Acts
17:1-3 … Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they
came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went
in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the
Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to
suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to
you, is the Christ.”
They traveled 30 miles to the southwest from Philippi and
then 25 miles farther to Apollonia and then 40 miles farther to Thessalonica.
These 95 miles or so put them in the capital of Macedonia. The time spent in
Thessalonica was probably greater than 3 weeks. These verses may refer to a particular
3-week outreach, and the events that followed that outreach, after sometime of
preparation. Paul indicates that the Christians in Philippi sent support more
than once while he was in Thessalonica (Philippians 4:16) and that seems to
indicate more than a few weeks. Notice that the efficient pattern in which the
Holy Spirit sends Paul first to a mixed congregation of Jewish and devout
Greeks and then grows the Christian Church. That doesn’t mean that all people
responded in a positive manner. Paul used both evangelism and teaching as
empowered by the Holy Spirit. In each city he goes at this process as if evangelism
is an anvil and teaching is the hammer. People are put in the right place via
evangelism and then their theology is shaped by the hammer of teaching. Paul
does this quickly because he has a limited time in each city. He leaves Elders
or Bishops and Deacons in each city. The Holy Spirit even made this possible in
Philippi where he couldn’t find a synagogue (Philippians 1:1).
Acts
17:4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a
great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the
Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob,
set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring
them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason
and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who
have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received
them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there
is another king, Jesus.” And the people and the city authorities were disturbed
when they heard these things. And when they had taken money as security from
Jason and the rest, they let them go.
Once again we have a civil disturbance and a mob. This is
right in the middle of the Pax Romana or the peaceful period of Roman rule that
spanned the period between approximately 27 BC to AD 180. The peace was a
result of Rome having most of the land they wanted and a relatively consistent
political rule (with exceptions such as murders and demonic rulers). The key
feature of Pax Romana was that the Romans exercised a monopoly on the means of violence.
The beatings always continued until moral improved. They really didn’t want a
bunch of Christians destabilizing the political climate. Claudius was Caesar at
this time. Claudius didn’t like for anyone to proselytize from druids to
mystics to Christians. So about the time that these sorts of riots were
occurring because of the Christian missionaries often working through
synagogues we find that Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome. It is hard to say
how long or how thorough this expulsion was. It was blamed on someone named
“Chrestus” and this was likely a misspelling of Christ. So the Romans couldn’t
tell one Jew from another and clearly in their minds a convert to Christianity was
just a variety of Jew. That is the background behind the comment that, “These
men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.” We’ve been
reading about Paul but he wasn’t the only evangelist and apparently Christianity
had been stirring things up in Rome too. That Jesus “Chrestus” will sure shake
things up.
In this particular case in Thessalonica the house church
of Jason was attacked and some of the local believers were taken and then later
released after paying bail. There is a real inclination to say that the fact
that Jesus is King was no real threat to Claudius that wouldn’t be fair. Claudius
would be judged and ultimately wasn’t ever going to really be a divinity and
none of those he thought were divine were really divine and in fact they were
in hell. Claudius, who had a string of senators killed so that he could remain
in power after the murder of Caligula, was under a real threat from Christ. He
was right to be scared but it wasn’t the citizens of the Holy Nation that he
needed to fear. It was Christ Himself. So from Claudius’ point of view he was
correct in fearing “Chrestus” but anything that he did was going to be
ineffectual in opposing the work of God in Rome just as it was ultimately
ineffectual in Thessalonica.
Acts
17:10-13 … The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea,
and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were
more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness,
examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them
therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.
But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed
by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the
crowds.
This moved Paul and Silas about 50 miles down the road in
the foothills of the Olympian Mountains. Berea is called Verria today but the
Bereans of Paul’s day have an eternal reputation of being focused on
Scriptures. These people still serve as an example of fidelity to Scripture.
They examined the Scripture and “therefore” many of them believed. The Berean
church grew rapidly but the Jews from Thessalonica came down and started to cause
trouble again. Once again it was time for Paul to leave.
Acts
17:14-15 … Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea,
but Silas and Timothy remained there. Those who conducted Paul brought him as
far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to
him as soon as possible, they departed.
Paul and probably Luke left for Athens to get away from
those who were trying to stir things up. Silas and Timothy stayed and they
could establish the Berean church and then catch up later. A group of Berean
Christians moved Paul down to the coast and shipped him off to Athens. That is
300 miles or so and perhaps they think that will give things time to cool off
in Berea and Paul will be safe in such a big city.
Athens had peaked about 450 BC and had been conquered by
the Romans in 146 BC but they were still an intellectual and cultural center
when Paul visited.
Acts
17:16-21 … Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was
provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned
in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace
every day with those who happened to be there. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic
philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler
wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign
divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took
him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching
is that you are presenting? For you bring some strange things to our ears. We
wish to know therefore what these things mean.” Now all the Athenians and the
foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or
hearing something new.
It is good to find your spirit provoked by idols. At
least it is better than not noticing. Have you ever gone into a Chinese
Restaurant and not noticed the Budda? Well there are idols in a Country Club
and down at the University too. Not all of them are gold statues. Paul was
provoked. He ministered to the Jews and devout Gentiles he found in the
synagogue and he also talked Greeks he met in the market.
The Epicurean and Stoic philosophies were about 300 years
old. These were mature systems of philosophical thought that both worked to
give men peace of mind. Epicureans were materialists and denied superstition
and divine intervention. They taught that the best life was lived free of pain
seeking pleasure but with moderation.
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