Acts 17 - Paul Preaches in Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens about the Resurrection of Jesus!

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In Thessalonica

This was an important port city, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) and a three-day walk from Philippi. Modern Thessalonika is still a large, thriving city. - Guzik

We see the familiar pattern of Paul going into the local synagogue to teach and preach that Jesus is the Messiah, who suffered, died, and rose from the dead. It is says Paul "reasoned with them from the scriptures". The role of teachers in the church are to take the scriptures and explain them in a way that makes sense. Paul persuaded and proved to them that Jesus was the Messiah. 

The teaching and preaching of scripture is persuasive and always proves to be true. The scripture is flawless and when interpreted rightly never fails to achieve what is intended for, the saving of souls. There were also God-fearing Gentiles, who were drawn to the truth in Jesus Christ. 

But as before, others rounded up the mobs to find Paul and Silas and give them trouble. They thought for some reason he was holed up at Jason's house. 

Jason was a Christian in Thessalonica whose house seems to have been a center for the church. When the evil men from the marketplace did not find Paul and Silas there, they attacked Jason himself, and some brethren who were with him. 

In Berea

When Paul arrived in Berea, he employed the same strategy by going first to the synagogue. The Bereans were more prepared then the other cities to hear the Good News of Jesus the Messiah. They had examined the scriptures every day to try and see how Paul's teaching synced with scripture. As a result of their due diligence, many of them became believers. Many other Greek men and women came to faith too. 

Once again those from Thessalonica stirred up trouble for Paul, Silas, and Timothy. As a result the believers kept Timothy and Silas in Berea, whereas they sent Paul to the coast to Athens. 

In Athens

When Paul came to Athens he encountered a city littered with idols. 

As Paul sailed to Athens from the sea near Berea, he came to a city he had probably never been to before, and like any tourist, he was ready to be impressed by this famous and historic city – which, hundreds of years before, was one of the most glorious and important cities in the world. But when Paul toured Athens, he was only depressed by the magnitude of the idolatry he saw all around. -  Guzik

In Athens, Paul not only reasoned in the synagogues as before, but he also preached in the marketplace. Some of the philosophers debated with him. Paul's preaching about Jesus and the resurrection caused curiosity among those gathered. So the philosophers invited Paul to the Areopagus, where philosophers and other sophisticates gathered to share ideas and philosophies. 

The Areopagus (/æriˈɒpəɡəs/) is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.  The name Areopagus also referred, in classical times, to the Athenian governing council, later restricted to the Athenian judicial council or court that tried cases of deliberate homicide, wounding and religious matters. wikipedia

Paul starts his presentation by saying, "Men of Athens, I can see you are deeply religious." He is meeting them on their own turf by starting ou with this. He realized they are searching for the truth. He even found an altar dedicated to "an unknown god". I.e. They were worried about appeasing the gods, they made an altar as a catch all for any god they missed. 

Paul understood that in their extensive pantheon, the Greeks had an UNKNOWN GOD, who covered any god that may have been neglected. Paul wanted to reveal the identity of the UNKNOWN GOD. - Guzik

So Paul takes these two observations uses them as a way to pave the way to share the gospel. One, they are religious and seeking the answer to the ultimate questions of life. Second, they don't have a personal relationship with these gods. 

Then, Paul explains to them that God who created them and all that exists doesn't reside in a human made temple. Everyone and everything that breathes and has life has come from God. From one man God created all of the nations that now populated the earth. And God had a penultimate purpose in all of this.  

God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. Verse 27

God's purpose for the creature is that they would know the Creator. in whose image they were made. Paul then quotes their own poets,

"For God is near to us and in him we move and live and have our being". 

These two quotations Paul used from Greek poets are attributed respectively to Epimenides the Cretan [600 B.C.] (who Paul quotes again in Titus 1:12) and Aratus [310 B.C.]. Paul did not quote these men because they were prophets or because all their teaching was of God. He quoted them because these specific words reflected a Biblical truth, and by using them he could build a bridge to his pagan audience.

Though God has made his role as the Creator abundantly clear, he has been merciful to those who instead worshipped wooden idols made by man. But now God was calling men to repentance and would carry his justice out through the man appointed. God even gave proof of himself through this man, by rising him from the dead. 

When the people heard about the resurrection of the dead, some were curious and others sneered. It is the same today when we preach about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Some are interested, some come to faith, and some sneer.  We should expect this!

The resurrection was not a popular idea among Greek philosophers. Some thought Paul foolish for even believing such a thing, and others wanted to hear more about this new teaching. The Greeks were fond of the idea of the immortality of the soul, but not of the idea of the resurrection of the body. They felt that anything material was inherently evil, so there really could be no such thing as a glorified body. They thought the ultimate form of glory would be pure spirit. - Guzik

Note the consistency of Paul's message. He was simply proclaiming the truth of Jesus by making it relevant to these men who were already seeking the truth through the worship of idols. Paul was trying to persuade them to worship the real thing. They didn't have to bow down to wooden and stone statues, but the living and breathing God who had created them and redeemed them. 

We live in a world littered by idols. They are seeking the same thing an encounter with something supernatural. Something bigger than this life or this world. People are searching for answers to why they are here and what they are supposed to be doing with their lives. As someone has said, 

"We have a hole in our soul that can only be filled by God!"