Acts 18:6 And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.
Paul always began his preaching in the synagogue anytime he went to a new place. While in Corinth, he preached in the synagogues that Jesus was the Christ. Some believed the gospel. One of them was the chief ruler, Crispus. However, many of them opposed themselves and blasphemed the message that Paul was preaching. He did as apostles were told by Jesus to do when your preaching is rejected.
Matthew 10:14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
He also said, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean.”
What did he mean by this? Paul was referencing something that God told to the Watchman, Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 3:17-21 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
Paul was clean because he had faithfully delivered the message that the Lord had given to him. He was not responsible for the rejection that the Word received, but he was responsible to deliver the message. In another place, Paul says:
Acts 20:26-27 Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
The response that we get when we share the truth of the gospel is not up to us. We are commissioned to go and preach. Our responsibility is to deliver the message accurately, lovingly and compassionately. The results are up to God and the hearers.
In Christ,
Rody
