"This fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law"
In the following verses (12-17) Luke records the fulfilment of Jesus' promise to Paul in the vision at Corinth. In this third period of his ministry in the city, when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews rose up against the apostle, accusing him of persuading the people to worship God contrary to the law.
Gallio, however, took no notice of the accusation, which is why he expelled the Jews from the court and set the apostle free. Unlike what happened in many other cities, the apostle Paul was not mistreated in Corinth, but was able to carry out a long and prosperous ministry there - in fulfilment of his heavenly vision.
Faced with Gallio's refusal to consider the Jews' accusation against Paul, Luke records that, for some unknown reason, "they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat" (v17). Evidently, Sosthenes had replaced Crispus as head of the Corinthian synagogue, or it had more than one leader. It is possible that this Sosthenes was also converted to Christ, and is the same one who accompanied Paul (and perhaps served as his
amanuensis) when he wrote his First Letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 1:2; 16:21) |
