Paul in Greece – Faith & Hostility

Read: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/1-thessalonians/2.html)
 
Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke arrive in Thessalonica and end up staying with a man named Jason. We assume that Jason was a Jew who welcomed these Jewish travelers into his home and then became a believer in Jesus after he heard them proclaim the Good News. Acts 17:5-9 is the only place that Jason is mentioned in the Bible unless he is the same Jason mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:21 as one of his “Jewish friends.”
 
Paul and his friends attend worship at the Jewish meeting place in Thessalonica for three Sabbaths in a row. Paul is allowed to speak and he shows them that their Scriptures teach that the Messiah must suffer and die and then rise to life. I can imagine Paul stopping there and asking his listeners to think and talk about this during the week and to come back next week to hear more. Then on the next Sabbath Paul started by asking if anyone had any questions about the Messiah. After he had answered their questions Paul told them that Jesus is the Messiah.
 
Paul told the people about Jesus: how he lived, the things he said and did, and the way he treated the least, the last, and the lost. He told them about how Jesus died: the Lamb of God giving his life for our forgiveness. He told them about the resurrection: on the third day Jesus rose from death and is alive forever more. “We can join with him: in his death and in his life.” Some of the Jews and some Gentiles believed the message.
 
Some of the Jewish leaders in Thessalonica were jealous and angry. They hired some men to start a riot and try to find Paul and Silas at Jason’s home. But they had to settle for abducting Jason and a few other believers and taking them to the city leaders. They shouted that Paul and Silas and these others were breaking Roman law by proclaiming Jesus as their king.
 
Have you ever been accused of proclaiming Jesus as your king? Me either. We should do something about that.