SOME REJECT, SOME RECEIVE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.

Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.

Acts 18:1-8

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Paul had just finished addressing the ruling elders of Athens, members of the Areopagus. The results were varied.

We read where some sneered at the notion of a single God and resurrection from death through a Savior but others became followers of Paul and accepted his message. Some rejected but then some received.

This is not unusual when the work of the Gospel is being carried out. Frankly, it’s more the norm than the exception.

For despite the best efforts of the evangelist, there will people who will be determined to reject and resist any talk about a God who expects them to surrender their own desires and follow His will and way instead. These people refuse to give up control over their own lives, even if that control is leading them to eternal damnation and judgment.

Conversely, there are people who are yearning for a message that would inject hope and peace into life. Worn down by the world’s ways, they look for a better path, one with promise for their future in the short and long term.

Some reject, some receive.

Well, as we move our study to the opening verses of Acts 18, we find Paul moving on from Athens to Corinth which sat some 50 miles to the west. Later, the church in Corinth would receive a couple of letters from Paul which we know in the New Testament as 1st and 2nd Corinthians.

But in this instance, Paul is visiting Corinth for the first time and the scriptures tell us he connected with a Jewish couple, Aquila and Priscilla, who had recently arrived in Corinth after the Roman ruler Claudius evicted all Jews from Rome. Like Paul, the couple was tentmakers by trade and so he stayed and worked with them. We read where he also reasoned with Jews and Greeks in the synagogue on every Sabbath as was his custom.

Now you’ll remember how Paul was in Berea before heading to Athens after Jews from Thessalonica came and stirred up the people against him. Silas and Timothy had been with him but remained in Berea with instructions to rejoin Paul as soon as possible (Acts 17:15). As we see in verse 5 of our passage today, the two Christ evangelists did reunite with Paul in Corinth, having traveled there from Macedonia. This allowed Paul to devote “himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.” Unfortunately, things didn’t go well for the scriptures tell us that the Jews opposed and heaped abuse on Paul which led him to shake out “his clothes in protest” and say:

“Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

Paul had been rejected but note that he didn’t surrender. He didn’t throw up his hands and quit. Rather he simply moved on and sought people who would be willing to receive the Gospel. One of those people was a man by the name of Titius Justus who we’re told was a worshiper of God.

We read where Titius Justus lived in close proximity to the synagogue, his home being right next door. And so Paul shared the good news of salvation through Jesus and as a result, the scriptures tell us that “Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.”

Paul’s resiliency for the cause of Christ was richly rewarded by God as people willingly chose to believe in the Lord and be baptized. He had been rejected but he also had been received.

So what are we to take away from the opening verses of Acts 18?

The Lord wants us to know that there will be times we will be rejected when we try and share the Gospel with others. We will be shunned for the cause of Christ but we shouldn’t be surprised because Jesus told us it would happen. He knew that just as He had been spurned, so too would anyone who came after Him to carry on His work.

But here’s the thing about rejection.

We can’t allow it to dishearten us to the place where we stop doing the work Jesus called us to do. If we get rebuffed, we can’t get discouraged. Rather, the Lord would want us to stay encouraged and to move onto other people where we will most probably find those who will receive the Gospel and respond accordingly, professing belief and seeking baptism.

In the end translation, evangelism isn’t easy by any means. But what is easy is turning to the Lord for the divine strength and support we need to make it, always remembering that the Lord will never bring us to something that He isn’t going to bring us through.

He did it over and over for the Apostle Paul and He will do so for us as well.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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