Location Thessalonica: Paul Stirs up Another Riot
1Paul and Silas headed southwest and passed through the coastal towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia. [1] They came to the town of Thessalonica. [2] Jews worshiped at a synagogue there. 2Paul did his usual thing: he went to synagogue services every Sabbath day. He did that for three weeks, trying to reason with the people by supporting his arguments with Scripture. 3He pointed out Bible passages that said the Messiah had to suffer, die, and rise from the dead. [3] Paul told the people, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” 4Paul convinced some of the Jews. They sided with him and Silas. So did a lot of the non-Jews, along with a few of the most respected women.5Some Jews, however, envied the attention Paul and Silas were getting. They rounded up some bad boys who were hanging around the marketplace in town. Together, they worked the crowd into a mob and eventually started a riot. They descended on the house of a man named Jason because they thought that’s where they might find Paul and Silas. 6But they didn’t find the two men there. So they arrested Jason and some other believers and took them to the city officials. Folks in the mob told the officials, “Some men who have recently come to town have stirred up trouble all over the world. Now they’re here in our town. 7Jason has welcomed them into his home. His guests are traitors. They aren’t loyal to Caesar. They pledge their allegiance to another king called Jesus.” 8These Jews and their nasty colleagues got the city leaders and townspeople worked up but good. 9City officials released Jason and the others but forced them to post bail. [4]
Berea: a Town of Open-minded Jews
10Believers rushed Paul and Silas out of town that very night. The group sent them to the neighboring town of Berea. [5] When Paul and Silas got there, they went to the synagogue where Jews meet. 11Jews in Berea were a lot more open-minded than those in Thessalonica. These Jews were excited to hear the message. They eagerly studied relevant passages in the Bible, to make sure Paul and Silas weren’t lying to them. 12As a result, a lot of the Jews became believers. So did some of the town’s leading non-Jewish women and men.13But back in Thessalonica, Jews found out that Paul was now spreading his version of God’s message to their neighbors in Berea. So they came to Berea too. They managed to get the townspeople pretty upset with Paul. 14Some of the believers escorted Paul out of town and down to the coast. [6] Silas and Timothy, however, stayed behind in Berea. 15The believers went with Paul all the way to Athens. When they returned to Berea, they carried a message back to Silas and Timothy. Paul wanted them to come and join him as soon as possible. So they left right away.
Athens: Paul’s Invitation from Scholars
16While Paul waited in Athens for Silas and Timothy to catch up with him, he saw that the city was full of idols. This troubled him all the way to his soul. 17So he started talking to people. He went to the synagogue and tried reasoning with the Jews who came there to worship. And he talked to people every day in the city marketplace. He talked to anyone who showed up. 18He even talked with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. [7] Some asked, “What kind of scraps [8] is this guy trying to feed us?” Others said, “It sounds like he’s talking about some oddball gods.” Paul was actually telling people the good news about Jesus and the Resurrection. 19The men took him to the Areopagus [9] and asked, “Would you mind telling us more about this teaching of yours? 20It’s sounding pretty bizarre to us at this point. We’d like to know what exactly you’re talking about.” 21Just so you know, locals of Athens as well as immigrants living there loved to spend time doing nothing but talking about new ideas. It was a favorite fad.Smart Folks in Athens Laugh at Paul
22Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus. He addressed the people. “Gentlemen of Athens, I can tell you’re very religious. 23I’ll tell you how I know. I walked around your city and I saw many of the objects you worship. You know something else I discovered? I found an altar inscribed with these words: ‘To an unknown God.’ Well, I’d like to introduce you to this God you worship without actually knowing him. Let me tell you about him.24“The God who made this world of ours and everything in it is the master of heaven and earth. So he doesn’t live in worship centers made by the hands of mere humans. 25In fact, human hands can’t do a thing for him because he doesn’t need a thing. Instead, he’s the one who gives everything. He gives everyone the lives they live and each breath they take. 26From one man, he made all human beings on the face of this earth. He has already decided how long each one of us lives and where we will spend our lives. 27He created people with a desire to find him, even if they have to grope around in the dark, hoping to accidentally bump into him. The fact is, he’s already close to each one of us. 28We exist because of him. We live and we move by the power he gives us. [10] Some of your own poets put it this way: ‘We are his children.’ [11]
29“Since we are his children, we shouldn’t think he’s anything like some kind of statue dreamed up by human imagination and then skillfully crafted out of gold, silver, or stone. 30This is a new day. People in ages past did what they did and didn’t know any better. God overlooked that. But not anymore. Now, he’s ordering people everywhere to stop their sinful way of living. 31God has already set the date for judging the world. He’s going to give everyone what they deserve. He has also appointed the man who will do the judging. God proved to everyone who this man is by raising him from the dead.”
32When they heard Paul say that someone actually rose from the dead, they laughed at him. But others said, “We’d like very much to hear more from you later.” 33So Paul left the meeting place. 34But some of the people there believed what Paul had said. They spent time with him to learn more. The group included Dionysius, who was a member of the Areopagus Council. A woman named Damaris joined Paul’s group too. So did some others.
