Acts 17:1-9
New International
Version 1984 (NIV1984)
17 When they had passed through Amphipolis and
Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As
his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days
he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Christ had
to suffer and rise from the dead. “This
Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he said. 4 Some
of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of
God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.
5 But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters
from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of
Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. 6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason
and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: “These men
who have caused trouble all over the world have
now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They
are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called
Jesus.” 8 When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown
into turmoil. 9 Then they made Jason(P) and the others post bond and let them go.
I find it interesting
that in our scriptures we see that Paul, Silas, and Timothy went to the
Synagogue every time they went into a new city and Thessalonica was no
exceptions. Notice they didn’t just go
once but three times proclaiming Jesus as the Christ. Just yesterday our youth pastor mentioned
that statics show that 75% of the youth in our churches today leave the church
once they leave the home. It makes you
wonder how much our churches are truly proclaiming the Gospel of Christ. That is a harsh statement but one that I think
we need to examine. If our youth are
leaving the church because they don’t have a solid foundation of their beliefs,
then maybe we are not explaining and proving enough evidence to them, in order
for them to form a solid belief in Christ. So that when they do go out into the
world, they know what they believe and why they believe it. Or
maybe, they are like the Jews who were given the truth and have chosen to
reject it. Either way, we like Paul,
Silas, and Timothy are commissioned to share with them the truth, no matter the
cost.
Notice in this passage
who believed. Some of the Jews, a large
number of God-fearing Greeks, and not
a few prominent women were the ones that listened and received the Word of
God. It seems that those who believed
were those who had been outcast in the past.
Only a few of God’s chosen people chose to believe. How sad is that? And even sadder, the old game of jealousy
swelled up in these Jews and they begin to cause trouble. They couldn’t get involved directly but they
chose other outcast, the mob, the gangsters of the day to go and straighten
these men out. When they couldn’t find
who they were looking for they took the ones that welcomed their message and
tried to put some fear into them. I
found it interesting that Jason and his group just had to pay some money and
they were released.
As I read this today, I
had to remember that the purpose of the Church is to equip the saints to spread
the Word. Are we equipping? Are we
spreading? As you seek Him today ask Him
to reveal to you how He would have you serve Him. Then, go out there and do it! Easy words to write but now to go and apply
it.
Seeking Him with all my
heart,
Sheila
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