Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens

November 22, 2015 Background Scripture: Acts 17:1 – 32 Lesson Passage: Acts 17:1 – 4, 10 – 12, 22 – 25, 28 The rulers in Philippi quickly changed their attitude when they learned that Paul and his companions were Roman citizens. Perhaps the rulers were frightened because of their ill treatment of the missionaries. They demanded that the missionaries leave Philippi. Upon departure, they traveled through several towns of Macedonia and stopped in Thessalonica. Paul’s custom was to visit local Jewish synagogues. This he did in Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens. It was in this setting that Paul did his evangelistic work. He used the Old Testament writings to support his argument about Jesus being the Messiah. The Grecian men and well-established women of the regions readily accepted Paul’s teaching. Paul’s popularity became an issue of jealousy for some of the Jews in the regions. Rather than deal with their envy of Paul in a mature fashion, many of the Jews claimed to defend Caesar’s honor against Paul’s claims about Jesus being king. This argument was used to rally the local citizens against the missionaries and attack the local residents who aided them by providing room and board. One noted example of this was when they assaulted Jason, in Thessalonica, because he received the missionaries. Jason was later arrested and released. The Christian converts and sympathizers sent Paul and Silas away at night and they departed for Berea. The nobility of the Jews in Berea was noted by Luke in this historical account. Rather than jealousy, this group was curious and open to being enlightened concerning the scriptures they studied. It is to be noted that they were noble but not gullible. They freely received Paul’s teaching but studied the scriptures for themselves everyday to see if Paul’s doctrine was accurate or not. This could only happen because they understood their own doctrine of Judaism. I believe this is what Paul expected in all of the synagogues he visited. What was true then is still true today. Everyone who comes to a Bible Study is not open to being taught when they arrive for class. Some will be offended and may become hostile towards anything that is contrary to what they already believe whether it is supported by the scriptures or not. Paul experienced this hostility more than he experienced acceptance according to Luke’s record in the book of Acts. In fact, the hostile Jews of Thessalonica learned of the accepting Jews in Berea and went to Berea and incited the citizens there against the missionaries. The brethren in Berea responded by sending Paul completely out of the region—almost certainly for the sake of maintaining civil peace in Berea. The hostile Jews of Thessalonica had a complaint against Paul and his companions that many evangelists would envy today. They claimed that Paul and his companions had turned the world upside down with their doctrine. That was not completely true but rather it was the hostility of the Jews who rejected the gospel and attempted to turn the world upside down in order to maintain the status quo. Paul went on to press his argument in Athens with the devout Jews and the philosophers there. Paul confronted the Jews there because the city was overrun with idolatry. The philosophers there challenged Paul because his doctrine of the resurrection of the dead seemed too bizarre even for philosophers. The philosophers were seeking tangible facts and not faith or belief in something they could not prove for themselves. The gospel continued to spread in spite of opposition. Robert C. Hudson November 11, 2015