Undercurrent

Acts 18:9-17

⁹And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,

¹⁰for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”

¹¹And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹²But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal,

¹³saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.”

¹⁴But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint.

¹⁵But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.”

¹⁶And he drove them from the tribunal.

¹⁷And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

So often there is an undercurrent beneath what appears to be happening on the surface. Almost every day I interact with people who look really good on the outside. They smile, they chat, and they seem to have it all together. But in private moments they will confess their fears and worries. Perhaps their marriage is crumbling in a slow slide toward divorce. Maybe a child is rebellious to the point of pain. Maybe there is a medical scare that has gripped their lives. The list is endless and personal. But it’s there. That undercurrent of fear and pain is what we are seeing in the life of Paul as he struggles with opposition to the Gospel in Corinth. In the previous few verses we see Paul defiantly shake the dust from his clothes and leave the synagogue in disgust. These look like the actions of man who carries no fears. But in verse 9 we are disabused of that understanding. The Lord speaks directly into these concerns through a vision, putting His all-knowing finger on Paul’s spirit. Paul is encouraged to keep going, keep speaking, and keep spreading the Gospel.

Verse 14 speaks volumes about God’s ability to handle our concerns. Paul is just getting ready to open his mouth to defend himself against the charges of the Jewish leadership but is precluded from doing so by Gallio, the man before whom the entire tribunal stands. “But when Paul was about to open his mouth . . .“ Gallio declares his judgment. He doesn’t want to waste his time with something that is clearly none of his concern. For him the matter is a non-issue and he sends the entire group from the room. Paul didn’t have to utter one single word in his own defense. It brings to mind many of those Old Testament stories and references where God tells His people to be still and watch Him work.

As the Children of Israel stand between the oncoming Egyptian army and the Red Sea:

Exodus 14:13–14

And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

As Samuel gives his farewell address to the nation of Israel, advising them to always look to the Lord instead of themselves:

1 Samuel 12:16

Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes.

And that famous Psalm where God tells us to just be still and know that He is God (and we are not):

Psalm 46:8-11

⁸Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth.

⁹He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.

¹⁰“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

¹¹The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

One does feel badly for poor Sosthenes. He was beaten for one of two reasons. Either the Jewish leadership was unhappy with his presentation in court or he had become a convert to Christianity himself. Paul writes of a Sosthenes (which was an uncommon name) in 1 Corinthians, leading us to believe the later.

1 Corinthians 1:1

Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes.

Once again we are encouraged in our own faith as we witness God’s great care for His disciple. First Paul is comforted by a vision and then by not having to speak a word in his own defense. God’s got this – for Paul and for us.