The People of God: The Story of the ChurchVoorbeeld

Our passage today gives a really good overview of the gospel going forth in different cities and the responses to it. Notice how Paul would always go to the synagogue first to testify of the resurrection of Jesus. In Thessalonica, this led not only to Jews coming to faith but Greeks and also, of note, a few influential women in the city. However, in both Thessalonica and Berea, there are also some who opposed the message.

In Athens, we see Paul going to the synagogue as usual but also to the marketplace and using a slightly different approach. He uses the altar to an ‘unknown god’ as an opportunity to share the gospel. It is interesting that Paul notes who he is speaking to (Gentiles), and so rather than focusing on the story of Israel as he often does, Paul talks of God as being the one who created the whole world. It is also worth noticing how it is when Paul starts talking about the resurrection of the dead that is the point of either mockery or interest in the message.

As the church, we have a message to tell the world. We must learn to notice how the early church communicated this message. Paul had an understanding of the culture and society he was in and used this in how he communicated. It is also vital to look at what the message itself was. The theme of resurrection is sometimes lost in a telling of the gospel where Jesus died for our sins so that we can go to heaven as a soul. This is absent from the retellings of the message in Acts. As the church today, we must read the tellings of the gospel from the early church very carefully to ensure that this is the message we are continuing to pass on today.