1734 ACTS XVII-PAUL IN THESSALONICA Chapter 17 1 Paul preacheth at Thessalonica, 4 where some believe, and others persecute him. 10 He is sent to Berea, and preacheth there. 13 Being persecuted at Thessalonica, 15 he cometh to Athens, and disputeth, and preacheth the living God to them unknown, 34 whereby many are converted unto Christ. OW when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: 2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, 3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. 4 And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. 5 ¶ But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. 6 And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; 7 Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. 8 And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go. 10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. 13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people. 14 And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still. 15 And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed. 16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. 17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with "And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him."-Luke, 22, 47. T HROUGHOUT the awful story of the betrayal and death of Christ there run two parallel trage dies of sorrow, Christ's physical sufferings as a man and His sufferings as a God, reading the hearts of men and seeing all the weaknesses and trickeries of those who helped as well as those who hated Him. When Jesus turned aside from the triple failure of His three closest disciples to watch as He had bidden them, He faced the coming of the great betrayal. Into the quiet, unwatched garden of Gethsemane there thronged a tumultuous band of soldiers, sent by the chief priests, and led by Judas to the place where he had tracked the Master. These armed men, coming upon Jesus and the little band of disciples, fell back in awe and amaze. Could this noble and commanding being who faced them so calmly, be the malefactor they had been sent to arrest? Then Judas, to complete the identification as he had been bidden, pushed forward, his brain filled with who knows what wild frenzy of fright and desperation, and embraced his master. The heart of the man Jesus must have been sore indeed—in the picture He presses His hand to it, to still the pain--but His reproof, His only utterance of rebuke, was the mildest that ever pierced as inner's soul: "Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?" |