Acts 17:1-9 - Paul & Silas at Thessalonica

At This point, Luke and Timothy were probably left at Philippi to continue the ministry. Meanwhile Paul and Silas went on and passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, where there was no mention of their ministry there. This was in part because there was no synagogue in those two places. Then they came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the Jews. Paul’s policy had always been to minister to the Jews first, then to the Gentiles.

So in Thessalonica Paul went to the synagogue for three Sabbaths to present his message of Christ Jesus. He would reason, explain, and proving that Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. Through the process Paul would show that “This Jesus is the Christ.”

Paul was obviously successful in his mission. In three weeks he was able to reach some Jews and a large number of proselytes, including prominent Greek women. Notice the contrast between some Jews and a large number of Greek God–fearers and prominent women.

Then those Jews who spurned the Gospel were jealous of Paul and Silas. They were vicious and bent on stopping them from proclaiming the Gospel. They plotted and created a riot against the two missionaries. They managed to garner some wicked and vicious men and started a commotion in the market place to start a mob.

At this point we are introduced to Jason. Nothing was said about Jason except his role. He was probably a Jewish convert whose house became the lodging place for Paul and Silas. The mob proceeded toward his house seeking to bring trouble to the missionaries. But they could not find them. It could well be that they heard about the approaching mob and stayed away to avoid the confrontation.

Providentially, they could not find Paul and Silas, so they dragged Jason and some of the brethren to the authorities. As they proceeded they kept shouting, and accusing Paul and Silas as “…men who have upset the world….”  They also accused Jason of housing and colluding with Paul and Silas to contradict, “…the decrees of Caesar…,” by claiming that there is another king called Jesus.

Those trouble makers managed to incite the crowd and the authorities who heard the accusations. But we must say that the authorities were more level headed. When they were able to secure an assurance from Jason, they released them.   

From his letters to the Thessalonians we know that in a few short weeks Paul was able to make significant impact there. What he experienced at Thessalonica showed that God’s work cannot be thwarted by opposition. This became more evident from his two letters to them. In the face of opposition, Paul just concentrated on what God had called Him to do and so must we!