Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, a representation by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead."
Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, "We will hear you again about this." So Paul went out from among them. But some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
Acts 17:29–34 (RSV)
God gets His hands dirty with our salvation. God is no stranger to dirty hands. He formed Adam from the dust of the ground, breathing into him the breath of life. When God sent His Son in the fullness of time, He sent Him in the pain and blood of human birth.
Jesus touched lepers, the sick, the outcast, and the dead, taking their uncleanness upon Himself. He took note of those whom everyone else had written off as without hope. His hands were pierced as He was nailed to the cross.
Jesus died an ugly death, gasping out His life in the sweat and grime of Golgotha. He was laid in a tomb, there three days, and everyone assumed what Martha said of Lazarus, "He's been dead four days, you won't be able to bear the stench."
Many of those who listened to St. Paul on the Areopagus scoffed at such silly talk. How could anyone believe in a God who gets down in the dirt, sweat, and blood of human existence? Who is crazy enough to believe a three-day dead corpse could live? What madman would hang their salvation on such a creature?
Some did believe; others wanted to hear more about the resurrection. Many there that day were hopeful that St. Paul's witness was the God who took hold of death and defeated it.