240 – Riots and Laughter
Acts 17:1-34
Paul and Silas and their group traveled to Thessalonica. They spent three weeks reasoning with the Jews, explaining how Messiah needed to come and suffer and then rise from the dead. They said, “Jesus is this Promised One.”
Some of the Jews accepted Christ, as well as a large number of Greeks. This upset the other Jews. They became so angry they decided to destroy the movement. They went into the market place and gathered together a group of thugs. Together they organized a mob against the Christians.
Soon the entire city was in an uproar! They couldn’t find Paul, so they took several other believers and pulled them out into the street. They led them to the city officials and said; “A group of men are causing trouble throughout the entire world. They’re not loyal to Caesar but say they have another king, a man named Jesus. Now these troublemakers have come to our city, and these men have welcomed them into their homes.”
The officials were cautious and said they would look into the matter. They made the believers pay a large bail before releasing them. That night, the Christians sent Paul and Silas to Berea.
The Jews at Berea welcomed the message of Christ and searched the Scriptures to see if it was true. Therefore, many Jews and Greeks received Christ. News of this got back to the people at Thessalonica. So the Jews there went to Berea to continue their fight against the movement. The attacks became so severe that the Christians sent Paul to Athens by boat. The plan was for Silas and Timothy to stay at Berea and join him later.
Paul arrived at Athens and waited for his companions to join him. As he walked through the city, he was shocked to see all the idols. Finally he went to the market place and told people about Jesus. They were fascinated with this talk of a man being raised from the dead. So they took Paul to a place called Mars Hill and let him talk to the crowd.
He said, “Men of Athens! I can see you’re extremely religious. I even found an idol called ‘To the Unknown God.’ Let me tell you about the God you don’t know.
“He is the Lord of Heaven and has made everything on earth. He doesn’t live in things made by people. In the beginning God created one man, and all the nations of the earth have come from him. Everything you have comes from God. He is the reason you live.
“God has been patient with you in the past, but now you’re to repent. He’ll judge you by Jesus, the one who rose from the dead.”
Some of the men laughed when they heard that Jesus rose from the dead. Others wanted to hear more some other time. A few people believed and put their trust in Christ.
Paul left Athens and went to Corinth to wait for Silas and Timothy.
