Written by: Dave Barker – What4

Acts 17 v 1-4
Paul and Silas travelled through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica where there was a Jewish synagogue. Paul went into the synagogue as he always did, and on each Sabbath day for three weeks, he talked with the Jews about the Scriptures. He explained and proved that the Christ must die and then rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I am telling you about is the Christ.” Some of the Jews were convinced and joined Paul and Silas, along with many of the Greeks who worshipped God and many of the important women.

Notes
When we look at the travelling conditions in Paul and Silas's day, we see that they were totally different to how they are now. With cars, trains and planes, we can move quickly and cover vast distances in a short amount of time, but for Paul and Silas it would have been a long journey by foot or on the backs of donkeys.

Paul had a real determination to go across Europe and speak about this new-found faith that he had in Jesus. He enjoyed meeting with God's people, and in this passage we see him found with God's people in the synagogue.

Paul had a lot to share. Many things had happened in his life, and he was eager to talk about the Scriptures. As we see from today’s Bible verses, he “explained and proved that the Christ must die and then rise from the dead”. This was a big issue for the Jewish people of that day. Dare I say that this can still be a big issue for us in the 21st century!

In these verses we see the Holy Spirit's activity in convincing the Jews that Jesus is the Christ - many followed Paul and Silas that day. Have you got something about you that screams God, that screams Jesus, to others that you come in contact with? Do they want to join you on this journey, this quest - to follow this Jesus the Christ? 

Acts 17 v 5-6
But the Jews became jealous. So they got some evil men from the market-place, formed a mob and started a riot. They ran to Jason’s house, looking for Paul and Silas, wanting to bring them out to the people. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers to the leaders of the city. The people were yelling, “These people have made trouble everywhere in the world, and now they have come here too!”

Notes
Jealousy can be a terrible thing. It can eat you up and ruin your life, and others’ lives as well. Paul and Silas were staying in a house belonging to a believer called Jason. Due to the jealousy felt by some of the Jews, a mob was formed from those in the market-place and a riot started.

It is interesting to note here that “evil men” were sought to join this mob. It is quite evident that they were not out for just a bit of fun. They were angry and were determined to do some harm to Paul and Silas.

But when the mob got to Jason's house they couldn't find Paul and Silas, so Jason and some of the believers were dragged to the leaders of the city. Paul and Silas hadn't gone missing but were being protected inside Jason's house. I believe Jason had chosen to face the angry mob, to take the place of Paul and Silas.

Following Jesus sometimes comes at a cost. Jesus never promised that it would be easy - he just promised that he would be with us. How would you have handled the situation Jason and his fellow believers found themselves in? Would you bottle out, or would you be prepared to stand out, even if it meant that you wouldn't be popular because you would speak up for Jesus? 

Acts 17 v 7-9
“Jason is keeping them in his house. All of them do things against the laws of Caesar, saying there is another king, called Jesus.”
When the people and the leaders of the city heard these things, they became very upset. They made Jason and the others put up a sum of money. Then they let the believers go free.

Notes
Jason knew that Jesus was his Lord and King, and it was his nature to put him first and to serve him. When Jason stood before the leaders of the city, he faced the anger of the mob and that of the leaders. In the end, it came down to a sacrifice being made on the part of Jason and the believers. They were made to hand over a sum of money in order for them to be released.

The Christian life often calls for us to make sacrifices. This could mean money - sometimes it could mean our very lives. Did you know that over the last three years 300,000 people from all over the world have been killed because of their faith in Jesus?

Remember that Jesus is with us and he will help us to cope with whatever comes our way. No one can be sure of what the future holds, but someone who believes in Jesus can be sure that he holds the future!

Acts 17 v 10-12
That same night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea where they went to the Jewish synagogue. These Jews were more willing to listen than the Jews in Thessalonica. The Jews in Berea were eager to hear what Paul and Silas said and studied the Scriptures every day to find out if these things were true. So, many of them believed, as well as many important Greek women and men.

Notes
Paul and Silas travelled to Berea, to another Jewish synagogue. Unlike their previous experience, these Jews were “eager” (the Scripture says) to listen to what Paul and Silas had to say about Jesus, and they studied the Scriptures every day together to find out if these things were true.

It's really great when your mates or family start to get interested in the things of God. Even today, God's Spirit is moving across the face of this globe. Men, women, young people and children are coming to know Jesus as the Spirit of God reveals to them who Jesus is.

You and I are called to be like Paul and Silas, to share the things of God. You will be surprised that when you start to do just that, there will be people who will want to listen and (as the Scripture describes) will be willing to believe the message.

It is interesting to note that in the Bible it wasn't just “ordinary” people (perhaps like you and me) who believed in God, but also people of influence and standing in their society. The gospel is for everyone, whatever their status or age.

Acts 17 v 13-15
But the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God in Berea, too. So they came there, upsetting the people and making trouble. The believers quickly sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. The people leading Paul went with him to Athens. Then they carried a message from Paul back to Silas and Timothy for them to come to him as soon as they could.

Notes
In this passage, we read that it wasn't long before the people from Thessalonica (who had mobbed Jason and the believers) came to hear that Paul and Silas were in Berea, and decided to go there to make trouble.

Have you ever noticed that trouble can follow you too? When we start to live for the kingdom of God, we will find opposition to what we believe in. Jesus was constantly up against opposition, criticism and ridicule. Even his own disciples doubted him at times, and on one particular occasion Peter lied about him! But all this still didn't stop him from continuing to do the things that his Father had sent him to do on earth.

God understands that we need each other, especially when the going gets tough! Paul needed Silas, and also the support of a younger man called Timothy. When Paul became separated from Silas and Timothy, we read that he sent word for them to join him as soon as they were able.

God never wants us to walk this journey of life without the help and support of those who share our friendship, and more importantly, our faith in Jesus. 

Acts 17 v 16-18
While Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens, he was troubled because he saw that the city was full of idols. In the synagogue, he talked with the Jews and the Greeks who worshipped God. He also talked every day with people in the market-place.
Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers argued with him, saying, “This man doesn’t know what he is talking about. What is he trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be telling us about some other gods,” because Paul was telling them about Jesus and his rising from the dead.

Notes
Do you ever open your eyes to see what's around you? Often when Paul turned up at a place, he would be troubled by the way people were carrying on. In Athens, Paul witnessed idol worship and other activity that was taking people away from finding the real God. Paul was troubled by this, knowing that the people were being deceived, distracted from knowing Jesus. This only helped to spur Paul on to talk about Jesus to whoever he met. He shared in the synagogue with the Jews and Greeks that were worshipping God, and he talked about Jesus in the market-place every day to the people who would listen. Everywhere and on every occasion, Paul would talk about Jesus.

Some people questioned what he was saying. The philosophers of the day analysed his words, but were unable to understand the meaning. They couldn't get their heads around what Paul was communicating - that Jesus had risen from the dead.

This did not phase Paul or trouble him too much. Paul knew what he believed, and he kept sharing about Jesus because he knew that God would open the ears of those that were meant to hear. The Holy Spirit would enable the hearts of those God knew would be open to listen and understand, so that they would be saved by hearing the word of God.

Are we easily put off from speaking about Jesus? Do the opinions of others stop us from speaking up sometimes? Are we frightened about having to answer awkward questions about God? Let us not be afraid of standing up for what we believe, despite all kinds of opposition. We may not always have the right answer, or any answer for that matter, but our lifestyles can still speak out about God.

Acts 17 v 19-21
They got Paul and took him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said, “Please explain to us this new idea you have been teaching. The things you are saying are new to us, and we want to know what this teaching means.” (All the people of Athens and those from other countries who lived there always used their time to talk about the newest ideas.)

Notes
In this particular passage we see that Paul had a very important audience to address, the people of Athens. They were people who were eager to find out about the new teachings of the day. We see in these verses that Paul was asked to explain about what he had been sharing.

Many Christians today get quite hung up thinking that the people they talk to should already know about Jesus, his birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection. But the truth is that today, just as in the days of Paul, people still do not really know about God, about Jesus' love for them, about his salvation for us all. So we really have an awesome task to share about Jesus and his Good News.

Paul travelled the “known world” of his day to share about Jesus, but we don't need to go far before God can bring us into the path of someone who desperately needs to hear about his love and gift of life for them.


word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes