Acts of the Apostles (38)
Introduction
Thessalonica was a major city in Macedonia. It had a huge harbor on the Aegean Sea and was situated on a major trade route. It had been established by a Macedonian king named Cassander in 315 B.C., who named it after his wife Thessalonike. Paul was supported financially in his mission here by the saints in Philippi, the city he had just come from (Phil. 4:16).
The Text
“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 . . .” (Acts 17:1–15).
Summary of the Text
Paul and Silas went through two Macedonian cities (Amphipolis and Apollonia) on their way to Thessalonica, which had a synagogue (v. 1). Paul followed his custom and went there first, reasoning with them there for three sabbath days (v. 2). His argument was that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and that this Jesus that he was preaching was that Christ (v. 3). Some Jews believed and attached themselves to Paul and Silas, but a great number of God-fearing Gentiles also believed, and more than a few of their chief women (v. 4). The Jews who refused the proofs, driven by envy, rounded up some bad actors in order to get a tumult going (v. 5). They gathered up a mob, caused an uproar, and attacked Jason’s house (where Paul and Silas were presumably staying), in order to seize them (v. 5). Because Paul and Silas weren’t there, they grabbed Jason and some brothers instead and brought them before the rulers of the city. “These men who have disrupted the entire world have come here now” (v. 6). Their complaint was that Jason had showed them hospitality, subversive men who were teaching that there was a king other than Caesar, a king named Jesus (v. 7). This unsettled the rulers and the people of the city both (v. 8). Jason and the others with him posted bail, and were released (v. 9). And so that night the brothers packed Paul and Silas off to Berea, about 45 miles to the west (v. 10). Naturally, they went to the synagogue there. The Jews in Berea were more noble than those in Thessalonica, and two reasons are given in evidence of this. First, they were eager for the message to be true, and second, they double-checked it against Scripture anyway (v. 11). A lot of them believed, and honorable Greek women, as well as Greek men (v. 12). But the unbelieving Jews in Thessalonica heard about this outrage and decided to play the role of a dog in the manger (v. 13) coming to Berea to stir up a mob there. So the brothers sent Paul away right away, with Silas and Timothy remaining behind for some reason (v. 14). So Paul sailed down to Athens, and he sent word back to Silas and Timothy to join him there as soon as possible (v. 15).
The Gentile Breakpoint
As we are seeing throughout the book of Acts, out in the Dispersion, the lives of Gentiles and Jews were closely intertwined. It was very common for Gentile admirers of the God of Israel to be closely associated with synagogues, and you can see in both Thessalonica and Berea that what was preached to the Jews got to the Gentiles almost immediately. But from the Roman point of view, there was something unsettling about the Christian appeal to these Gentiles—more unsettling than the Jewish appeal.
The Council at Jerusalem had decided that Gentiles did not have to become Jews in order to become Christians. Hopefully that point has been hammered home by now. But by insisting that the Gentile converts keep themselves from the pollutions of idols (Acts 15:20), the Council also decided that Gentile converts had to reject their native gods, their native customs, thus repudiating their heritage. They did not have to become Jews, but in this respect, they had to act like they had become Jews.
It had been possible for someone to admire the God of Israel from the back row of the synagogue without abandoning their ancient customs. The Christian gospel opened wide one door in front of them, and slammed shut another door behind them. We are consequently seeing how the pagan populations are growing very nervous about this growing movement. Jewish persecutions are starting to veer toward Roman persecutions. Notice how the trouble-making Jews pitched this to the Gentile rulers of the city—these men are teaching something that is subversive to the decrees of Caesar. They are teaching people about the authority of a different king, one Jesus. This is the kind of charge that was guaranteed to get the attention of civic rulers—nobody wants to be the position of protecting seditious traitors, right?
Eagerly Skeptical
The attitude of the Bereans is an early version of “trust, but verify.” Notice how Luke describes what it looks like to be well-born, to be noble. Say that someone comes with a message that promises marvelous things. A noble mind receives such a teaching warmly, hoping that it is in fact true. But the next step is crucial. They then sit down and open up their Bibles. “To the law and to the testimony: If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20). We need much more than subjective warmth. We need objective confirmation from an authority that speaks from outside the world.
Another King Indeed
So we do indeed preach and declare the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3,6;8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23,31). And there can be no kingdom of God without a king, and the name of this king is Jesus Christ. He is the one who was given universal authority by the Ancient of Days, and His is a kingdom which cannot be destroyed (Dan. 7:14). He is the one who was given all the nations for His inheritance (Ps. 2:8), and He intends to have them all (Matt. 28:18-20).
But He is a High King, not a replacement king. This means that all current political authorities must kiss the Son (Ps. 2:12), lest He be angry. They are not vaporized, but rather are made subordinate princes. The kings of earth are instructed to wise up (Ps. 2:10), meaning that they must serve and worship Him. They do not throw away their crowns, but rather they must lay them down at the feet of the Lord Jesus, after which they receive them back again. The path of wisdom for them is to echo the words of John the Baptist, with a heart that wants Him to increase and for themselves to decrease. But this kind of decrease is glorious, and brings the honor and glory of the kingdoms of men into the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:26).
Jesus is king. Christ is king indeed. And unlike the heathen kings, He is wise and kind.