When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.
But other 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 believers 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 (Acts 17:1-9).
There was a Jewish Synagogue in Thessalonica at which Paul preached for three straight sabbaths (Acts 17:1-9). While some converts were Jews, there were many God-fearing Greeks and a large number of leading women (v. 4). Prejudice is not only a problem in our world. A critical issue of that day was the animosity between Jews and Gentiles and seeing that both were represented in the city, we are not surprised to learn that the Jews were jealous of the Gentiles and gathered wicked men to do their violence. Anytime an attitude or a direct response from an attitude that is measured by race, gender, or religion, we discriminate between “us” and “them” instead of making distinctions based on examples of moral character, strength and ability. This is not always easily seen as much as its clarity should be obvious. For example, in our world, the ones who cry the most about racial prejudice are the ones who are promoting it the most. Even the work applications are seeking information about an applicant’s race and gender when it should not even be a consideration. The ability to do a job well should be the standard of choice. Questions relating to that ability and experience does not require knowledge about race or gender. Our government and institutions do the same thing. Is it any wonder that when a native male youth in the south identifies a man, who happens to be black, he will refer to him as a black man, not a man. But, our society teaches him by their example that such distinctions are appropriate.
Once those lines are drawn deep and we focus on them, radical and extreme actions follow close behind. Mobs form like the mob that formed in Thessalonica dragging people out of their homes in search of the perpetrators of opposite views from them. This leads to making some actionable statement that hurts innocent people like supporters of the opposition (Jason). Notice that the action is followed by lies that are told to propagate more hate and generate more strife. The text of Acts 17 explains that when the crowd heard what the rioters were saying and “the city officials were thrown into turmoil.”
This same scenario can be seen in the last year in this country up to this present time in our history. Will it ever end? In a country with such freedoms built in our constitution and bill of rights, we shouldn’t have such issues. Yet, when a cause is advocated that seeks to overturn the values of our founding fathers, the constitution and those wise heads that will defend it must not be allowed to rule. There are no limits among evil men to accomplish that task. No concern is given for truth and justice. Rights are measured by power and position, not truth and justice. Political figures lie, cheat, steal, and kill because they can. Christians must be prepared to face a new world because, unless some good leadership takes the reigns, this country is being prepped for the persecution of Christians.