Introduction: Paul, Silas and Timothy had left Philippi. Now they’re heading towards Thessalonica and later Berea. People believed the Gospel, but others did not, so Paul and the others had to move on to other locations.
1 The Ministry in Thessalonica
Text: Acts 17:1-9, KJV: 1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: 2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, 3 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. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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; 7 Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. 8 And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.
Thoughts:
--“They” includes Paul, Silas, and Timothy (verse 14). Luke seems to have stayed behind in Philippi, at least for the time being.
--The group passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia; Luke doesn’t mention why they didn’t stop there. One hint is that because Paul always looked for a synagogue first, but didn’t find one in these cities, he didn’t stay there. Certainly another reason is that the Holy Spirit said “go’.
--Thessalonica had a synagogue, implying the other cities did not. This means, according to several commentators and teachers, there were at least 10 practicing/observant Jews.
--Paul went to the synagogue and “reasoned” with the Jews from the Scriptures. Dr. Jerry Falwell, in a TV sermon many years ago, commented that “Paul went to church!” as a reason why Paul found and attended the synagogue services (“as his manner was”).
--Paul’s message was all about how Jesus had suffered, rose from the dead, and was the Christ, the Messiah! All of this was in the Old Testament prophecies about the suffering Messiah (Isa. 53, Psalms 16, 22, and others).
--Some of the Jews believed the Gospel, as did some of the “devout Greeks (Gentiles interested in or converts to Judaism), and many of the “chief women”, perhaps spouses of high officials. This is another of the amazing things about the Gospel, in that anyone, no matter his or her class or social standing, has the opportunity to hear and believe. Praise God, so many did!
--As was so often the case, unbelieving Jews gathered a mob. “Lewd fellows of the baser sort” is a phrase with various renderings, especially in more recent translations of the Bible. Opinions vary among several different commentators. “Lewd” meant something much different than vile or wicked in the 1600’s, see https://www.thefreedictionary.com/lewd
-A few personal observations: these “fellows” were not, apparently, among the elite or philosophers or “poets”; they didn’t seem to have or want to have meaningful employment; but they were ready at a moment’s notice to join in and form a mob. Of note, the unbelieving Jews crossed lines of culture and ethnic background to get done what they wanted to do.
--The mob approached Jason’s house; why they went there is not known to us. They wanted to have Paul and the others brought out to them and everybody knew what that meant; they wanted to lynch Paul on the spot. The unbelieving Jews had already run Paul out of town and even stoned him (to death, as they suspected—see Acts 13-14), and they seemed to want to do the same thing even here in ‘cultured” Athens!
--Their charge or grounds for arresting Paul seem suspicious, at best: true, Caesar was the supreme ruler of the Roman world, but there were “kings” in various parts. Had the Jews even forgotten about King Herod? Josephus in his “Antiquities” relates some instances in the lives of these “Kings of the Jews”.
--Jason and other believers were taken (forcibly?) to the rulers. Once the mob persuaded (forced?) Jason to give them a “security (verse 9), they let them go. I take the “they” as Jason and the other believers. The mob hadn’t found Paul or Silas, and praise God for those unsung heroes who kept these men safe from the mob.
2 The Ministry in Berea
Text, Acts 17:10-15, KJV: 10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11These 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. 12 Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. 13 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. 14 And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still. 15 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.
Thoughts:
--Berea was, by one estimate, 45 miles southwest of Thessalonica and 22 miles inland from the sea (see W. Ewing’s comments at https://bibleatlas.org/full/berea.htm) Even running at full speed and/or for dear life, Paul and Silas would have needed maybe two full days to get there. The route generally followed a river (see link above) so the journey may have been a little easier.
--Three was a synagogue in Berea where Paul and Silas presented the Gospel. Luke notes the Bereans were “more noble” than the Thessalonians because the Bereans “searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things (which Paul and Silas were preaching) were so”. Apparently the Thessalonians didn’t do this at all, or at least not so diligently as the Bereans.
--Note the repetition of the pattern: preaching leads to belief, belief to conversion, conversion leads to news, and the news leads to persecution. Sure enough, Jews (the same?) from Thessalonica came to Berea and “stirred up the people” just as they had done before.
--This time, Paul left on his own while Silas and Timothy remained. The phrase ‘go as it were to the sea” is hard to understand, as Berea was over 20 miles inland from the sea. One possible explanation (and this is only a theory) is that Paul found a river boat that took him to the Aegean Sea, the body of water surrounding the lands of Macedonia where these events took place.
--Another unknown group of heroes brought Paul to Athens. Paul sent word (a commandment) for Silas and Timothy to join him “with all speed” or as one might say, “Post haste!”
--It’s a mark of awareness for Paul to admit he needed others while he ministered. How much he knew about Athens is debatable; most people would most likely have at least a passing knowledge of Greek philosophy, religion, culture, and the like but that wouldn’t be the same thing as standing in Athens itself.
--The remainder of this chapter shows what happened when Paul arrived in Athens.
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
