Cc – Many Respond to the Good News in Corinth 18: 1-17

Many Respond to the Good News in Corinth
18: 1-17

51-52 AD

Many respond the the Good New in Corinth DIG: Claudius’ order was given in 50 AD after a Jewish riot in Rome over the preaching of Christ there. What else shows the Roman attitude toward Christianity (verses 12-17)? Would this help or hinder Christian witness? What happened to Crispus successor, Sosthenes (see First Corinthians 1:1)? What effect might these two conversions have on the Jewish community? How might Paul feel about the beginning of his ministry at Corinth (First Corinthians 2:3)? How might the vision from God in verses 9-10 and the gift from the Philippians encourage him?

REFLECT: What missionaries are you supporting? What difference would it make if they were not supported by other believers? How might you begin to encourage some missionaries in this way? How has God brought encouragement to you? What are some of the particular circumstances or temptations you are enduring right now, challenges that might require you to be more concentrated in your submission to Messiah? How can you keep yourself constantly reminded of His presence in your life and of your sold-out devotion to Him?

After these things (to see link click Cb – An Unknown God in Athens), Paul left Athens and went to Corinth, because Claudius had commanded all Jewish people to leave Rome in 49 AD (18:1-2b). The expulsion is usually connected with the remark of Suetonius, “Since the Jews were continually making disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he [Claudius] expelled them from Rome’ (Claudius 25:4); and it is presumed that the pagan Suetonius was speaking not of some otherwise unknown Chrestus but of Christos, and misspelled the word. If so, Suetonius (75-160 AD) is one of the earliest writers outside the New Covenant to mention Jesus Christ, and his expression, “instigation of Christos,” would refer to disputes between Messianic and non-Messianic Jews. And the Romans, not knowing what was going on within the Jewish community, simply expelled all of them.⁴²¹ But that was short lived, and later the Jews returned to Rome. By the time Paul arrives in Rome in Chapter 28, there was a Jewish community in Rome.

Corinth was fifty miles west of Athens with some 750,000 people. In Paul’s day Corinth was the largest, most cosmopolitan city of Greece. It was the capital of the Roman province of Achaia. Corinth was famous for being “the Bridge of Greece.” Situated on the Corinthian Isthmus, the narrow neck of land that keeps southern Greece from becoming an island, its geographical position made it a key commercial center. The only overland trade route between northern and southern Greece passed through Corinth. It had two seaports, one on the Aegean Sea and one on the Adriatic Sea. Small ships were carried from one port to the other across the isthmus on a tramway, saving two hundred miles of treacherous sea travel.

It seems to have been Paul’s deliberate policy to move purposefully from one strategic city-center to the next. What drew him to cities was probably that they contained the Jewish synagogues, the larger populations and influential leaders. So on his First Missionary Journey he visited Salamis and Paphos in Cyprus, and Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe in Galatia; on his Second Missionary Journey he evangelized Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea in Macedonia, and Athens and Corinth in Achaia; while during the greater part of his Third Missionary Journey he concentrated on Ephesus.⁴²² Therefore, each strategic location gave it potential as a center from which news of Yeshua could spread in all directions.

The depravity of the city: As in Athens, the religion of the Corinthians seems to have been primarily that of the traditional Greek gods. Towering some 1,900 feet above Corinth was the Acropolis, on top of which was the temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Each evening the temple’s one thousand priestesses, who were ritual prostitutes, would descend from the temple to the town to engage its male citizens and visitors in “worship” of the goddess. In stark contrast to the sedate (by comparison) intellectual and cultural center of Athens, Corinth was city where none but the tough could survive. Corinth was the center of immorality, in fact, it was the most depraved city of the ancient world, characterized by drunkenness, dishonesty and debauchery. In the first-century world, to be called a “Corinthian” did not mean you were from Corinth – it meant you were hooked on pleasure and sexual excess.⁴²³ So the name of the city became a verb. This was the kind of city that Paul came walked into.

The discouragement of Paul: When Paul arrived in Corinth, he was discouraged. The combination of loneliness, and the prospect of facing the depravity of the city, with its commerce and vice, accounts for the weakness and fear that gripped the apostle as he arrived to begin his ministry. Reflecting on his state of mind when he first arrived in their city, Paul later wrote to the Corinthians, “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling” (First Corinthians 2:3). Paul also spoke of his trial in his first letter to the Thessalonians, writing from Corinth, he wrote: Because of this, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and trouble, we were comforted about you by your faithfulness (First Thessalonians 3:7). Their faith was a beacon of hope in the darkness. Besides discouragement, Paul may have been physically ill, perhaps from the lingering effects of the flogging he received in Philippi (16:22-24). Physical weakness often makes discouragement even worse.⁴²⁴

The companionship of friends: There he found a Jewish man named Aquila – a native of Pontus. He had been a resident of Rome, but had been compelled to leave Italy by an edict of the Emperor Claudius (see above). He came with his wife Priscilla (18:2a). She is more frequently mentioned before her husband (Acts 18:18 and 26; Romans 16:3; Second Timothy 4:19), which suggests that she was the more important figure from our perspective.⁴²⁵ Luke presents five cameos of important believing women in a variety of roles they assumed (see Bd – Signs and Miracles Follow Peter: A closer look at Luke, Women and Ministry). By this time both Aquila and Priscilla were believers, but we are not told how they were saved. Once again, Luke introduces two important characters in the story in a very casual way.

Paul went to see them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and began working, for by trade they were tent-makers (18:2c-3). Paul earned his own living (First Corinthians 9:1-19), even though he taught that those who proclaim the Good News are entitled to be supported by their fellow believers (First Corinthians 9:14). In observing the Oral Law’s admonition, “Do not make the Torah . . . a spade with which to dig (which means, don’t use you knowledge of spiritual things as a means of getting rich), he went beyond the call of duty.

And because it was his pattern to do so, Paul was debating every Shabbat in the synagogue (Romans 1:16), trying to persuade both Jewish and God-fearing Greeks (18:4). So Paul was able to reside with Aquila and Priscilla, support himself by sharing in their work, and enjoy their fellowship. Now began a period of evangelism in which Aquila and Priscilla no doubt assisted Paul, who was successful in his evangelism among both Jews and God-fearing Gentiles who attended the synagogue.⁴²⁶

The blessing of converts: Now when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia they came to report on the condition of the church at Thessalonica (First Thessalonians 3:6), to give Paul comfort (First Thessalonians 3:7-10), and to give Paul financial support from the Philippian church (Second Corinthians 11:9 and Philippians 4:14-17). They also reported some malicious rumors that were being said about Paul in First Thessalonians 2:3-6 and they had some unanswered questions concerning the return of Christ according to First Thessalonians 4:13. So it was at this point that Paul wrote First Thessalonians. A few weeks later he probably wrote Second Thessalonians.

The financial support given to Paul by the Philippian church allowed him to stop making a living by making tents and to be free to preach the message of the gospel during the week, urgently testifying to the Jewish people that Yeshua is the Messiah. But when they resisted and reviled him, he shook out his garments (in the traditional, dramatic Jewish gesture of rejection) and said: Your blood be upon your own heads; for my part – I am clean! In Ezeki’el 3:16-19, ADONAI tells the prophet that he will be guilty if he fails to warn the wicked person to leave his wicked ways, but if does warn him he will be guiltless. Paul is, in effect, applying the passage to himself and saying, “I have done what I could to bring you the message of salvation; you choose to reject it at your peril. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles, which I would not do if you were responsive, but you give me no other choice. The gospel is especially for you (Romans 1:16), but it will also save them” (18:5-6). This was a turning point for Corinth, now Paul would turn away from the Jews and emphasize Gentile evangelism.⁴²⁷

After leaving there, Paul went into the house of a man named Titius Justus, a God-fearer whose house was next door to the synagogue as an additional base for teaching. This was definitely a confrontational tactic. Paul had no intention of being intimidated or dropping out of sight. He continued to preach the gospel and to be very visible in the Jewish community. Believers today should consider following his example and making the saving message of Yeshua perfectly clear to the Jewish people. The wisdom of Paul’s policy was evident when Crispus, the synagogue leader, put his faith in the Lord, along with his whole household. In fact, Paul himself immersed Crispus (First Corinthians 1:14).⁴²⁸ That astounding conversion must have sent shock waves through Corinth’s Jewish community, which watched in mounting fear as many of the Gentile Corinthians, upon hearing, were believing and being immersed in a mikveh (18:7-8). Desperate to halt the rising tide of faith in Yeshua as Messiah, the Jewish leaders would soon haul Paul before the Roman authorities. Before that ordeal, however, the Lord provided the apostle with the most encouraging comfort – He came to Paul Himself.

Now the Lord said to Paul through a vision in the night (see Bf – Peter’s Vision: A closer look at visions or dreams). This is the second of four times that Paul saw the Lord in a vision (9:5-6; here; 22:17-21 and 23:11). Yeshua’s message was one of encouragement in light of the opposition both present and future. ADONAI said: Do not be afraid, but continue speaking and do not be silent! For I am with you when two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst (Matthew 18:20) and no one shall attack you to harm you – many [of the elect] in this city are for Me. So after the vision he stayed in Corinth a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them and establishing a church there (18:9-11).

The frustration of his enemies: But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia between 51 and 53 AD, according to an inscription from Delphi, there was an important factual landmark discovered that was very important in establishing the chronology of Paul’s travels (Galatians 1:17-2:2). Desperate to halt the rising tide of faith in Yeshua as Messiah, the Jewish leaders made a united attack against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat. This was intended to be a trial. Their charge was: This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law (18:12-13). It is obvious that in this appeal to the proconsul the Jews must have meant, not the Torah, but the law of Rome. Their contention was that though Jews had been banished from Rome as a measure of policy, Judaism as such was still a religio licita, tolerated and recognized by the State. Rome said that there could be one religion per recognized unit of people. Because Judaism was the recognized religion for the Jewish people, their claim was that the gospel was against the Torah and therefore was a new religion.⁴²⁹

Unlike the annually elected magistrates of the ancient Roman Republic, whose courts functioned with a formal jury, the proconsul was not bound by any specific criminal laws. Gallio was free to follow the rules of Roman law, he was not obligated to do so. It seems that he was given no general instructions from the central government about this matter. Therefore, for all those crimes not covered by Roman law, he was able to fall back on local custom or his own judgment.⁴³⁰

But when Paul was about to open his mouth and defend himself, Gallio interrupted and said to the Jewish people, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or a vicious crime, there would be a reason to put up with you, O Jews. Gallio clearly had anti-Semitic overtones. But since it is issues about words, names (should Yeshua be called the Messiah), and your own Jewish law, see to it yourselves. I do not wish to be a judge of these.” This dispute was strictly Jewish and had nothing to do with Roman law. As far as Gallio was concerned the Good News was not distinct from Judaism and he drove the Jews from the judgment seat. Then all the anti-Semitic Gentile bystanders, seeing that Gallio was not interfering, grabbed Sosthenes, the new synagogue leader, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. As they indulged in their anti-Semitic feelings, Gallio paid no attention to these things (18:14-17).⁴³¹ Gallio’s refusal to take the Jewish case against Paul seriously or to prosecute him was extremely important for the future of the gospel. In effect, he passed a favorable verdict on the Christian faith and therefore established a significant precedent. From that point on, the gospel could not be charged with being an illegal religion, for its freedom to be practiced freely had been secured as the imperial policy.⁴³²

ADONAI provides in strange and wonderful ways! The Jews tried to force the Roman proconsul to declare the Christian faith illegal, but Gallio ended up doing just the opposite. By refusing to try the case, Gallio made it clear that Rome would not get involved in cases involving Jewish religious disputes. As far as he was concerned, Paul and his disciples had as much right as the Jews to practice their religion and share it with others.

In the book of Acts, Luke emphasizes the relationship between the Roman government and the Church. While it was true that the Great Sanhedrin (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Lg – The Great Sanhedrin) had forbit the apostles to preach (4:17-21 and 5:40), there is no evidence in Acts that Rome ever did so. In fact, in Philippi (Acts 16:35-40), Corinth and Ephesians (19:31), the Roman officials were not only tolerant but also cooperative. Paul knew how to use his Roman citizenship wisely so that the government worked for him and not against him, and he was careful not to accuse the government or try to escape its authority (25:10-12).⁴³³