The mission team has just left Philippi where Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown in prison overnight. Now they enter the port city of Thessalonica to share the gospel.
"When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue." (Acts 17:1) Paul probably preached the gospel in the cities he passed through along the way although Luke doesn't specifically say so. Thessalonica was an important city of the ancient world and it had a large Roman highway passing through it. A great deal of people, both Jews and Gentiles, could be reached by the gospel in Thessalonica.
As always the team begins at a synagogue when there is one present. The synagogues are made up of Jews and of Gentiles who have converted to Judaism. These places are a good jumping off point because their members already believe in the God of Israel. "As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead." (Acts 17:2-3a) Paul uses the prophecies of the Old Testament to make his case that the birth, suffering, death, and resurrection of the Messiah were foretold. If he were preaching to pagan Gentiles he would not use this method, but he is preaching to those who know the Scriptures.
"'This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,' he said. Some Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women." (Acts 17:3b-4) The gospel always had more success among Gentiles than among Jews, perhaps because the Gentiles weren't looking for a Messiah who would throw off the shackles of Rome and reestablish the Jewish monarchy. The Gentiles were simply looking for a religion that would give them something their idolatry never provided: a personal relationship with a God who could save them not by their own works but by His. We have to understand that the cultural differences between these groups shaped their ideas of who the Redeemer would be. The Jews had the law and the prophets to live by and they had their sense of security in these things and in being a chosen people of God, so after suffering many centuries of war and captivity and occupation they were focused more on a Messiah who could deliver them from their oppressors. The Gentiles did not have the law and the prophets. They were not formerly a chosen people of God and they had no sense of real security in their own religions. They were part of the pagan world that had conquered and oppressed Israel, so their focus was not on a political deliverer but on figuring out how to stop serving useless idols and find their way to the living God. (1 Thessalonians 1:9)
"But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city." (Acts 17:5a) Opposition seems to arise wherever the gospel goes. The Jews in the city have held authority over believers for a long time, and now this Paul has come in teaching that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and has won a number of people over. In other cities, such as in Philippi where there was no synagogue, opposition comes from Gentiles. But the instigator of all this persecution is Satan himself. Satan is always going to try to prevent the gospel from going into territories where it has never before been preached. He doesn't want souls saved. He wants God to lose as many of the human beings He created as possible. But as always, the Most High God is going to have the last word. The gospel is going to go where He wants it to go. No power on earth or in hell can stop it.
"They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd." (Acts 17:5b) Jason is the man with whom the mission team is lodging. He may be the same Jason that Paul calls one of his "fellow Jews" in Romans 16:21.
The mob intends to do grievous bodily harm to Paul and Silas, but they aren't at Jason's house at this time. In a rage the mob arrests Jason and some of the believers at his house. "But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: 'These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.'" (Acts 17:6-7) I like the way the KJV states that these are the men who have "turned the world upside down", although it's not the men who have turned it upside down but Christ and His gospel that have turned it upside down. The mob cries out to the officials, "We heard about these troublemakers long before they ever got here. We know they've been going from city to city preaching that the King of kings is a man from Nazareth named Jesus. It's against the law to proclaim any other king but Caesar. These men are lawbreakers and we shouldn't allow them to stay here. Jason should have had more sense than to offer them lodging at his home. Something needs to be done about this!"
Emperor Claudius, the current Caesar at the time, has an intense dislike for the Jews. He has already expelled them from Rome, so the last thing Jewish colonies in other cities want is to draw his attention to them by having him hear they are proclaiming the name of another king. Like those who cried out during Jesus' trial before Pilate, "We have no king but Caesar!", the mob at Thessalonica cries out to their authorities, "We have no king but Caesar!" We have to keep in mind though that this mob does not represent the feelings of everyone at Thessalonica. A number of Jews and an even larger number of Gentiles have accepted Jesus as the King of their hearts. They understand that His kingdom is not an earthly one like Caesar's. They realize they can obey the laws of the land and worship the Lord Jesus Christ at the same time. These two things are not in conflict with each other.
"When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go." (Acts 17:8-9) Jason and his friends are forced to put up large sums of money as a guarantee that no further disturbances of the peace will ensue. They may even have had to mortgage their homes and lands to come up with the bond. This explains why the mission team departs the city that same night. If they remain there will be further disturbances because the mob will see to it. This would cause Jason and his friends to lose the bond they've posted along with the properties they may have mortgaged. Out of love for these people the mission team decides it's time to move on.
"As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea." (Acts 17:10a) Tomorrow we will follow the men to Berea, as will the troublemakers, but the missionaries are not discouraged. They keep on carrying out the great commission.
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