RESISTANCE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.

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.”

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 17:5-9

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

From the moment that Jesus emerged onto the ministry scene with a new message of salvation for all people through Him, the predicted Messiah of the world, there was resistance, particularly from the Jewish religious authorities. These men who proclaimed to be intimate with God refused to consult Him to validate whether or not Jesus was indeed who He said He was. Instead, they leaned on their own understanding, a foolish venture that went against the grain of the wisdom found in the Book of Proverbs (Proverbs 3:5-6), words that would be read within the synagogues during Sabbath worship.

This insistence of leaning on their own understanding blinded the Jewish religious leaders from the truth found in Jesus, the One who was the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). And unwilling to see the truth, the Jewish religious authorities allowed sin to enter in, going as far to not only persecute and eventually kill Jesus but then do the same to those who followed Him after His ascension into the heavens to dwell with God forever in authority over all creation.

We see this resistance continue to happen at the beginning of Acts 17. Yesterday, we read where Paul and Silas arrived in Thessalonica from Philippi and immediately went to work preaching and teaching in the synagogue over several Sabbath observances. Their efforts resulted in some Jews and a “large number of God-fearing Greeks” and “prominent women” being persuaded to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. As in other places during Paul’s first and second missionary journey, progress was made in regard to the advancing of the Gospel. Unfortunately, also as in other places within Paul’s Gospel work, conflict emerged in Thessalonica, not just against Paul but others associated with him.

As you might imagine, the source of the conflict was the Jews who “rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city” out of jealousy over the success that Paul was having converting synagogue believers to Christianity. The scriptures tell us that the Jew-led mob “rushed to Jason’s house” where they expected to find Paul and Silas who had obviously been staying there. We read where Paul and Silas were absent and so the mob “dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials” instead, levying the following charge against them:

“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.”

The Jewish religious leaders knew how to pull the strings of the Romans, manipulating them to carry out their dirty work. They swayed Pontius Pilate to have Jesus crucified. They had just tried to get rid of Paul and Silas in Philippi but the Roman magistrates ended up not only releasing the apostles but apologizing for mistreating them after learning they were Roman citizens. Now here in Thessalonica, they embellished their accusation to make it seem as if Paul and Silas were troublemakers and Roman law breakers with Jason the one harboring them. Of course, none of the accusations were true, although Jesus was proclaimed as King, something that you’ll remember Pilate acknowledged as well when he had a sign hung over Jesus head while He was crucified on Calvary’s cross.

So how did the Roman city officials respond to the charges levied by the Jews?

The scriptures tell us that they “were thrown into turmoil”, forcing “Jason and the others” to “post bond” before releasing them. As we’ll see tomorrow, the volatile environment was unsafe which led Paul and Silas to go elsewhere in an act of self preservation.

As we consider these verses today, we’re reminded that today we still find Christians mistreated and murdered around the world by people who resist Jesus and allow that resistance to lead to wickedness and evil behavior. Jesus promised those who followed Him that they would be hated and persecuted just as He was and indeed, His words came to be, in biblical times and in present times.

In the end translation, anywhere that Jesus is being proclaimed with the intent of making disciples, Satan will be present as well trying to thwart the work of the Lord. But all Christians need to hold onto the blessed assurance that our enemy will never have the victory over our Savior. Now and forever, the battle belongs to the Lord who will always be triumphant.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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