Exaggeration and Misinformation

Acts 17:1-9

¹Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

²And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

³explaining 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.”

⁴And 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.

⁵But 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.

⁶And 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,

⁷and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”

⁸And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.

⁹And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

One of my hot buttons is when people assume they know what I’m thinking or what my motives are and then spread their ideas as fact. They successfully stir others up and I’ll never understand why we always want to believe something negative rather than something positive about others. While I hate having this done to me I have to believe that I have been guilty of doing the same to others in the past. That’s an unpleasant thought.

Paul and Silas have established a pattern. They go into a city and hang out in the local synagogue. While there they engage in the ancient practices of every synagogue of the time. They discuss the Old Testament and try to gain a deeper understanding of God. No harm, no foul. Paul though, comes with more information. He can now speak with authority about the fulfillment of all of those Old Testament prophecies through the life and saving work of Jesus Christ. And the Good News had impact. Many come to believe in Jesus as the Messiah and the Savior whom they need. But there are a group of Jewish people who do not like the message and they seek to damage the messengers. They do this by spreading dissent and fear. The verse that leaps out for me today is, “these men who have turned the world upside down”. There’s an overstatement. Paul’s message has turned the whole world upside down and is a major threat to the community. The speaking of these words brings the attention of the leadership to bear and violent action is taken against God’s people. But the whole world? isHHHH

But wait – I guess these Jews were not wrong. The message of Jesus does turn a life upside down. Where once we were headed into eternal damnation, we are now headed in to life. Where once we were alone and lost in the world, now we are found. Everything is headed in the opposite direction. So while the intent of the Jewish leadership was to bring about the end of Paul’s message they weren’t wrong about the results. The world was turned upside down when Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected victorious over the death those sins brought. And upside down world? Bring it!