Acts 17 reminds me of Junior High. It was a formative time when many young people explored their abilities. Some discovered music or sports; others found their academic path, and most made lifelong friends. Part of the freedom came from merging multiple schools together, allowing for new starts. Today’s lesson is about putting your reputation in the past. While traveling through Greece, Paul and his companions came to “Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish 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”. He was clear and direct, “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah”. Some Jews and Greeks were persuaded, “But other Jews were jealous”. Jealousy resists change. They “rounded up some bad characters… formed a mob and started a riot in the city”. Those at the cool-kid table mock and degrade by using rumors from the past. “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here”. Then they exaggerate, “They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus”. And they create uncertainty to maintain power, “the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil”. Peer pressure is not logical. Are you intimidated by the manipulators?
That night, the believers sent “Paul and Silas away to Berea”. Of course, they went straight to the synagogue and there they found “Jews were of more noble character”. In Berea, “they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true”. This is the key to development. We must listen and test, so we can verify for ourselves. “As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greeks”. Bullies use violence to avoid debate. “The Jews in Thessalonica” came “agitating the crowds” preventing new learning. What’s crowding out thought in your life?
For safety Paul was escorted to Athens by their friends, while Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. Paul was “greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols”. Again, “he reasoned in the synagogue… as well as in the marketplace day by day”. We listened to formal lectures, but real conversation happened in the hallways and common area. The philosophers asked questions, and song writers sang of love and pain. Everyone was looking for their place to belong. In Athens, Paul found objects of worship and people that were searching. “Stoic philosophers began to debate”, but “Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection”. This was revolutionary to them, “You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean”. They did not call him names, they listened. Paul taught about the very personal God that “does not live in temples built by human hands”. Paul described the God of creation, the giver of life. Paul explained God’s purpose. “God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him”. A sceptic asks for proof. “He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead”. This was an easily verifiable event. I’m sure some did more research. Not everyone accepted his message, “some of them sneered”. Some were intrigued, but not convinced; “We want to hear you again”. But others stepped out in faith. “Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed”. My friend, is it time to move on from your past? Paul later wrote to the church in Corinth, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Don’t be a burnout. Change is possible if you listen and trust His Word.