Friday of the Sixth week in Easter 2025
In a day when it feels like every judge in the country is finding actions by the executive or legislative branches to be unconstitutional, isn’t it refreshing to be introduced to the proconsul Gallio, down there in the region of Corinth.? “His father was Seneca the Elder and his brother was the philosopher, Seneca the Younger, who became the tutor of the future Emperor Nero. Upon his adoption by the Roman senator, Junius Gallio, he changed his name to Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus.1 In AD 51, he was chosen to serve as the proconsul of Achaea in Greece.” He was like the governor of a state in the Roman Empire. But he knew when he didn’t want to get involved in the affairs of his people. Particularly affairs of religion. Paul had been preaching Jesus and attracting both Jews and Gentiles to his little parish, and this upset the Jewish elders. So they brought a case against Paul, and made a huge mistake. Remember that Jesus Himself had appeared to Paul with words of encouragement. The Jews alleged “his man is persuading men to worship God contrary to the law.” Now that might get somewhere in Jerusalem, but Gallio was having none of it. “Go settle this among yourselves. It’s not a matter for this civil court.” Wise man, this Gallio. He didn’t even intervene when a scuffle afterwards resulted in the beating of the ruler of the synagogue. Paul’s work was unhindered, but it seems he had already planned to go back to Judea.
You can see here why it appeared to the early Christians that the spread of the Gospel was inevitable. We know that was because the Holy Spirit was behind it all. So the Church urges us to clap and shout for joy. The heritage of the Lord is the Church He founded, and His work is ageless.
Was something special going on that enabled this movement to succeed. The Holy Spirit was working inside changes going on in the Roman Empire. That cobbled together construct was held together by force of arms. The people were not happy; they were looking for something to invest their lives in, just as folks are doing today. They needed to be part of something not just historic, but spiritually on fire, something with hope built-in. Jesus had told them about that in His farewell discourse.
What everyone is looking for, and is here in the Church, sizzles with hope. Jesus went to His death less than twenty-four hours later. The disciples wept and the culture rejoiced, because they had finally gotten rid of this Guy who kept telling them to repent. These revolutions—and we’re at the start of one now—take time to develop, kind of like when a child is gestating in the mother. The childbirth brings pain, but when that baby smiles the first time, the discomfort disappears and hope is reborn. Don’t pass up an opportunity to share this news with others who have no hope. Ask the Father and He will give it to you. For what? No less than the conversion of the whole world.
