Greetings

Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Friday’s edition of EDiBS, and God’s rich blessings to you in Christ as we come to His Word. As we approach the end of another week together, I want to say a heartfelt thanks to all of you for your commitment to studying the Scriptures each day and making them part of your life — what a joy we have in knowing the truth in Jesus, and that the truth sets us free indeed! Let’s pray as we begin. 

Prayer 

Almighty God, we praise you because there is no god but you; you alone are worthy of our worship, and you alone are to be magnified and lifted up. Open our eyes as we study today; give us ears to hear, minds to understand, and hearts to embrace all that you would teach us. In Christ’s name we pray, amen. 

Getting Started 

As we get started today, after three days of teaching and preaching in the synagogue of Thessalonica, Paul and his companions have gained some followers...but now we learn that the message of the Gospel has also drawn out the hard hearts of its detractors. Our focus: mayhem from the marketplace. 

Acts 17:5-9 

5But 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. 6But 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, 7and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus." 8When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go. 

One of the few times I’ve been in the midst of a scary crowd situation was in 1994 in San Jose, California. It was hockey season, and the San Jose Sharks were playing the Detroit Redwings in the Western Conference quarterfinals. Hockey was relatively new to Silicon Valley in those days, and for a young upstart team like the Sharks to be competing against one of the most storied teams in NHL history was a huge deal. Long story short, the series went the full seven games and the Sharks came out on top. My wife and I were at that seventh game, and the reaction of the crowd both inside and outside the arena was like nothing I’d ever seen. As thousands of euphoric people poured out of the Pavilion and into the streets, things became frightening very quickly. People were yelling and screaming, and they sectioned out into rowdy groups and began to pound on cars and climb light poles. It never quite reached the riot stage, but by the time we made it to the light-rail station and made it onto the train, there was definitely a mob-rule mentality taking hold of the people. It’s something I’d rather not experience again! 

Verse 5: In today’s reading, we see something similar happening in the streets of Thessalonica as disgruntled Jews resistant to the message of the Gospel go to work on a Paul & Silas Eradication Plan. Why is this happening? Verse 5 tells us that jealousy is one of the main culprits. And why are certain Jews jealous? Because Paul and Silas have made a huge impression on many of the people who have heard them speak: indeed, both Jews and a large number of God-fearing Greeks have decided to follow them. Prominent women, who carry quite a bit of influence in the city, have embraced the message of Christ as well. In other words, the synagogue set, the people who are sticking with the traditional Judaism of their fathers and who think that this Jesus stuff is a bunch of hogwash, are losing clout. Losing numbers. Losing influence. Losing relevance. And to cut them a little slack, let’s be sure to at least recognize the fact that there is surely a sense of alarm among them over the reality that this new message from this unknown group seems to be carrying people away from the faith they’ve always known. It’s a frightening proposition. So, what to do? Well, it’s time, they decide, to become men of action. 

Verses 5-8: In verses 5-8 we see their plan. Rounding up some rough characters from the marketplace, they stir people up and manufacture their own city riot. Rushing through the streets, they make their way to the place they believe Paul and Silas are staying — Jason’s house. Not finding them there, they take Jason and some other believers instead, and dragging them before the city authorities, they make their case. Notice the charges: is there falsehood there? Yep. Is there also a modicum of truth? Again, yes. Mixing truth with lies is typically a very effective way to attack someone’s character, and I don’t need to elaborate on that because we all know it from experiences we’ve had in our own lives. But it’s significant to see the main thrust of their accusation nonetheless: that the Christians are defying the decrees of Caesar. This, of course, is the greatest untruth of all, but it’s also the one these jealous Jews know will get the most traction with the city officials. And true to expectation, when that allegation is brought forth, there’s a fresh eruption of turmoil. Making Jason and his fellow believers post bond before being let go, the citizens of Thessalonica are now primed for a witch hunt, and we can be sure that they will be hell-bent on rooting out the leaders who are spreading this Christian message throughout their community. 

Wrapping Up 

As we wrap things up for the day, where are our Christian leaders? Paul and Silas are nowhere to be found, and Scripture gives us no hint as to their whereabouts right now. Some scholars surmise that these two are purposely out of sight and in hiding during this scene. That, however, is very unlike Paul’s character. Others speculate that they’re probably just in another area or perhaps off doing other things and aren’t in the immediate proximity of what’s going on, which is why they aren’t caught up in it all. That seems more plausible to me. The bottom line is that we don’t know...but what we do know is that since this has gone down the way it has, the believers in Thessalonica are going to do everything they can to keep Paul and Silas out of the way, and when we come back next time, we’ll get wind of that in the text. 

Imagine, everyone...all this trouble, all this chaos, because of the message of Jesus Christ. To some it is life and salvation, and yet to others it is a terrible stumbling block, a fool’s game. There is very little in-between here, which to the wise person is a sign to consider long and hard why the teaching of Christ evokes such a strong response when it goes forth. Truth does that, you know. 

I’ll look forward to seeing you again soon, everyone…Have a wonderful weekend of worship, and God bless you richly as you live in the grace, the mercy, and reconciliation of our Savior. Take care!