Saturday, February 21, 2015

Footsteps of Paul: Before Gallio

And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia,
the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul,
and brought him to the judgment seat,
Saying,
This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.

And when Paul was now about to open his mouth,
Gallio said unto the Jews,
If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness,
O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:
But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it;
for I will be no judge of such matters.
And he drave them from the judgment seat.

Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes,
the chief ruler of the synagogue,
and beat him before the judgment seat.
And Gallio cared for none of those things.

And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila;
having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.
Acts 18:12-18
"Both Jews and Greeks had waited eagerly for Gallio's decision; and his immediate dismissal of the case, as one that had no bearing upon the public interest, was the signal for the Jews to retire, baffled and angry. The proconsul's decided course opened the eyes of the clamorous crowd who had been abetting the Jews. For the first time during Paul's labors in Europe, the mob turned to his side; under the very eye of the proconsul, and without interference from him, they violently beset the most prominent accusers of the apostle." Acts of the Apostles p.253 E.G.W.