Acts 18:15Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

And see how prudent he was. In his answer he did not say directly, "This is not my affair." What did he say? "Jews, if it were a matter of wrong or wicked crime, I would have reason to hear you. But if it is a dispute about teaching and names and your law, see to it yourselves. I do not wish to be a judge of these things." A splendid victory!

But the proconsul, a man of tender heart, dulcis Gallio, showed no inclination whatever to involve himself in the religious disputes of the Jews. To a Roman statesman, these could seem empty wranglings over words.

The Gentiles did not miss the opportunity to express their own displeasure against the accusers. They rushed upon Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat itself.

After this, the apostle could continue his activity in these places, and throughout all Achaia, with still greater peace. See 1 Thess 1:8; 2 Thess 1:4; 2 Cor 1:1.

He ended the whole matter by declaring their accusation against Paul extremely groundless. They had accused him as a violator of the Mosaic law, or in general of any law Gallio could recognize. "If there were some civil crime here, or some immoral act, I would have reason to examine the matter and hear you. But if the matter concerns teaching, mere names, and your law, see to it yourselves. I do not wish to be a judge of these things."

Gallio drove all the accusers away from the judgment seat as foolish people. They did not understand that courts judge wrongs and evil deeds, not teaching, especially good teaching. "See," says Saint John Chrysostom, "how prudent he was, Gallio; this man was gentle."

"Paul had not yet managed to open his mouth when Gallio had already decided the case against the accusers. He judged that this matter did not fall under his jurisdiction as a political administrator, and left both sides to settle it themselves. The Jews, through their own proceedings, could not sentence Paul to any punishment dangerous to the life and honor of the accused."

"No mortal is so dear to any one person as Gallio is to all people," wrote Seneca. "Even those who love my brother Gallio most of all do not love him enough." In general, Gallio was the flower of pagan culture. He was Roman in nobility and seriousness, Greek in courtesy and evasiveness.

Inclined by nature to leave things to their own course, and perhaps already feeling some contempt for the crowd standing before him, Gallio did not even listen to the Apostle Paul when he opened his mouth for his defense.

Despite the categorical order to leave the judgment seat, the Jews did not leave it. Then Gallio ordered the lictors to clear the court.

In pausing over this event, one cannot fail to appreciate Gallio's modesty in declaring himself incompetent to decide religious questions. Nor can one fail to value his sound legal judgment, which discerned in the demands of the Jews an unjust accusation against an innocent man.

Yet while rendering justice to the best of Roman officials, one cannot pass without censure over his personal indifference, even disdain, toward the essence of the movement that had opened before him. He judged it from a purely formal point of view.

Gallio thought it best for himself to display the fullest imperturbability, purely Jovian, as the Stoics say. He could not even imagine that before him stood the bearer of divine teaching. When received by mind and heart, that teaching opens to man the path to high spiritual blessings. To possess such blessings was, for Gallio, an unrealizable dream.

He did not allow the accused to say anything. Therefore his meeting with the apostle left no trace, and he ended his life by suicide.

If certain earthly names are considered important, how much more important must heavenly names be. What is earthly usually returns to the earth, decays, is destroyed, and is forgotten. Where now are the precious lists of Roman citizens? I say precious because one of them confessed, "I obtained this citizenship with a great price" (Acts 22:28).

But the name of heavenly citizenship, freely given by grace, can neither decay in books, nor be destroyed in monuments, nor be erased from memory. For decay, destruction, and forgetfulness have no place in heavenly citizenship.

The word of God, the living word in general, in which names must consequently and especially be received as living words, compels us in many cases to think of names with attention and seriousness. Must the wisdom of man, newly come from the Creator's hands, and his authority over the other earthly creatures be shown? The word of God ascribes to him the naming of names. It also ascribes to the names he gave such dignity that they did not need to be changed. "Whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name" (Gen 2:19).

Must the supreme wisdom and power of God Himself be glorified? The naming of heavenly things is ascribed to Him. "He counts the number of the stars and calls them all by name" (Ps 146:4).

Must a reward, higher dignity, and blessedness be promised to one who contends for Christ and conquers? A new name is promised to him. "I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written" (Rev 2:17).

What then is a name, according to the understanding of the word of God? A name is the being or property of a thing represented in a word. A name is, in a certain way, the power of a thing enclosed in a word.

For example, the name of Jesus, as the apostles themselves observed, cast out demons even in the mouths of men who had neither followed Jesus nor received the Holy Spirit. See Mk 9:38.

Therefore it is understandable how important is a "name written in heaven," or in a word, a heavenly name. It is also understandable how joyful it is to receive such a name. For a heavenly name must represent a heavenly property and contain heavenly power. "Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven," if indeed they are written there.