Acts 17: 1-15

(Acts 17: 1-15)

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.  And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.  Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people.  And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still.  And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed.

 

The Bible tells of what happened in Thessalonica and then in the city of Berea. Here, too, the Bible shows us that difficulties arise when preaching the Gospel, and God works in the midst of it, and that the process of making the Gospel more widespread continues to repeat itself. Paul's party arrived from Philippi to Ambiboli, from there to Abolonia to the southwest, and then to Thessalonica to the west. Unlike Philippi, a Roman colony, Thessalonica was a free city. It was a city with its own laws, institutions, taxes, administrators and parliaments.

Unlike Philippi, Thessalonica had a Jewish synagogue. Where there is a synagogue, Paul's method of evangelism was generally to go there and preach the gospel to the Jews first. There Paul preached the Bible on three Sabbaths. His discourse was to read the Bible, unravel its meaning, and testify that Christ must be harmed and raised from the dead. Christ refers to the long-awaited Messiah as the savior for the Israelites to free them from the bonds of repression and rule of the heathen conquerors. Therefore, it was unacceptable or incomprehensible to the Jews that such a Messiah would die on the cross.

In order to tell such Jews that Jesus of Nazareth, who died on the cross because of themselves, was raised again, he had to explain why Christ suffered on the cross, died and then had to be raised again.

After Paul's discourse, he said, "This Jesus, whom I am giving you, is the Christ." Then the great crowd of devout Greeks and many noble ladies who were with them in the synagogue were encouraged to follow Paul and Silas. As always in the presence of the Jews, the opposition of the Jews who did not believe in Jesus Christ and His Gospel and the persecution of the Gentiles following their agitation occurred without fail in Thessalonica. When many devout Greeks and noble women followed Paul and his companions, envy Jews appeared in groups with bullies gathered at the market or in the plaza, causing a commotion in the city.

They broke into the house of a man named Jason, who had accepted Paul and made them stay, and tried to find and drag him down. When they couldn't find them, they took Jason and his brothers in front of the town leaders and cried out, ``And when they found them. not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. .” Recognizing another king was a crime of treason against the Roman emperor. So, when all the crowds and townspeople heard this, they were scrambled, and Jason and the rest of them were released only after receiving bail.

With the help of the brothers who came to believe in Thessalonica, Paul and Silas, who were able to escape the hands of the bullies, were sent from Thessalonica to Berea. Again, it was Paul's party who escaped the crisis, but they did not know that their zeal for evangelism wherever they went would be exhausting. They went to Berea and also went to the Jewish synagogue to preach the word. The Berea people listened to Paul's words with earnest heart, and they searched the Bible every day to confirm the truthfulness of the words written in the Bible, and many Jews and Greek ladies and men came to believe.

When it was reported that Paul was also preaching the word of God in Berea, the Jews in Thessalonica came back to Berea and moved the crowd to cause commotion. Because of this, Paul decided to rejoin later with Silas and Timothy, and went to Athens under the guidance of the brothers who had come to believe in Berea.

In Thessalonica, Paul went into a synagogue and preached with the Bible, testifying that Christ should be harmed and raised from the dead, and said, ``This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.'' Wow, not a few ladies said that they were encouraged and followed Paul and Silas. The people in Berea are more generous than those in Thessalonica, so they receive the word with earnest heart, and they search the Bible every day to see if this is the case, and it is written that there are many believers among them, and not a few of the Greek ladies and men. .

When Paul heard of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection on the cross, many Greeks believed. The Greeks are fond of philosophical speculation. They were very rational and rational people. However, it is true that Jesus of Nazareth did not dismiss the nonsense arguments such as the Son of God and the rise of the dead, but believed and accepted.