Acts 17:1–9 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.

On our recent trip to Greece, our group spent two nights in Thessaloniki, which is the site of Thessalonica in the Bible. While there are the remains of a Roman marketplace visible in the center of the city, most of the Biblical city remains well below the surface of the modern day city.

When Paul arrived there, he followed his usual routine, meeting with the Jews in their synagogue to tell them about the Messiah. Some of the Jews and God-fearing Greeks and prominent women believed the message. This made the other Jews jealous, so they incited a mob to make charges against Paul and Silas and the other believers before the city officials. Paul and Silas were not found, so they were able to remain hidden until the next day when they would leave town.

Remember Paul’s goal on this journey: He was travelling in order to make Jesus known to as many people as possible. He tried to share it with his own people, the Children of Israel, first, but he shared it with anyone else who would listen.

This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.

Christ, the anointed one, the promised Savior of all people. Paul was introducing him to the people of Macedonia/Greece, and people were believing in Jesus. Paul sent letters to the believers in Thessalonica. In his first letter, he celebrates that the message he shared in Thessalonica was being shared by the Thessalonian believers throughout Greece and beyond.

1 Thessalonians 1:8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere.

Father, thank you for letting me know of your love in Christ. Those who went before were willing to share this Good News, as Paul and the Thessalonians did, so that those of us today could know about it. Help me to tell others about our wonderful Savior as well. In His name I pray. Amen.