Acts 17:1 ¶ Now 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 Caesar, 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.
Paul and Silas travel from Amphipolis to Thessalonica and passed
through Apollonia. Paul, the way he usually did, went into the synagogue there
to witness to the Jews on three different Sabbath days. I have already
discussed how the Jews of Christ’s time had no understanding of the Crucifixion
or the Resurrection. This
shows how the Fundamentalist doctrine that in the Old Testament the Jews were
looking forward to the Cross is wrong. Actually, they did not understand Isaiah
53. Their confusion persisted until an eleventh century rabbi nicknamed Rashi
developed the idea that rather than being about a singular man the chapters in
Isaiah about the Messiah were actually about the suffering Jewish people as a
group thereby totally confusing the Jews with regard to Christ.
Jesus’ Jewish followers literally had no clue what He
was talking about when He referred to His impending agony on the Cross or
understood anything about His Resurrection.
Matthew
16:21 ¶ From that time forth began Jesus
to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many
things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be
raised again the third day. 22 Then
Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord:
this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he
turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence
unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of
men.
Mark
9:9 And as they came down from the
mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had
seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. 10 And they kept that saying with themselves,
questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean…31 For he
taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the
hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall
rise the third day. 32
But
they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.
Luke
18:31 ¶ Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto
them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the
prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles,
and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the
third day he shall rise again. 34 And
they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them,
neither knew they the things which were spoken.
John
20:9 For as yet they knew not the
scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
So, Paul probably taught out of Isaiah from where I just referred
to.
Isaiah 52:13 ¶ Behold, my
servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very
high. 14 As many were astonied at thee;
his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of
men: 15 So shall he sprinkle many
nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been
told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they
consider.
Isaiah 53:1 ¶ Who hath
believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender
plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and
when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him;
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 ¶ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried
our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our
peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of
us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was
afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his
mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and
from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of
the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was
any deceit in his mouth.
10 ¶ Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he
hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he
shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD
shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall
see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall
my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with
the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath
poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and
he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
They had some success among the Greek proselytes to Judaism, the devout
Greeks and the important women (think of Lydia from earlier). But, the Jews
who did not believe and opposed them broke out in a riot and got the city
officials involved and accused them not only of heresy but treason. Notice this
declaration at the time of the Crucifixion.
Joh 19:15 But they cried
out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I
crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
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