v 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.”
I have no real idea what else Paul might have said to these philosophers, but for sure he told them about the death and resurrection of Jesus. They gave Paul an opportunity to speak about Jesus in an assembly in Athens, ‘“Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said. “You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.”’
Tales of death and resurrection catch the public imagination, and who would not want to know more?
Let’s not be afraid to be upfront in speaking about Jesus’ death and resurrection. For sure, the story might seem strange to modern ears, (many people still do not really understand what Easter is about – apart from chocolate eggs and fluffy bunnies) but it touches on something that interests most people – After death, what then?
It is not a story for children’s’ books, nor for just singing in The Messiah, it remains the story with the most potential to change the lives of those who take it in and believe it.