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Commentary on "Preserving Relationships"

COLLEEN TINKER

 

Day 2: Sunday, July 8, 2012 - Oppisition in Thessalonica

 

Overview

Today’s lesson looks at Acts 17:5-9, part of the account of Paul and Silas in Thessalonica. The author gives some historical background about Roman reactions to preaching of Christ and points out that Rome was expelling Jews, probably partly because of divisions caused by Jews receiving Christ. He then conjectures that some of the exiles from Rome likely came to Thessalonica and brought word of the harsh ways in which Rome reacted to the spread of Christianity. The final point is that Thessalonica likely decided to deal with Paul and Silas and the Jews there differently than did Rome. Trying to ensure that there would be no more disturbance from the Christians, the Thessalonian rulers took money as security from the Jews there and let everyone go.

The lesson ends with this challenge: “Jealousy and envy can destroy us. What can we learn from the life and teachings of Jesus that can help us to gain victory over these deadly sentiments?

 

Observations

Today’s lesson is largely conjecture and deduction. Paulien focusses on the historic background that caused the jealous riot to occur in Thessalonica when Paul and Silas were preaching there. Interestingly, the text Paulien uses for this lesson is only the second part of the whole story. Acts 17:1-4 tells specifically what Paul was saying and doing that triggered the local jealous reaction. Here is the entire passage, Acts 17:1-9:

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

The core of this story is not primarily the people’s jealousy and the officials’ clever response; rather, the actual point of the story is that Paul and Silas followed their usual pattern and preached first to the Jews. After three weeks of meeting in the synagogue, however, the Jews became enraged with a jealous fury and attacked the home of the man who was keeping the preachers.

This is not a story about jealousy among preachers or teachers who find themselves fighting for the upper hand with the people who listen. Nor is this a story about the attempts of the local leaders to keep their city peaceful.

This is a story that demonstrates what Jesus said would happen: the gospel would bring a sword, not peace. This passage in Acts shows us that the pure preaching of the Lord Jesus and His death and resurrection was turning the world upside, and nothing could undo or stop the effects of the gospel.

The Jews’ jealousy was not merely a normal reaction to new teachings invading their “territory”; their jealousy was fueled by their refusal to believe. They new the Old Testament; they knew the prophecies. And now Paul was teaching Scripture and showing that the Lord Jesus had fulfilled those prophecies, and they refused to believe. Their jealousy was the fury of deceivers who refuse to acknowledge the truth and prefer to keep people in the status quo of darkness.

Moreover, the question about what we can learn from the teachings of Jesus that can help us gain the victory or jealous sentiments is completely irrelevant. Studying the teachings of Jesus will not help anyone overcome jealousy. Only if one submits to the Lord Jesus as one’s Substitute and Sin-Bearer can we live free from the bondage and crippling fear that drives jealousy.

The issue is not “jealousy”. The issue is belief or unbelief. Here is what Jesus said:

“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (Matt 10:26-39).

Jesus makes it clear that those who know Him are saved, safe for eternity, but that uniting with Jesus results in animosity and division among the closest possible relationships. We can expect to have divisions if we are born of the Spirit. If we believe Him, however, we have eternal life (n. 6:47).

The story in Acts 17:1-9 is not about jealousy and how it was handled. Rather, it is about the unstoppable power of the true gospel and the resulting changes that occur interpersonally when people come to faith. No amount of fondling the “teachings of Jesus” will correct the tendency to feel jealousy when a person who knows Jesus begins proclaiming the gospel. Unless one knows Jesus, the preaching of His death and resurrection will incite deep jealousy and fury.

The power of the gospel to change lives is unstoppable. People who do not believe should NOT be comfortable when they hear the gospel. Rather, the purpose of the good news is to drive people to repentance and belief, submitting to allowing the blood of Jesus to cleanse one from all his sin and being born again.

 

Summary

  1. Today’s text actually gives only part of the story. The entire story is Acts 17:1-19. The author ignored the first four verses.
     
  2. Jealousy is not the point of the story. Rather, the point is that the preaching of Jesus’ death and resurrection was convicting people of sin and bringing growing numbers of people to repentance.
     
  3. Jealousy is inevitable in people who are dead in sin when they hear the gospel and refuse to believe.
     
  4. No amount of perusing “the life and teachings of Jesus” can help us overcome jealousy. Only when one is born again can there be any hope of living in security and lack of fear.
     
  5. Jesus is not our Example of how to live to become godly. Jesus is our Substitute, and unless we receive His blood on our behalf and repent, we remain dead in sin no matter how much we engage our wills to conquer our sin.
     
  6. The gospel of the Lord Jesus will always produce jealousy and division among people. Those who believe and come to life are transferred into a new kingdom, the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Col. 1:13). There will be no harmony between the domain of darkness and the kingdom of God’s Son.
     
  7. The Lord Jesus changes lives, and nothing can stop or change the new life that results when people believe.

 

GO TO DAY 3

 

Copyright 2012 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised July 8, 2012. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Camp Verde, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.

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