Hold Not Thy Peace

After Paul left Athens, he went to Corinth to stay for a year and a half. There many of the Jews rejected him, so much so that he exclaimed, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.” And yet, not all the Jews were against him, for “Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.” Later some of the Jews “made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat” before the Greeks. The deputy Gallio was annoyed with the Jews and responded, “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.” So he wouldn’t entertain any of the Jews’ complaints against the Christians, and the account continues, “Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat” (Acts 18:6, 8, 14-17). When I read this chapter this morning I wondered if perhaps Crispus and Sostheses—both described as “the chief ruler of the synagogue”—were the same person. I can see from discussions online that others have asked this same question, though most seem to see them as two different people. As I think through the chapter, I believe that is correct. Crispus was the chief ruler of the synagogue and was converted by Paul. He was baptized as recorded in verse eight, so surely after that he was replaced as the ruler of the synagogue—having converted to Christianity, the Jews wouldn’t keep him as their leader. That replacement must have been Sosthenes. When the Jews took their complaints to Gallio, he was annoyed with the Jews (not the Christians). So it make sense that when the took Sosthenes right after this happened and beat him, it was because he was a Jew and not a Christian. Sosthenes may have been one of those who had taken the complaint to Gallio, and when the Greeks rejected their petty words against the Christians, they went and beat the Jewish ruler of the synagogue. That’s at least how I read the account.

I think there is a lesson in this chapter about not giving up on people as well. Paul, fed up with the pride of the Jews who continued to reject the message of Jesus Christ, had declared that he was going to go only unto the Gentiles. I think what he was saying was that he didn’t want to preach to the Jews anymore. This reminds me of the words of Jeremiah who was similarly rejected by his people: “The word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily. Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name” (Jeremiah 20:8-9). Jeremiah, like Paul, was tired of the rejection and the pride of the people, and so he was ready to stop teaching them. But he did not stop. He wrote, “But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” The word of the Lord was in him like fire in his bones, and he couldn’t stop preaching. I think it was the same for Paul, for right after he said he was not going to preach to the Jews, Crispus (a Jew) was converted. The Lord then said to Paul, “Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city” (Acts 18:9-10). I think that the Lord was telling him that he couldn’t stop preaching to the Jews, despite their hard hearts and repeated rejection. The Lord promised him that there were people there—including Jews—who were ready to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ. This story can remind us that as those whom we strive to share the gospel with (especially family members) do not receive our testimony, we should not give up. Like Jeremiah and Paul, we should continue to testify of Jesus Christ when we have the opportunity, even if we have been rejected so many times before that we don’t want to say another word. Surely the Lord likewise has “much people” for us to share the gospel with who will one day receive it.