Because I find this passage of scripture so compelling, I wanted to take some time to sift through it and break it down. I hope that I’ll understand it better and discover some of the gems hidden in these verses.

¹⁶ While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. ¹⁷ He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.

Paul didn’t waste any time while he was waiting for the others to arrive. He wasn’t mad that there were idols in the city; it says that he was deeply troubled. I think it hurt his heart to see that so many people in Athens worshiped idols because that meant they didn’t know Jesus, and that means they didn’t know the truth. Paul went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles. He didn’t just talk at them. He talked with them. They had discussions and shared their thoughts and ideas. It also says that he spoke daily in the public square. He wanted to share the good news about Jesus with everyone he could. I admire Paul’s dedication and passion for telling others about Jesus.

¹⁸ He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.” ¹⁹ Then they took him to the high council of the city.^[d] “Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said. ²⁰ “You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” ²¹ (It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.)

Paul is open to talking to anyone who will listen. Paul even talked to people who he knew would think he was strange. They didn’t understand what he was talking about, but they were curious, and they wanted to know more.

²² So Paul, standing before the council,^[e] addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, ²³ for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.

I love that Paul finds the one thing they might have in common. He paid attention to the city he was in and the people’s customs, and he found a commonality. He doesn’t tell them that they’re wrong and his way is right; instead, he relates to them, and starts with common ground. “I want to tell you about a God you worship without knowing.”

²⁴ “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, ²⁵ and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. ²⁶ From one man^[f] he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

He explains who this God is. The people in Athens don’t know him, so Paul explains. “You don’t know it, but you’re worshiping the God who made you and the world you live in, and everything  you can see.” He’s not just one god among many; he’s the Creator of everything. We can’t contain him or help him; he’s all sufficient. We’re the ones who need him. He gives life and breath to everyone and everything, and he’s the one who satisfies our needs. He’s over everything and nothing happens without his authority.

²⁷ “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your^[g] own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ ²⁹ And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.

He doesn’t want to be an “Unknown God.” He wants us to seek him and find him. I love that it also says “feel [our] way toward him.” Since God created us and the world we live in, it makes sense that we would have a feeling that there’s someone or something outside of us. We have a feeling that there’s more to life than just doing whatever we want. I think there’s a feeling that we’re here on purpose, even if we aren’t entirely sure what that purpose is. And I think it’s that feeling that causes us to seek God. “If there’s a God who made me, what does he want me to do? What was I made for?” And like Paul says, he’s not far from us. It’s in him that we live and move and exist. Wow. God is all around us. He sees us and knows us. We can reach out to him and he hears us. He wants us to know him. He created us to know him.

³⁰ “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. ³¹ For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”

Now that Jesus has come, things have changed. Jesus was the turning point. He fulfilled God’s promises, and he was the ultimate sacrifice to cover our sins. Now, we are in a place of undeserved privilege–we can come close to God. Our sin no longer has to separate us from him if we believe in what Jesus did and accept his payment on our behalf. God has offered us a way to be free from sin and to come into right relationship with him. It wasn’t possible before because sin was always in the way, but now, through Jesus, we all have the opportunity to be made right with God. If we choose to continue in our own way instead of turning to God, we will be judged, and the judgment will be fair because now we have a choice between choosing our own way and choosing God’s way for us.

³² When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” ³³ That ended Paul’s discussion with them, ³⁴ but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council,^[h] a woman named Damaris, and others with them. 

Not everyone saw the truth in what Paul was saying, but some did, and they joined him and became believers. Things won’t always work out how we want them to when we share with others about God and life through Jesus, but God’s Word goes out and accomplishes everything he wants it to. We can rest in knowing that we’re being obedient to what God has asked us to do, and trust that God will do what he chooses to do through us.