Acts 17 Bible Commentary

After leaving Philippi, Paul, Silas, and Timothy make their way further west into Macedonia (See Map). In the city of Thessalonica, Paul preaches at a Jewish synagogue. For three Sabbaths, he uses the Old Testament to show that Jesus was the Messiah, who was prophesied to die and resurrect. A significant number of the Jews, God-fearing gentiles, and important women believe in Jesus.

Other Jews are filled with jealousy. They rouse a mob and tear through the city. The mob attacks Jason, the man who is hosting Paul and his team. The mob takes Jason and a few other believers to the city authorities. The mob alerts the authorities to Paul’s presence in town, that he and his teachings are upsetting other cities in the Roman Empire. They assert that what he teaches is opposed to Caesar, because he is corrupting people into believing in a false king named Jesus. Jason pays the authorities a pledge and is free to go home.

But the danger to the new believers in Thessalonica prompts Paul and his team to move on to the nearby city of Berea. The citizens of Berea are more thoughtful and mature than those in Thessalonica. They receive Paul’s teaching with a warm and welcoming attitude, while also comparing his truth-claims with the Scriptures.

Many of the Bereans believe, Jews and Greeks alike. The Jews who caused the trouble in Thessalonica hear that Paul is still preaching in the next town over, so they go to Berea and rabble-rouse against the Christians once more. This time, only Paul leaves town. He is the main focus of the opposition. Some of the Bereans escort him all the way to the city of Athens, while Silas and Timothy remain in Berea, with the promise that they will join Paul in Athens as soon as they can.

Paul does not silently hide out in Athens, however. He begins preaching the gospel there too. The sheer amount of idols in Athens bothers him. He has conversations in both the synagogue and market place in Athens. Even local Greek philosophers are interested in what he says. They take him to the Areopagus, which was a hill dedicated to Ares, the god of war. There they have a philosophical conversation with Paul. They give him the chance to preach. Athens was full of locals and visitors who liked to spend all their time engaging in intellectual conversations, especially with interesting people who brought ideas they had never heard before.

Paul gives a sermon to the Athenians that is somewhat like the sermon he gave the Lystrians in Acts 14. Both sermons are directed at predominately Gentile Greek audiences, so they do not presume prior knowledge of the Old Testament, of the Jewish god, or the prophecies about the Messiah. Paul compliments the Athenians on how reverent they are toward divine powers.

The city is full of shrines to idols. But he noticed one dedicated to “an unknown god.” Paul uses this unknown god as a stand-in for the true God, that although He is unknown to the Greeks, He desires to be known by them. Paul explains the true God as the real power behind all life. He is a God who does not live in temples. People cannot give Him anything. He does not need anything from us. We need all from Him; even the breath we breathe is owed to Him.

Paul goes on to say that this all-powerful God who makes and sustains life is near to all men and wants to be known by them. Therefore, we need to understand the reality of God. He is not made of earthly matter. Paul claims that God has overlooked the Athenians’ past; they did not know Him and had not heard of Him until now, but now God was speaking and reaching out to the Athenians, and all men and women everywhere in the world.

The reason God is calling all men and women to repent and return to Him is because He has appointed a day in which everyone will be judged. God sent His Son to die for our sins and resurrect to a new life, so that all humans could put their trust in this Son, Jesus. By trusting in Jesus and nothing else, we are then declared righteous in the eyes of God, and can know Him, and be known by Him, so that He is no longer “the unknown God.” At the coming judgement, all who trust in the Judge, who is the Son of God, can be assured that we are saved to be in God’s family and presence, rather than sent away with those who did not trust in Jesus.

Some of Paul’s listeners are unimpressed and uninterested in his message when he claims that Jesus came back to life. This claim seems too incredible, fanciful, and ridiculous. But others are very interested in what Paul is preaching. Some Greeks even go to him to learn more. They then believe in Jesus. One of the new believers is an Athenian judge.