Atos 17
G. Campbell Morgan · Citado em PreceptAustin
Atos 17
Morgan - Two facts he declared in that synagogue. He first declared that according to their Scriptures, Messiah must suffer and rise. Taking up the Old Testament, he showed them that their own Scriptures declared that their own Messiah must die and rise again. That was the first burden of his teaching. The order in which it is stated here reveals to us the fact that before he told the story of Christ, he made them see what their own Scriptures taught about their own Messiah; and this was exactly what the Jew had entirely failed to grasp, or had completely forgotten. With the ancient prophecies in our hands, with the one prophecy of Isaiah for instance, it seems as though it were impossible for men ever to have studied them without seeing that the pathway of the Servant of God toward His triumph must be that of travail; but the Jew had failed to see it. There were in those days interpreters of the prophecies, scribes and teachers, rabbis, who had discovered a difficulty, and who were teaching that two Messiahs would come for the fulfilment of the ancient ideal; one who should be a suffering Messiah; and another who should be a Messiah winning battles, and establishing the throne....Paul's work was now to declare to these Jews that the Scriptures taught that the Messiah must suffer, and that He must rise again. One wonders what particular passage he took, whether the prophecy of Isaiah, or those still more mystic and profound words in Hosea. (Acts of the Apostles) Christ had to suffer - Had is dei which speaks of necessity. He must suffer! Why was it necessary? Because Messiah had to perfectly fulfill the OT prophecies and those prophecies had said He would suffer (see sample below from Isaiah 53) and die and after that would be resurrected (cf Acts 2:31+, Acts 4:2, 33+). Isaiah 53:4+ Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed (spiritually, not physically). 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. The prevalent Jewish view of the Messiah pictured a conquering King who would restore Jewish fortunes, defeat Jewish enemies, and usher in His kingdom on earth (see Jewish Tradition Of Two Messiahs). But the thought that the Messiah would come to suffer and die at the hands of His own people (cf 1 Th 2:15) was incomprehensible to most Jews. To counter this incorrect belief by the Jews regarding their Messiah, Paul resorted to the OT Scriptures that spoke of Messiah's suffering (Isaiah 53+, Psalm 16, Psalm 22, Daniel 9:24, 25, 26, 27-note, etc) Christ (5547) see Christos. The definite article is used here of "the Christ," the one and only Christ which corresponds with the Hebrew designation of the Messiah. Several modern translations (NLT, CSB, NAB) actually translate it with the phrase "the Messiah." NET Note on the Christ - Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” The Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead. These two points (suffering and resurrection) would have been among the more controversial aspects of Paul’s messianic preaching. The term translated “had to” (dei) shows how divine design and scripture corresponded here. John
Atos 17
Morgan observes that "the work in Thessalonica was not one of triumph only. It was one of trial, springing out of the jealousy of the Jews. The word" jealousy" is a very awkward word here. It should read springing out of the zeal of the Jews; for it is the very word that Paul used concerning them in his Roman letter, "I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge." (Ro 10:2+) Jealous (2206)( zeloo from zelos = zeal in turn from zeo = boil; source of our English word "zeal") means to be fervent, to be heated, to "boil" with envy, to be jealous and reflects an attitude of misplaced zeal.. It can be used commendably to refer to a striving for something or showing zeal. The only other use of zeloo by Luke (in all of his writings) in in Acts 7 where he describes the patriarch's jealousy against Joseph (Acts 7:9+). As Paul explained in Romans his hope was that the salvation of Gentiles would provoke the Jews into studying the Scriptures and discovering their promised Messiah "But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them." (Ro 11:13-14+) Unfortunately, in this case, the conversions provoked them to the "wrong kind" of jealously, the kind that resulted in persecution.
Atos 17
Morgan - The first Christians were walking torches who weren't afraid to share their faith, spread their news, praise their Lord, and set their world on fire. They'd discovered a secret that had turned them inside out. Gone were their inhibitions, failures, sins, and temporal concerns. The risen Christ was living within them, walking among them, and working through them. They were filled with the Spirit and they shared the Word with boldness, though it sometimes brought the lash down on their backs and the government down on their heads. They didn't expect to be here long, so they made the most of every opportunity. It was said of them, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too." It was an unintended compliment. There are still Christians like that, but the majority of us are content with being middle-of-the-roaders whose lukewarm Laodicean faith won't even cause the world to tilt a little. The gospel isn't going to turn the world upside down until it turns us inside out and right-side up, and we'll not set others on fire until we ourselves become walking torches. The Christians who have turned the world upside down have been men and women with vision in their hearts and the Bible in their hands. —T. B. Maston Acts 17:28 = "For in Him we live and move and have our being" When life gets heavy, humor lightens the load. I have heard, for example, that in Russia peasant farmers enjoy telling this story: A commissar came to a farmer one day and inquired about the year's potato crop. "Oh, it was wonderful," replied the farmer. "Good, good," said the official. "Just how big was it?" "Oh, it was so big it reached up to the very foot of God." The commissar's countenance changed. With a scowl, he said, "But comrade, this is a communist state and we are atheists. You must not forget, there is no God!" "That's right, commissar, that's what I mean. No God—no potatoes." A deep truth lies hidden in this humorous tale. God is the source of all things—whether we admit it or not. The apostle Paul went so far as to tell his pagan audience, "For in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). And he focused the great creating and sustaining work of God in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ (Col. 1:16-18) . Without Him, we could not draw a single breath, our bodies could not function, and we would have no provision for our daily sustenance. Atheists may have convinced themselves that God does not exist. Yet we who are His children through faith in His Son know otherwise. But do we show it by the way we live? That is the key question. Each day we must depend on Him, so that we recognize every blessing as coming from His gracious hand. —D. J. De Haan However long the chain of secondary causes, the first link is always in God's hand Spurgeon in his introduction to a sermon The World Turned Upside Down on Acts 17:6 wrote - THIS is just an old version of an oft-repeated story. When disturbances arise in a state, and rebellions and mutinies cause blood to be shed, it is still the custom to cry, “The Christians have done this.” In the days of Jesus we know that it wag laid to the charge of our blessed and divine Master, that he was a stirrer of sedition, whereas he himself had refused to be a king, when his followers would have taken him by force to make him one, for he said, “My kingdom is not of this world;” yet was he crucified under the two false charges of sedition and blasphemy. The same thing occurred with the Apostles. Wherever they went to preach the gospel, the Jews who opposed them sought to stir up the refuse of the city to put an end to their ministry; and then, when a great tumult had been made by the Jews themselves, who had taken unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city in an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring him out to the people, then the Jews laid the tumult and the uproar at the door of the Apostles, saying “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.” This plan was followed all through the Roman empire, until Christianity became the state religion. There was never a calamity befel Rome, never a war arose, never a famine or a plague, but the vulgar multitude cried, “The Christians to the lions! The Christians have done this.” Nero himself imputed the burning of Rome, of which he himself doubtless was the incendiary, to the Christians. The believers in Jesus were slandered as if they were the common sewer, into which all the filth of sin was to be poured; whereas, they were like Solomon’s great brazen sea, which was full of the purest water, wherein even priests themselves might wash their robes. And you will remark, that to this day the world still lays its ills at the door of the Christians. Was it not the foolish cry a few months ago, and are there not some weak-minded individuals who still believe it, that the great massacre and mutiny in India was caused by the missionaries. Forsooth, the men who turned the world upside down had gone there also; and because men broke through all the restraints of nature and of law, and committed deeds for which fiends might blush, this must be laid at the door of Christ’s holy gospel, and the men of peace must bear on their shoulders the blame of war! Ah! we need not refute this: the calumny is too idle to need a refutation. Can it be true, that he whose gospel is love should be the fomentor of disturbance? Can it be fair for a moment to lay mutiny and rebellion at the door of the gospel, the very motto of which is, “Peace on earth, good will towards men?” Did not our Master say, “Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s?” Did he not himself pay tribute though he sent to the fish of the sea, to get the shekel? And have not his followen at all times been a peaceful generation?—save only and except where the liberty of their conscience was touched, and then they were not the men to bow their knees to tyrants and kings, but with brave old Oliver they did bind their kings in chains, and their nobles in fetters of iron, as they will do again, if their liberty ever should be infringed, so that they should not hare power to worship God as they ought. We believe that what these Jews said of the Apostles, was just a downright wilful lie. They knew better. The Apostles were not the disturbers of states. It is true, they preached that which would disturb the sinful constitution of a kingdom, and which would disturb the evil practices of false priests; but they never meant to set men in an uproar. They did come to set men at arms with sin; they did draw the sword against iniquity; but against men as men, against kings as kings, they had no battle; it is with iniquity and sin, and wrong everywhere, that they proclaimed an everlasting warfare. But still, brethren, there is many a true word spoken in jest, we say, and surely there is many a true word spoken in malice. They said the Apostles turned the world upside down. They meant by that, that they were disturbers of the peace. But they said a great true thing; for Christ’s gospel does turn the world upside down. It was the wrong way upwards before, and now that the gospel is preached, and when it shall prevail, it will just set the world right by turning it upside down. (See entire sermon The World Turned Upside Down) Acts 17:7 and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another King, Jesus.” and these - Acts 16:21; 25:8-11; Ezra 4:12-15; Daniel 3:12; 6:13; Luke 23:2; John 19:12; 1Peter 2:15 Acts 17 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Acts 17:1-3, 10-11 Men Who Turned the World Upside Down, Part 1- John MacArthur Acts 17:4-9, 12-15 Men Who Turned the World Upside Down, Part 2 - John MacArthur OPEN TREASON: ANOTHER KING - JESUS! Jason has welcomed them - Much as Lydia had welcomed the missionaries in Acts 16:15, 40. Welcomed (Received) (5264) (hupodechomai from hupo = under + dechomai = receive, welcome) means to admit under (hupo = under) one's roof, to welcome, receive, entertain as a guest. The idea is to receive one hospitably and kindly. The Jews despised Rome and the rule of Caesar but saw the fact that the missionaries proclaimed Christ as King to be to their advantage. What hypocrites these antagonistic Jews were! Larkin notes "The charges are threefold: public disturbance—causing trouble all over the world; harboring disturbers of the peace; and defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus. The forties had been a turbulent decade for Rome in dealing with the Jews. In A.D. 41 Emperor Claudius wrote a threatening letter to the Alexandrians, saying he would take measures against Jews who were "stirring up a universal plague throughout the world" (Sherwin-White 1963:51). In A.D. 44 there were public disturbances in Palestine in the wake of Herod Agrippa I's death. In A.D. 49 Claudius expelled Jews from Rome because of public disturbances in the Jewish community at the instigation of "Chrestus" (Suetonius Claudius 25.4; see comment at Acts 18:3). Though the Jews themselves had caused the uproar at Thessalonica, their trumped-up charges of public disturbance made sense within the Empire's current political climate. (IVP New Testament Commentary Series – Acts) They all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar - Basically they are proposing a charge of treason. It was not just political but religious treason because of the Roman imperial cult. Decrees (1378)(dogma from dokéo = to think) refers to a fixed and authoritative decision or requirement (see the "decree" [dogma] of the emperors in Lu 2:1, Acts 17:7). Caesar - Family name of Julius Caesar assumed by following emperors as a title. Some Pharisees and Herodians asked Jesus about the propriety of paying taxes to Caesar. In reply, the Lord said that those things pertaining to Caesar should be rendered to Caesar and those things pertaining to God should be rendered to Him (Matthew 22:15-21). In this passage, the name Caesar is virtually a symbol for civil authority. Originally, Caesar was the family name of the founder of the Roman Empire. Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15,44 B.C. His successors kept Caesar's memory alive, and eventually his name came to be used as a title. Caesars mentioned or referred to in the New Testament include Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius, and probably Nero. See Rome; Roman Empire. (Holman Bible Dictionary) Related Resources: Caesar - Title Julius Caesar Nave Topical Bible Caesar Thompson Chain Reference Caesar American Tract Society Caesar Bridgeway Bible Dictionary Caesar CARM Theological Dictionary Caesar Easton's Bible Dictionary Caesar Fausset Bible Dictionary Caesar Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible Caesar Hastings' Dictionary of the NT Caesar Morrish Bible Dictionary Caesar Hawker's Poor Man's Dictionary Caesar Wilson's Bible Types Caesar Webster Dictionary Caesar Watson's Theological Dictionary Caesar International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Caesar Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia Caesar McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia Caesar (2) Larkin - The charge of defying Caesar's decrees is best understood against this background. "Augustus and Tiberius had been very sensitive about the activities of astrologers and other prognosticators and had issued decrees forbidding predictions and inquiries affecting the affairs of state or the emperor's personal well being" (Bruce 1988:325; Dio Cassius Roman History 56.25.5-6; 57.15.8; Tacitus Annals 6.20; 12.52; compare 14.9). Paul's eschatology could be easily twisted into declarations about a coming monarch who will displace Caesar (1 Thess 1:9-10; 2 Thess 2:5-8). Since Thessalonica would want to maintain its status as a free city through loyalty to the emperor, and since the local officials are charged with preserving order and making sure the imperial decrees are respected, the charges understandably throw the crowd and the city officials into turmoil (tarasso, Acts 17:13; compare Acts 12:18; Acts 19:23). (Ibid) Saying there is another king Jesus (Basilea heteron legontes einai Iēsoun) - To acknowledge any other king but Caesar was one of the most serious crimes in the Roman Empire. It was for allegedly claiming to be a rival earthly ruler to Caesar that the Romans crucified Jesus (cf. John 19:12, 19:15). Failure to worship Caesar surely led to Paul's execution. The fact that the Jews were "zealous" to safeguard the government of Caesar shows how much they hated the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for they clearly had little or no love for the Roman Empire.
Atos 17
Morgan - There is a difference between these two places, not merely between the Jews inhabiting them, but between the two places themselves, Thessalonica and Berea. Thessalonica was on the highway; Berea was on the by way. And when they arrived - Emphasizing that they did arrive safely and unscathed. They went into the synagogue of the Jews - Berea though considerably smaller than Thessalonica still had enough Jews for a synagogue and as was his custom, Paul made a beeline for the place of Jewish worship. Paul did not take a rest break but sought to preach the Gospel posthaste! We always see an urgency about Paul's zeal to proclaim the Word of God that men might be saved by faith in Jesus. God give us all such a persistent, consistent zeal to preach Your Word! Amen Matthew