Pastor's Ponderings: Tuesday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 18:12-17 (June 16, 2026)

June 16, 2026:  Tuesday Bible Study on Acts 18:12-17

Good morning, dear friends. Today's reading from the Acts of the Apostles 18:12-17 is a quite different kind of picture of what Paul, Silas, and Timothy were facing every day. in our reading today we find ourselves in the judgement of Gallio, the proconsul of Asia. He is a Roman official with a great deal of power and authority when it came to the affairs of the communities and their conflicts. His job was to keep the Roman peace in the entire area which he was overseeing on behalf of the Roman government. At the time of Gallio's encounter with the Jews he has just apparently arrived to begin his work, but there is another important factor here. Depending on the kind of man that Gallio was, his response to the Jews, and his action against Paul, could have been very different, and would have been very violent against Paul and the others with him in the Christian communities in Asia. What we know about Gallio, is that he is a man who is very kind according to his brother Seneca. His brother's kindness, no matter the praise of the people with whom he was dealing, was always greater than their experience of him. Obviously, Gallio, was a fortunate appointment for Paul and the new Christian Cult which was taking shape in Asia. In fact, Gallio was so disgusted with what the Jews were attempting to do, manipulating him, and bringing Rome's wrath down on Paul, who only preached about the love of God for all people through His gift of Jesus Christ, and also about the Resurrection of God's Son which brought forgiveness, life, and salvation for all people, and for all of God's creation, that Gallio had the Jews who came to him driven away from the judgement seat with rods for the audacity of their request about Paul.  Perhaps Sosthenes, the president of the synagogue, received the worst of it as the representative of the Jews who came to Gallio. In this encounter, Gallio's fairness in his judgements is evident. He left the arguments of the Jews about Paul alone, for the religious community to work out on its own. Next Monday in our Bible Study Paul will be on his way again. Thanks for being with me today.

In Christ, for Christ, and with the Love of Christ, Pastor Kim