Bible Study Lesson for Acts 17:1-9: Paul Visits Thessalonica

(Note: When I taught my Bible study on the Book of Acts I used a flannel map as a visual aid. In my lecture notes you will find reference to this flannel map. The primary commentary I used was Compton's Interactive Bible, a software CD; I sometimes refer to this as my Interactive Bible CD.)

This chapter can be divided into three sections, based on the three main cities Paul and Silas visit next on this missionary journey.

Verses 1-9 describes their time in Thessalonica.
Verses 10-15 describes their time in Berea.
Verses 16-34 describes their time in Athens.

Read Acts 17:1. My commentary provides some interesting information about these places: "The Egnatian Way crossed the whole of present-day northern Greece east-west and included Philippi, Amphipolis, Apollonia and Thessalonica on its route. At several locations, such as Kavalla (Neapolis), Philippi and Apollonia, the road is still visible today. If a person traveled about 30 miles a day, each city could be reached after one day's journey. Thessalonica. About 100 miles from Philippi. It was the capital of the province of Macedonia and had a population of more than 200,000, including a colony of Jews (and a synagogue). All these contributed to Paul's decision to preach there. Thessalonica was a bustling seaport city at the head of the Thermaic Gulf. It was an important communication and trade center."

I was able to find a picture of what remains of the "Egnatian Way" in "Biblical Illustrator, Summer 1985." { Show picture } This is part of an article titled "The Churches of Macedonia." This article provides some interesting history about the area, so I'm going to go ahead & read some sections. The majority of the remaining pictures in the article deal with Christians sites dating from the 4th & 5th centuries AD, so we know that there were well established churches in Philippi and Thessalonica for hundreds of years after Paul's work. { read sections from "Biblical Illustrators, Summer 1985" article on the Churches of Macedonia. }

Read Acts 17:2-3. { Put Thessalonica symbol on flannel map } These three Sabbath days or two weeks represent the time that Paul spent teaching in the synagogue, not Paul's total time in the city (according to my commentary.) My commentary goes on to say that analysis of the letters to the Thessalonians that Paul wrote indicates that Paul taught them much more doctrine than could be taught in just two weeks. (We'll look at examples here in a little bit.)

How would have Paul, during his teaching in the synagogue, have explained and proven that the Christ (the Messiah) had to suffer and rise from the dead? What would have been his "evidence" and support for his argument? { ask group how they think Paul would have done this }

Read Acts 17:4. This verse is very similar to 17:12. So while Paul was preaching in the synagogue, he was not only reaching Jews, but also Greeks who were open to hearing the gospel, men and women both. The "prominent" women would either have been married to men of high position in the city or would have had high position in their own right.

After this initial presentation of the gospel in the synagogue, from what we can read in his letters to the Thessalonians, he stayed in the city some time with the believers and supported himself by manual labor. Read 1 Thessalonians 2:9, 2 Thessalonians 3:7-10.

But just as we have seen happen in other cities, though some people welcome Paul and Silas' message of the good news and come to Christ, there are almost always some who are offended and angered and turn to violence.

Read Acts 17:5. I admit when I read this verse I wish Luke had been a bit more precise! It is not all Jews that become jealous, but rather only some of them, for as we read in the previous verse, some Jews come to Christ. But these others become jealous at the large number of people that respond to Paul's ministry. We don't know anything about the man named Jason here except that he was a native of Thessalonica and that Paul and Silas were probably staying with him. The only place that Jason is mentioned (besides here in Acts) is in Romans 16:21. { Put up riot symbol on flannel board. }

Read Acts 17:6. This verse is fairly self-explanatory, but my commentary did give some interesting historical notes about the term "city officials" used here: "The Greek term politarch (lit. "city ruler"), used here and in v. 8, is found nowhere else in Greek literature, but it was discovered in 1835 in a Greek inscription on an arch that had spanned the Egnatian Way on the west side of Thessalonica. (The arch was destroyed in 1867, but the block with the inscription was rescued and is now in the British Museum in London.) The term has since been found in 16 other inscriptions in surrounding towns of Macedonia, and elsewhere."

I find it interesting that the accusation brought against Paul and Silas is that "they have caused trouble all over the world." That made me chuckle a little bit - because that was so true! We can just follow their path of destruction as they move from town to town, upsetting the balance and order of things, upsetting governments, over turning religions, rescuing slaves from spiritual bondage. Remember, Jesus said Himself His coming would cause division and strife. Read Luke 12:49-53.

Read Acts 17:7. For the Jew, the worst accusation you could bring against him is blasphemy. But for the Roman, the worst accusation you could bring against him was treason, that is to support a rival king over Caesar.

Read Acts 17:8-9. "posting bond" probably meant that Jason and the other Thessalonian believers had to guarantee a peaceful, quiet community else face losing their properties or possibly even their lives. (Advocating treason is very serious stuff.) The fact that they weren't beaten, like Paul and Silas had been in the previous chapter, and were given this more bureaucratic option shows they were probably Roman citizens.

To be continued...

Sources
Editors. Compton's Interactive Bible (software)
Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (notes). The Student Bible. NIV Version
Editors. Biblical Illustrators, Summer 1985 Issue (magazine)