way, are true. Jason, who had opened his home to them, is the one left to pay the price of his hospitality.

Acts 17:10–15 (BSB)

¹⁰ As soon as night had fallen, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went into the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true. ¹² As a result, many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men. ¹³ But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that Paul was also proclaiming the word of God in Berea, they went there themselves to incite and agitate the crowds. ¹⁴ The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. ¹⁵ Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then returned with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

The nobility Luke praises in the Bereans is not a matter of rank but of character. They receive the message with eagerness, and then they test it, examining the Scriptures every single day to see whether what they have heard is true, and many of them come to believe. Opposition follows Paul like a shadow, all the way down from Thessalonica, but the brothers close ranks to protect the messenger and send him safely on. So Paul comes at last to Athens, and he comes alone.

Acts 17:16–21 (BSB)

¹⁶ While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply disturbed in his spirit to see that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace with those he met each day. ¹⁸ Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹ So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, where they asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? ²⁰ For you are bringing some strange notions to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.” ²¹ Now all the Athenians and foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing more than hearing and articulating new ideas.

A holy distress rises in Paul as he sees the city full of idols, and he does not settle into being a mere sightseer. He reasons in the synagogue and in the marketplace alike, wherever people will listen. The philosophers meet him with a sneer, some calling him a babbler, and others mishearing him to be preaching foreign gods, since the names of Jesus and of the resurrection sounded to their ears like a new pair of deities. Curiosity carries him up to the Areopagus, for chasing after the latest idea is the great pastime of this city. But the gospel he brings will not consent to be one more notion set on the shelf beside the rest.

Acts 17:22–31 (BSB)

²² Then Paul 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 examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now 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 made by human hands. ²⁵ Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. ²⁶ From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands. ²⁷ God intended that they 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, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination. ³⁰ Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent. 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 everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

Paul begins where his hearers already are, as a deeply religious people, anxious enough not to miss any god that they had even raised an altar to one they did not know, and then he fills in the blank they had left. The true God is the Creator, not a tenant living in temples built by human hands. He is the Giver of life and breath to everyone, not a needy deity who must be served. From one man He made every nation on earth, and He set the ordered times and the boundaries of their lands, all so that people would seek Him, who is never far from any one of us. Paul even borrows the lines of their own poets, and he uses them to expose the folly of their idols. The ignorance of former times God had overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, for the day of judgment is fixed, the Judge is the Man He has appointed (ὁρίζω) horizō, pronounced ho-RID-zo. Strong's G3724, to mark out, appoint, determine. To mark out, to appoint, to fix a thing firmly in place, that is the range of this word. God has fixed a day, and He has marked out the Judge who will preside over it. The proof He offers is not some new argument but a raised Man. Thessalonica had heard that the Christ must suffer and rise, and Athens now hears that this same risen Lord is the appointed Judge of all. It is one and the same Man, marked out by God and raised from the dead. , and the proof of it is that He raised Him from the dead.

Acts 17:32–34 (BSB)

³² When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to mock him, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this topic.” ³³ At that, Paul left the Areopagus. ³⁴ But some joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others who were with them.

The resurrection splits the room three ways, into mockery, into delay, and into faith. Dionysius, a member of the council itself, believes, and so does a woman named Damaris, and others with them. The word of God does not return to Him empty. Even here, in the proud intellectual heart of Athens, a remnant is gathered in.