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Sunday 17 March 2024

Acts 18:5-8 - Many who heard believed and were baptised

18:5,6

SIlas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia. They may well have brought a financial gift from the church at Philippi (2 Cor 11:9), so Paul was able to devote himself exclusively to preaching the gospel. His focus is on presenting Jesus as the Messiah to the Jews. However, we now reach a pivotal point. The Jews oppose Paul (see earlier comments on the Jewish expulsion from Rome), and abusively so. Paul then “shook out his clothes”, see Matt 10:14. He now seems to accept that the Jews, on the whole, have rejected the gospel. So now he will devote himself primarily to preaching to the Gentiles. We should note that this does not mean that he ignored the Jews completely. Also, Rom 9-11 shows that he had not given up hope for the Jews.


18:7,8

However, Paul did not go far. He went next door! Titius Justus lived next door and was a worshipper of God. According to Bruce his full name may have been Gaius Titius Justus and he could be the Gaius mentioned in1 Cor 1:14. Crispus was the synagogue leader, he and his whole household believed. So there were some Jews who had not rejected the gospel. Many believed and were baptised.


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