Acts 17

(1) Paul and Silas Get into Trouble in Thessalonica

As they continued on their journey, they passed through the cities of Amphipolis and Apollonia [which are near the northwest coast of the Agean Sea]. After that, they continued west to Thessalonica, where there’s a Jewish church. Paul visited the church like he always did and spent three Sabbath days debating with them about the Old Testament. He explained to them and proved that the Chosen One needed to suffer and resurrect from death, saying,

“This guy—Jesus, who I’m telling you about—is the Chosen One!”

Some of the Jews there were convinced by what Paul was saying, so they joined Paul and Silas. A bunch of the non-Jews were also convinced, along with a sizable amount of the women. But the Jewish leaders got jealous, so they rounded up a bunch of shady guys to start a riot. As a result, the entire city was thrown into an uproar, and a mob showed up at Jason’s house, where they though they’d find Paul and Silas. When the mob couldn’t find them there, they seized Jason and some of the other Christians, dragged them to the city authorities, and said,

“You know those guys who have the whole the world all riled up? Well now they’re right here in our city! And this guy, Jason, welcomed them into his home! But these guys are doing things that break Caesar’s laws, and they’re claiming that there’s a different king named Jesus.”

That flustered the crowd and political leaders so much that Jason had to pay them bail money so they’d release him and the other Christians. 

(10) Paul is Chased Away to Athens

After that whole fiasco, the Christian community immediately sent Paul and Silas overnight to Berea, which was a little further west. When they got there, they went to the Jewish synagogue, and thankfully the congregation there was a little more honorable than the one in Thessalonica. They were actually really excited to hear the message, and they examined the Old Testament every day to see if Paul’s message was true. And a lot of them ended up believing! (And so did a bunch of prominent Greeks.)

But when the Jews back in Thessalonica heard that Paul’s team had been spreading the message in Berea, they showed up and started agitating the crowds and stirring them up. So the Christian community there immediately sent Paul to the coast, while Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. Some escorts brought Paul all the way to Athens, but then he sent them back to go get Silas and Timothy. 

(16) Paul Preaches & Ends Up in Court

While Paul was in Athens waiting for Silas and Timothy to arrive, he noticed that the city was full of counterfeit gods. That provoked his spirit, so he went to the churches and spent some time reasoning with them (both Jews and God-respecting non-Jews). He also went to the market every day and reasoned with whoever happened to be there that day. Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated him, saying things like,

“What does this babbling homeless guy have to say?”

And

“He seems to be promoting foreign gods.”

Their reason for saying those kinds of things was because Paul was telling them about Jesus and the resurrection. But then the locals brought Paul to the Areopagus [their supreme court]. They asked him,

“Can you tell us about this new teaching you’re promoting? We’re hearing some strange things about your message, and we want to know what you mean.” 

(Everyone living in or visiting Athens spent much of their time talking about new ideas.)

(22) Paul Points Athens to Jesus

So Paul stood up in the middle of the Areopagus and said,

“People of Athens, I see that you have a lot of interest in the gods! When I was walking around looking at all your objects of worship, I noticed an altar labeled: ‘To an unknown god.’ Well, I’m here to tell you about the One you worship but don’t know about!

There’s a God who made the world and everything in it. He’s the ruler of this planet and the entire universe, so He doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. He isn’t served by human hands, because there isn’t anything He needs. He Himself gives mankind life, breath, and everything we have!

This God used one man to make every people-group on the face of the earth, and He designated each of their the time periods and geographical boundaries. The reason He did that was so they might grope around looking for Him, even though He isn’t far away from us.

We live in Him, move in Him, and exist in Him—just like some of your own poets said when they wrote that ‘we are His offspring.’ And as offspring of God, we should know better than to think that divinity takes on the form of gold, silver, or stone—these statues are just impressions of human creativity.

God overlooked former time periods when humanity didn’t know, but now He’s telling us that people everywhere should change their minds. After all, He has a day scheduled when He’ll assess everyone with fairness. That assessment will come through a Certain Someone who He appointed. And He’s given proof to all of us by resurrecting that Person from the dead!”

(32) Some Believe

When he mentioned “resurrection from the dead,” some of the people there made fun of that, but others said,

“We’ll have to hear more about that!”

So Paul left the court building, but some of the people joined him and believed, including Dionysius (the Areopagus’s judge), a woman named Damaris, and others.