#1588 Acts 17 Part 1 Reasoned With

 

Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and setting before them that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is that Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a great multitude of the God-fearing Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 But the Jews, becoming jealous, taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, and forming a mob, set the city in an uproar. And attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the assembly. 6 And when they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset the world have come here also; 7 and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” 8 And they disturbed the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things. 9 And when they had received the bond from Jason and the others, they released them. Acts 17: 1-9 LSB

Acts 17: 1-9

V. 1 Through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica - It would appear that there was not a synagogue in the first two cities. I don't want to speculate, but it does say "through", and they had been stopped by the Holy Spirit previously from going in to certain areas. It would seem that the aim here is Thessalonica. 

Charles Swindoll - In the second century BC, the Romans built a highway called the Via Egnatia from Dyrrachium on the Adriatic Sea to Byzantium (now called Constantinople) near the Black Sea, a distance of almost 700 miles. Nearly 20 feet wide and paved with hand-laid stone slabs, it carried Roman troops to battle, taxes to the capital city, and merchandise everywhere. And now it carried the Gospel into Greece. Paul followed the Via Egnatia a little more than 35 miles from Philippi to Amphipolis, where the seat of Roman government administered its affairs in Macedonia. From there, he continued another 30 miles to Apollonia, and then to Thessalonica 33 miles away. Each leg of his journey required a long day’s walk but put him in a major city by nightfall. I offer this detail to make a point. Not long after his ordeal (Ed: In Philippi)—a public beating with rods and a night in jail—Paul walked nearly 100 miles in three days! Emerson wrote, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” - Precept Austin

V. 2 For three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures - If you are a true Jew, then you are a person of the Book, and if you are a Christian then you are a person of the Book. Now, if you ever want to get at my heart, then come at me with the Scripture and rightly divided. Show me from the book which I claim to believe, that I am wrong about my doctrine, or that I am not living to it's standard. Keep your preferences, but show me Scripture, untwisted and clear. Rebuke me with the book I desire to live by and I will accept a beating. If I can't then I am either a babe or not saved at all. Paul could demonstrate all of this by going down the Scarlet thread, showing the pictures of atonement starting in Genesis where God promised the Seed of the woman, and then covered Adam and Eve's nakedness with animal skins. He would eventually turn up the setting to high resolution as he read to them about the suffering servant in Isaiah, and there is nothing crisper than Isaiah 53. If you had that book with the confirmation of any one of the gospels, you would be without excuse. I mean don't we use the excuse that we don't believe because of our intelligence, our ability to reason? He is laying it out for them, so is human reason enough? Will they believe what is logically progressing before their eyes, from the words of their esteemed prophets? 

More on the Scarlet thread

38nor does His word abide in you, because you do not believe the One He sent. 39You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me, 40yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.… John 5: 38-40

V. 3 That the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead - Your works will never be good enough, nor your genetic line, that does not save you. 

…12“Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” 13Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”… Genesis 22: 12-14

…4Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted. 5But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 6We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.… Isaiah 53: 4-6

V. 4 And some of them were persuaded - Is this why, Thessalonica, because this is where the Holy Spirit was moving, tilling the ground, removing the rocks?

Jack Arnold - It says, “some” were persuaded, not all. The majority of Jews stayed in their unbelief, for religious people are the hardest to reach for Christ. This is also true even today. The minority believe in Christ, the majority will not. (Acts 17: 1-15 Ideal Evangelism)

Were persuaded (3982)(peitho) means literally to persuade or induce by words to believe (Acts 19:26, Mt 27:20, Ro 14:14). In short, some believed. The preacher is not responsible for the fruit, only for the sowing of the seed of the Word. Are you sowing the pure Word? If not why do you wonder why you see no conversions, no transformed marriages, no personal revivals, no new baptisms? They were persuaded particularly by kind words (Ro 2:4-note) or motives. Some were persuaded to receive a belief--They were convinced, ultimately the job of the Holy Spirit (1Pe 1:2-note; 2Th 2:13, John 16:7-11) - PA

Vincent on leading woman - The position of women in Macedonia seems to have been exceptional. Popular prejudice, and the verdict of Grecian wisdom in its best age, asserted her natural inferiority. The Athenian law provided that everything which a man might do by the counsel or request of a woman should be null in law. She was little better than a slave. To educate her was to advertise her as a harlot. Her companions were principally children and slaves. In Macedonia, however, monuments were erected to women by public bodies; and records of male proper names are found, in Macedonian inscriptions, formed on the mother's name instead of on the father's. Macedonian women were permitted to hold property, and were treated as mistresses of the house. These facts are borne out by the account of Paul's labors in Macedonia. In Thessalonica, Beroea (Beroea is the Latinized form of Berea and is used in ancient texts), and Philippi we note additions of women of rank to the church; and their prominence in church affairs is indicated by Paul's special appeal to two ladies in the church at Philippi to reconcile their differences, which had caused disturbance in the church, and by his commending them to his colleagues as women who had labored with him in the Lord (Philemon 4:2, Philemon 4:3).(Acts 17 - Vincent's Word Studies)  - PA

Vs. 5-7 These men who have upset the world - A massive complement, like when Ahab calls Elijah the troubler of Israel. God is using them in a mighty way. It doesn't go into much detail about Jason, but it says that he welcomed them, so this is probably the house where much of these discussions took place, and maybe the home church for that city.

John MacArthur one of the best modern expositors of the Word (and one who has experienced the conflict) writes "Those who courageously proclaim the right message and win converts will face conflict. Success will be accompanied by opposition. Paul and his companions were no exception. The unbelieving Jews at Thessalonica were enraged by the success of the gospel. They "loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). "Becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar" ironically, the very thing they accused the missionaries of doing (Acts 17:6)." - PA

Vs. 8-9 Received the bond from Jason and the others - They most likely had to pay a fine, like criminals, to be released.