18:12 When Gallio was
proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought
him to the judgment seat, 13 saying, “This fellow persuades men to worship God
contrary to the law.”
14 And when Paul was
about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of
wrongdoing or wicked crimes, O Jews, there would be reason why I should bear
with you. 15 But if it is a question of words and names and your own law, look
to it yourselves; for I do not want to be a judge of such matters.” 16 And he
drove them from the judgment seat. 17 Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the
ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. But Gallio took
no notice of these things.
Messed up. We are messed up.
Let's take a step back and understand the religious/political
climate of the time. Rome is politically in charge. They have granted that the
Jews can maintain their culture/religion within the empire but matters of
law/justice are under the jurisdiction of the Empire. Gallio is Greek but
ruling under Roman authority and according to Roman law. Just as Jesus was
dragged to Pilate by the Jews, so Paul is being dragged to Gallio by the Jews.
Remember that God has already promised Paul that in Corinth
he will be safe from the tactics and punishments he has experienced elsewhere.
I wonder what he was thinking about that promise when he was dragged in front
of Gallio? I'm sure he was quite shocked when the ruling came down in his
favour. Notice what Gallio basically said: "If this man had actually done
something wrong I would punish him but if it's just religious theories deal
with it yourselves".
Paul was free to go. God kept His promise. Imagine that... :)
Now I began by saying we are messed up. Did you notice that
Gallio's decision lead to the Greeks beating Sosthenes? Who is that? He was the
new synagogue ruler who replaced Crispus after he became a follower of Jesus.
So the Jews wanted Paul beaten only to have their synagogue
ruler beaten instead and Gallio did nothing.
See the problem? You can't grant religious freedom to Paul
and take it from Sosthenes. We are messed up because we always want to put
someone down. Someone has to win and someone has to lose. Little do we realize
that by permitting violence against one or some we are promoting violence
against all.
Gallio held the power that day and could do or not do as he
chose but it turns out he was not so wise after all.
Remember Jesus? The carpenter that could walk on water and
raise the dead. He respected the rights and freedoms of everyone including His
enemies. Follow Him.
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