Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 103
17:3-21
L UK E – A cts
91
He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer
and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the
Messiah.” Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined
Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few
prominent women.
But some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers
from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the
home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out
to the crowd. Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some
of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul
and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now
they are here disturbing our city, too. And Jason has welcomed them into
his home. They are all guilty of treason against Caesar, for they profess
allegiance to another king, named Jesus.”
The people of the city, as well as the city council, were thrown into turmoil by these reports. So the officials forced Jason and the other believers
to post bond, and then they released them.
That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they
arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. And the people of Berea
were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened
eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see
if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. As a result, many Jews believed,
as did many of the prominent Greek women and men.
But when some Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching
the word of God in Berea, they went there and stirred up trouble. The
believers acted at once, sending Paul on to the coast, while Silas and
Timothy remained behind. Those escorting Paul went with him all the
way to Athens; then they returned to Berea with instructions for Silas and
Timothy to hurry and join him.
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by
all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. He went to the synagogue to
reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in
the public square to all who happened to be there.
He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers.
When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s
this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others
said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.”
Then they took him to the high council of the city. “Come and tell us
about this new teaching,” they said. “You are saying some rather strange
things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” (It should be explained
