Acts 17

During this chapter Paul, along with Silas, travels to three different locations. Three locations which have different levels of faith, some places are closed towards God and some places are open towards God, some places are stuck in their older way and some places are open to new futures. When Paul was in Thessalonica he was chased out and unfortunately for Jason he took the brunt of what was going on. Even though Paul had to flee he didn’t give up on what he was called to do. In Berea he found that the people were much more open to what he was saying but news spread to Thessalonica and many Jews chased Paul out of Berea.

If I were in Paul’s shoes, I would be starting to feel a bit discouraged by now that I’m trying to do and share what is right, but people are trying to chase me down. But Paul doesn’t give up and he and others are willing to put their lives on the line to share the good news of Jesus. Something else that really strikes me is that people could have turned Paul into the Jews from Thessalonica, but they didn’t, and they helped him escape. They were willing to give themselves up to help him and to allow him to continue to spread the good news of Jesus. When Paul arrives in Athens, he finds a culture which is much more forward-thinking: he continues to preach using the uncomplicated truths of scripture like he did when he visited Berea and Thessalonica, however, due to the forward thinking of this city they were more willing to listen about the gospel and the good news of Jesus. He used the mysteries that the people of Athens had to show how God is the answer to them all which caused many people to turn to God.