Now having passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica. A Jewish synagogue was there which Paul attended, as was his custom. And then, for three [successive] Sabbaths he engaged in [a series of] exegetical studies by which he opened the scriptures, in terms they could grasp, that Christ had to suffer and had to rise again from the grave. He said, “This Jesus, who I am proclaiming to you [in my discussion of these scriptural texts], is the Christ [the Anointed of God].” And some were persuaded, joining Paul and Silas along with a great many devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews [who did not believe in that place] were intensely jealous, and taking some scoundrels from among the market’s labour exchange, they proceeded to unsettle the city, focusing their attack upon the house of Jason in order to have them brought out face-to-face with the mob. But when they could not be found, Jason and some of the brothers were dragged before the magistrates with this shouted accusation: “These are the men who have turned the entire civilised world upside down and have now come here, with Jason here welcoming them; they are all acting in breech of the decrees of the Emperor, by saying that there is another king, Jesus.” When they heard this, the people and the city authorities were disturbed. But when bail had been taken from Jason and the rest, they let them go. – Acts 17:1-9/transliteration by Bruce C Wearne
The ancient agora or marketplace in Thessalonica today. PICTURE: Paul Pela/licenced under CC BY 2.0
All Gospel writers, as well as Paul in these letters, write as those who are aware that the leading religious authorities of Israel were “in the vanguard” of ongoing persecution within their own community. Faithful Jews who had repentantly embraced the Good News became the target of this operation.
The story of the spread of the Gospel also becomes the story of the founding of the church in various places “to the ends of the earth”. It is the story of the people involved and Luke tells us of the tension that was generated by the opposition to the message. The accusation of the Jewish opponents of Paul and Silas seems to have been a formal statement of some kind: “These are the men who have turned the entire civilized world upside down and have now come here, with Jason here welcoming them; they are all acting in breech of the decrees of the Emperor, by saying that there is another king, Jesus.”
Maybe this is a view expressed to Thessalonica’s authorities based upon communications received through the synagogue network. Clearly, this involved a deep tension among the dispersed Jewish community in those parts as it was also manifested elsewhere. This tension among people of Jewish faith and ethnicity, is recounted repeatedly throughout the New Testament and hence it is instructive also for us in 2017. It is present in all the Gospel accounts of Jesus trial; it is John who tells us how the chief priests resorted to a confession of deepest apostasy in their insistence that the Romans execute the innocent: “We have no King but Caesar!” (John 19:15).
It is also implicit in Luke’s record. Even the Hasmonean pretender to the title “King of the Jews” was not able to find any guilt in Him, and sent Him back to Pilate, but not before handing over the Helpless Prisoner to the vile indignities perpetrated by his soldiers.
Matthew tells us that the chief priests and the elders, those who had conspired to have Jesus crucified, could offer no consolation to the remorseful and repentant close associate of Jesus. Their response to his return of the bribe was: “Oh, you have a conscience now, do you? That’s your problem not ours.” (Matthew 27:4).
Judas had then gone out and hanged himself, it is true, but the record Matthew gives us is not without sympathy for one caught up in the way of Mammon (see Matthew 6:24). Had not Matthew compromised with the Romans by working as a tax-collector. As he tells it, this traitor had been “hung out to dry” by a priestly inability to point him to the promises of God’s forgiveness, to the One, James and John had learned about from John the Baptist as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And so, all Gospel writers, as well as Paul in these letters, write as those who are aware that the leading religious authorities of Israel were “in the vanguard” of ongoing persecution within their own community. Faithful Jews who had repentantly embraced the Good News became the target of this operation. And keep in mind, as we now appropriate the story of the dissemination of the Good News, this message has become caught up in the onward march of a message of Divine amnesty. Luke tells us of Pentecost as he continues his account of what Jesus continued to do. Since Christ’s resurrection and ascension and the “coming of the Spirit”, God’s mercy has been poured out indiscriminately. It is ready for the taking by all who repent and believe: “Hey, come and get it! All who are thirsty, come and get it!” (Isaiah 55:1).
And this is the message of Peter. This is the message of the martyred waiter and deacon, Stephen. This is the message of Paul, the former militia leader. And this is also the message of Jason and the church of Thessalonica.
From the side of those who profess faith in Jesus, their resurrected and ascended Lord – whether they be of Jewish or Gentile ethnicity, the religious opposition reveals that their Jewish opponents have slipped into a way or manner of living that is perpetually blind-sided to its own spiritual apostasy from the faith of Abraham and David.
Such persecution is motivated by a departure from “the ways of the Lord.” Those wanting the destruction of this faith find themselves aligned with the civil power ruthlessly opposing those claiming the fulfilment of the promises to Israel in the Christ.
This remarkable correspondence with the church of Thessalonica is written in a spirit of complete confidence that the error and folly of the destabilisation will not prevail. This persecution that they have encountered did not come from nowhere. Luke tells us that there were deceitful manoeuvrings by the appellants who had targeted some unemployed persons waiting for a job offer in the market place. They could help them in their scheme. This was before they brought their case to be heard before the civil authority.
From what we know of the church of Thessalonian Christians, it was no secret society, and was known across the city. Yes it was in crucial respects related to the Jewish synagogue but it had found its own place in that city and was supported by some prominent Greek women. It came to know about the costs of discipleship, and in that respect these letters have ever since spoken with the decisive authority of the Holy Spirit’s comfort when the church has to confront strife in the midst of social and cultural complexity.
OPEN BOOK: THE GOSPEL SPREADS THROUGH MACEDONIA – PART 1
Before kicking off a new series looking at the book of I and II Thessalonians, BRUCE C WEARNE, in the first of a two part article, sets the scene with a look back at what Acts says about Paul’s visit to Thessalonica…
Now having passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica. A Jewish synagogue was there which Paul attended, as was his custom. And then, for three [successive] Sabbaths he engaged in [a series of] exegetical studies by which he opened the scriptures, in terms they could grasp, that Christ had to suffer and had to rise again from the grave. He said, “This Jesus, who I am proclaiming to you [in my discussion of these scriptural texts], is the Christ [the Anointed of God].” And some were persuaded, joining Paul and Silas along with a great many devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews [who did not believe in that place] were intensely jealous, and taking some scoundrels from among the market’s labour exchange, they proceeded to unsettle the city, focusing their attack upon the house of Jason in order to have them brought out face-to-face with the mob. But when they could not be found, Jason and some of the brothers were dragged before the magistrates with this shouted accusation: “These are the men who have turned the entire civilised world upside down and have now come here, with Jason here welcoming them; they are all acting in breech of the decrees of the Emperor, by saying that there is another king, Jesus.” When they heard this, the people and the city authorities were disturbed. But when bail had been taken from Jason and the rest, they let them go. – Acts 17:1-9/transliteration by Bruce C Wearne
The ancient agora or marketplace in Thessalonica today. PICTURE: Paul Pela/licenced under CC BY 2.0
All Gospel writers, as well as Paul in these letters, write as those who are aware that the leading religious authorities of Israel were “in the vanguard” of ongoing persecution within their own community. Faithful Jews who had repentantly embraced the Good News became the target of this operation.
The story of the spread of the Gospel also becomes the story of the founding of the church in various places “to the ends of the earth”. It is the story of the people involved and Luke tells us of the tension that was generated by the opposition to the message. The accusation of the Jewish opponents of Paul and Silas seems to have been a formal statement of some kind: “These are the men who have turned the entire civilized world upside down and have now come here, with Jason here welcoming them; they are all acting in breech of the decrees of the Emperor, by saying that there is another king, Jesus.”
Maybe this is a view expressed to Thessalonica’s authorities based upon communications received through the synagogue network. Clearly, this involved a deep tension among the dispersed Jewish community in those parts as it was also manifested elsewhere. This tension among people of Jewish faith and ethnicity, is recounted repeatedly throughout the New Testament and hence it is instructive also for us in 2017. It is present in all the Gospel accounts of Jesus trial; it is John who tells us how the chief priests resorted to a confession of deepest apostasy in their insistence that the Romans execute the innocent: “We have no King but Caesar!” (John 19:15).
It is also implicit in Luke’s record. Even the Hasmonean pretender to the title “King of the Jews” was not able to find any guilt in Him, and sent Him back to Pilate, but not before handing over the Helpless Prisoner to the vile indignities perpetrated by his soldiers.
Matthew tells us that the chief priests and the elders, those who had conspired to have Jesus crucified, could offer no consolation to the remorseful and repentant close associate of Jesus. Their response to his return of the bribe was: “Oh, you have a conscience now, do you? That’s your problem not ours.” (Matthew 27:4).
Judas had then gone out and hanged himself, it is true, but the record Matthew gives us is not without sympathy for one caught up in the way of Mammon (see Matthew 6:24). Had not Matthew compromised with the Romans by working as a tax-collector. As he tells it, this traitor had been “hung out to dry” by a priestly inability to point him to the promises of God’s forgiveness, to the One, James and John had learned about from John the Baptist as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And so, all Gospel writers, as well as Paul in these letters, write as those who are aware that the leading religious authorities of Israel were “in the vanguard” of ongoing persecution within their own community. Faithful Jews who had repentantly embraced the Good News became the target of this operation. And keep in mind, as we now appropriate the story of the dissemination of the Good News, this message has become caught up in the onward march of a message of Divine amnesty. Luke tells us of Pentecost as he continues his account of what Jesus continued to do. Since Christ’s resurrection and ascension and the “coming of the Spirit”, God’s mercy has been poured out indiscriminately. It is ready for the taking by all who repent and believe: “Hey, come and get it! All who are thirsty, come and get it!” (Isaiah 55:1).
And this is the message of Peter. This is the message of the martyred waiter and deacon, Stephen. This is the message of Paul, the former militia leader. And this is also the message of Jason and the church of Thessalonica.
From the side of those who profess faith in Jesus, their resurrected and ascended Lord – whether they be of Jewish or Gentile ethnicity, the religious opposition reveals that their Jewish opponents have slipped into a way or manner of living that is perpetually blind-sided to its own spiritual apostasy from the faith of Abraham and David.
Such persecution is motivated by a departure from “the ways of the Lord.” Those wanting the destruction of this faith find themselves aligned with the civil power ruthlessly opposing those claiming the fulfilment of the promises to Israel in the Christ.
This remarkable correspondence with the church of Thessalonica is written in a spirit of complete confidence that the error and folly of the destabilisation will not prevail. This persecution that they have encountered did not come from nowhere. Luke tells us that there were deceitful manoeuvrings by the appellants who had targeted some unemployed persons waiting for a job offer in the market place. They could help them in their scheme. This was before they brought their case to be heard before the civil authority.
From what we know of the church of Thessalonian Christians, it was no secret society, and was known across the city. Yes it was in crucial respects related to the Jewish synagogue but it had found its own place in that city and was supported by some prominent Greek women. It came to know about the costs of discipleship, and in that respect these letters have ever since spoken with the decisive authority of the Holy Spirit’s comfort when the church has to confront strife in the midst of social and cultural complexity.
Donate
Sight+ is a new benefits program we’ve launched to reward people who have supported us with annual donations of $26 or more. To find out more about Sight+ and how you can support the work of Sight, head to our Sight+ page.
Musings
Cult
TAKE PART IN THE SIGHT READER SURVEY!
We’re interested to find out more about you, our readers, as we improve and expand our coverage and so we’re asking all of our readers to take this survey (it’ll only take a couple of minutes).
To take part in the survey, simply follow this link…