Acts 17:23-34 - Paul's messgae to the Athanians

Acts 17:23-34 – Paul message to the Athenians

Paul began his address to the men of Athens by sharing his observation about them. He noticed that they were very religious. The word religious was deliberate. The Athenians took it as a compliment to commend their piety. For Paul, whose spirit was stirred and disturbed, the word meant that they were overly superstitious in their religious observance. In case they had omitted a god in their worship, the Athenians even had an altar built with this inscription, “To an unknown God.” Paul wisely used this altar as a point of contact with his audience. He explained that while they worshipped this unknown God, he would now proclaim to make this God known to them.

Paul firmly explained to them that God, the Creator, made the world and everything in it. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. Naturally this God couldn’t be enshrined in man-made temples. And He had no need that anyone should do anything for Him for He is the very One who gave life to men.  

In verse 26 Paul refers to God’s creation of Adam. He created that one man and from him came all the races of humanity who dwell on earth. And before the different races came into being, God had already determined when and where each should dwell on the earth. Furthermore, He made man with the desire to search and seek for Him, yet He remained very near and within reach by them.

And now through union with this God and by His power, everyone has the capacity to live. God is the One who causes everyone to live and move and to exist. To affirm what he had said, Paul quoted some poets to say that even “We too are His children.” On that basis Paul found grounds to debunk the idolatry of the Athenians. He asserted that since they were also God’s children, they should not think that God is anything like an image of gold or silver or stone made by man’s hand.  

In his conclusion, Paul told the Athenians that God had chosen not to consider the time they did not know Him. And since they now come to hear about Him, and to know Him, they should repent and turn from their evil ways. For God had a fixed judgment day and had appointed a Man to judge all men with fairness and without a mistake. This man is obviously Christ Jesus whom God had proven, by raising Him from the dead. Paul was pointing to Christ’s resurrection to prove that He would be the coming judge of all humanity.

When the Athenians heard about the resurrection of Christ, some sneered while others deferred their conclusion, wanting to hear more concerning this. So Paul left them. Verse 34 tells us, however, that there were those who followed Paul and believed. Among those who trusted Paul were two persons. They were specifically mentioned - Dionysius and a woman named Damaris.

We cannot read this portion of the Scriptures without admiring Paul for the depth of the message he had shared with the Athenians. What was more challenging was Paul’s motivation to share the Word. He saw the situation in Athens and was troubled. He felt so much for God that he just had to share the truth. Let us learn to feel like what Paul had felt, so that we will speak as he had spoken.

We need to ask ourselves, “What must we do to emulate Paul and seize every opportunity to share about Christ?” “What would it take to make us willing to open our mouth to speak for Him?” Let us not be deaf to the commission of Christ that says, “Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations…!”