Acts 17: 2 3 – Jesus As Messiah

Target year level: Year Six

Scripture text

Introduction

The text Acts 17:2-3 is in that section of Acts which can be given the title To the End of the Earth, Paul’s Second Missionary Journey (Acts 15:36-19:20). The Acts of the Apostles is itself the second part of a larger work Luke-Acts, attributed to a common author, Luke, whose sophisticated and elegant Greek writing is much admired by scholars. Book One, the Gospel of Luke, has as its primary focus the ministry of Jesus to the Jews culminating in Jerusalem, the centre of Judaism. Book Two, the Acts of the Apostles, has as its primary focus the ministry of Jesus’ disciples to the Gentile world culminating in Rome, the centre of the Roman Empire.

World behind the text

As mentioned above, Luke’s Gospel tells the story of Jesus’ public ministry culminating in Jerusalem. The Acts of the Apostles continues the narrative of the Jesus Movement as it moves beyond its predominantly Jewish terrain to the wider, religiously, linguistically and culturally diverse Greco-Roman World, culminating in the proclamation of the Gospel by Paul in Rome.

For further background including composition, structure and major emphases see the NIV Study Bible, Background to Acts.

World of the text

The underlying theme of Acts might best be summarised in the words of Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 17:2-3 is set in a Jewish Synagogue in Thessalonica (Saloniki in modern Greece) to which Paul and his companion Silas have come. There were numerous communities of Diaspora Jews throughout the Greco-Roman world and there are numerous instances in Acts of speeches to Jews and God-fearers (e.g. Acts 2:14–40; 3:12–26; 4:8–12; 5:29–32; 10:34–43; 13:16–41).

A common theme of such speeches is the desire by the speaker to convince the audience of Jews and God-fearers that Jesus is the true Messiah expected by the Jewish people and that Jesus is the only way to salvation for Jew and Gentile alike. In the context of the Greco-Roman world this was an inflammatory message and, as Acts recounts, anger and civil disturbance often followed with Peter and Paul suffering imprisonment, persecution and ultimately execution.

In Acts 17:1-9 Luke gives only the gist of Paul’s speech, together with both positive (v. 4) and negative reactions (v. 5) to Paul’s proclamation of Jesus as Messiah (v. 3). Civil disturbance breaks out, and Paul’s and Silas’ local host, Jason, and some fellow Christians are temporarily imprisoned needing to be freed on bail (vv. 6-9). Paul and Silas, meanwhile, have to be spirited out of the city (Acts 17:10). Acts 17:10-13 contrasts the positive reception Paul and Silas receive in the Jewish Synagogue in Berea/Beroea with the hostility experienced in the Jewish synagogue in Thessalonica. Matthew’s Gospel reflects a similar tension and theological struggle between early Christians and some Jews. (See Early Christian Churches and Judaism)

World in front of the text

Acts 17:2-3 in the context of what has been discussed above is a reminder that religious differences have the power to divide citizens and cause disharmony even in our modern secular societies. As in the Greco-Roman world our contemporary secular societies are characterised by political, philosophical, cultural and religious pluralism. In such a situation it is important that all people of goodwill respect difference and engage with others in a quest for what is true, what is ethical and what authentically serves the common good. While disagreements are inevitable, it is possible to look beyond what divides us from others to those deeper realities that unite us as human beings.