History Repeats Itself
In Acts 17 we see Paul and company continue on their missionary journey throughout the Roman empire. In each place they stop, they simply tell the people that God had sent His Son Jesus in order that they might believe and be saved. But in each town, groups of jealous Jews twist Paul’s message and create mobs to run Paul and his companions out of town.
In Thessalonica
Verses 1-9:
When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. But the 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 brothers 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.
We see history repeating itself in these verses. First Paul again uses simple reasoning and proves his claims through the Scriptures which the Jews for centuries have considered the very Word of God. When many people, both Jews and Gentiles believe that Jesus is the Christ that the Scriptures speak of, some of the other Jews become jealous and create problems in town by spreading lies about Paul.
The trouble making Jews twist the Gospel into a message bent on overthrowing Rome, when in fact, Paul was only preaching the scriptures of Judaism (a religion allowed by Roman law) and explaining how Jesus is their fulfillment.
In Berea
Paul left for Berea after being run out of Thessalonica and continued preaching the Gospel as he did in every city he visited. The Bereans were more accepting of the Gospel and are commended in Acts because of their diligence in seeking the truth in the scriptures.
Verses 11-12:
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what paul said was true. Many of the jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.
Soon the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul had been preaching in Berea. They followed him there and brought their lies and persecution with them. Soon Paul had to leave town once again for the trouble the Jews were causing.
Despite the continual persecution and fleeing for his life, Paul and his companions continued to preach the Gospel wherever they went, not for personal gain, but because Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved.