The world we create is the one in which we are in control, make all the rules, and tell others what they must do to adhere to our rules.  When anyone tries to come in our world, we tell them how to be like us or they cannot belong.  If they do not conform then they will not be accepted in our world.  (Ah, the school playground of life.)  Our world operates and holds its meaning in what we believe to be true—not necessarily what is true—only our version from our perspective.  Yes, I said that out loud.

So, given this insight about the world we create around us with our rules created to keep our world organized and intact, we are appalled when someone comes into our world to tell us about Someone who will change our way of thinking about life, relationships, and most of all—real love that is not based on adherence to rules but on the relentless love of God who gave His One and Only Son to save us from the sins in our world that we didn’t realize we had—the sin of rule-keeping without a relationship with God.

The “hard-line” Jews that Paul and Silas encounter created their own perfect world. Jesus is considered the intruder into their world of interpretations of the Law along with their additional man-made rules.  Jesus was not accepted as Messiah nor was he considered acceptable as King. 

Their interpretations and rules with forced obedience upon men and women in their world was taught as the only way to God.  Those in charge of the Jewish world in Thessalonica have the same thinking as those who sent Jesus to his death without realizing He came to fulfill all the scriptures, The Law of God, that they read and policed for centuries. 

Jesus is preached—their world is presently threatened.  They thought that killing Jesus would be the end of the discussion and they would all get back to their “normal” program of power and control.  But God had other plans.

Acts 16, The Message

Thessalonica

^1-3 They took the road south through Amphipolis and Apollonia to Thessalonica, where there was a community of Jews. Paul went to their meeting place, as he usually did when he came to a town, and for three Sabbaths running he preached to them from the Scriptures. He opened up the texts so they understood what they’d been reading all their lives: that the Messiah absolutely had to be put to death and raised from the dead—there were no other options—and that “this Jesus I’m introducing you to is that Messiah.”

^4-5 Some of them were won over and joined ranks with Paul and Silas, among them a great many God-fearing Greeks and a considerable number of women from the aristocracy. But the hard-line Jews became furious over the conversions. Mad with jealousy, they rounded up a bunch of brawlers off the streets and soon had an ugly mob terrorizing the city as they hunted down Paul and Silas.

^5-7 They broke into Jason’s house, thinking that Paul and Silas were there. When they couldn’t find them, they collared Jason and his friends instead and dragged them before the city fathers, yelling hysterically, “These people are out to destroy the world, and now they’ve shown up on our doorstep, attacking everything we hold dear! And Jason is hiding them, these traitors and turncoats who say Jesus is king and Caesar is nothing!”

^8-9 The city fathers and the crowd of people were totally alarmed by what they heard. They made Jason and his friends post heavy bail and let them go while they investigated the charges.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

As Paul and Silas travel from town to town in the region, they will be met with opposition because Jesus and His teaching will change everything about each person who believes and follows Him.  The enemy of God will step up his game of distracting and deceiving people while the power of God’s Holy Spirit works through men and women to preach Jesus who delivers us from our sins by dying in our place on that cross. 

Those who created their own worlds are fearful of losing their self-produced power over the people they oppress and burden with man-made rules by virtue of their office or position only.  The city fathers’ hysterically express this fear of loss with uncontrollable panic in verses 5-7.  Led by their own fear, jealousy, and hate for those entering to disrupt their created world; they drag believers of Jesus out to the street and shout; “These people are out to destroy the world, and now they’ve shown up on our doorstep, attacking everything we hold dear!” 

It is not the world –it’s their world the hardline Jews created for themselves.

But we’re not like that, are we?  Do we create our own worlds where the sky is a different color, the rules are made by us, and where love is guarded and given only to those who please us by obeying our rules, written, unwritten, or otherwise translated by us for our advantage? 

Pause to pray before responding. Ask God to correct us and cleanse our hearts of all that is offensive to HIM and to others seeking Jesus for salvation.  Study God’s Word and hold it up as a mirror.  Do we reflect Jesus in us? 

FUN FACT:  Thessalonica (our modern Salonika) was a strategic city for the work of the Lord. Not only was it the capital of Macedonia, but it was also a center for business, rivaled only by Corinth. The city was located on several important trade routes, and it boasted an excellent harbor. The city was predominantly Greek, even though it was controlled by Rome. Thessalonica was a “free city,” which meant that it had an elected citizens’ assembly, could mint its own coins, and had no Roman garrison within its walls.  God knows what He is doing through Paul and Silas!

The kingship of Jesus Christ is unlike that of the rulers of this world. He conquers with ambassadors, (2 Corinthians 5:20), not armies, and His weapons are truth and love.

He brings people peace by upsetting the peace in our created world by turning our thinking upside down to reveal Kingdom of God thinking! He conquers through His cross, where He died for a world of lost sinners. He even died for His enemies (Romans 5:6–10)!  Jesus saves—we point the Way to Jesus!

Good teachers and preachers begin with what their audience already knows.  Paul went into the synagogue and there discovered a group of people keenly interested in the study of the Old Testament Scriptures. In fact, they met daily to search the Scriptures to determine whether or not what Paul was saying was true. Paul had been overjoyed at the way the people in Thessalonica had received the Word.

“And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.” —Paul, 1 Thessalonians 2:13

Lord,

Be at work in me.  Cleanse my heart, renew my mind, transform my behaviors, refresh my soul with your new mercies, and restore the joy and peace of you in me and me in you.  You came into my world and created a new person for the world in which you created; who will live forever.  I will thank you and praises you all day long, every day and forever!

In Jesus Name, Amen