Acts 18:12-17. Paul remains in Corinth preaching, having been reassured by God that he will be safe there. The Jews are still angry with him, however, and they band together to bring him before Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia. They charge him with "persuading men to worship God contrary to the law." Before Paul even opens his mouth, Gallio tells the Jews he has no jurisdiction. If it were a matter of criminality or wrongdoing, he could pass judgment on Paul, but their objection is a matter of words, names, and Jewish law, which they should see to themselves. He drives them out from the tribunal and, in their anger, they seize and beat Sosthenes, the current ruler of the synagogue, in front of the tribunal. "But Gallio paid no attention to this."

We need college adminstrators (not to mention lawmakers) like Gallio! Seriously, we do! The Jews in this scene remind me so much of an angry band of college students trying to get a speaker they don't want to hear canceled. Putting aside that their behavior is the exact opposite of the liberal education they proportedly are seeking, far too often the administrators to whom they appeal give in to them, maybe because they themselves are illiberal, or maybe because they are scared of them. This, of course, just feeds the fire and the "students" are empowered to go further the next time. We can all see where it has gotten us.

If only we had some Gallios in charge! He is absolutely right that earthly authority has no jurisdiction over words (freedom of speech, anyone?) or rules of worship (freedom of religion, anyone?). So he kicks them out and pays no attention to their tantrum, even when they beat their own synagogue leader. What was the point of that anyway? Were they angry because he was unable to persuade Gallio? This is indicative of these kinds of feeding frenzies. The mob has been riled up, they will not be dispersed without a scalp, and having been rightly dismissed by valid authority, they turn on their own.

This is chaotic, unreasonably behavior very indicative of demonic influence. When we see people behaving like this, or like the angry students trying to cancel a speaker, or like the people trying to destroy Brett Kavanaugh, we know they are being egged on by the devil. Best to be like Gallio and pay no attention to them.