As the story continues in Paul’s second missionary trip, the jealous Jews had instigated mob action against Paul and the Christians. Acts 17:6-9, The mob was going street by street, looking for Paul and Silas—who were nowhere to be found. Frustrated, when the mob came to the house of a man named Jason, now known as a believer, they grabbed him and some other believers they found there and dragged them to the city officials.
The mob yelled, “These people—they’re political agitators turning the world upside down! They’ve come here to our fine city,and this man, Jason, has given them sanctuary and made his house a base for their operations. We want to expose their real intent: they are trying to overturn Caesar’s sensible decrees. They’re saying that Jesus is king, not Caesar!”
Of course, this disturbed the crowd at large and the city officials especially, so they demanded bail from Jason and the others before releasing them.[1]
The Roman Empire consisted of many nations that Rome had conquered. The Roman rulers were especially sensitive to any hint of uprising so the charge that someone wanted a king other than Caesar would have received attention. We know Jesus was not a political king, but a spiritual ruler. Jesus still rules today, although we can refuse to acknowledge it. Jesus desires us to follow Him and put our will aside to do His will. This isn’t a natural thing for humans to do and we must have the help of the Holy Spirit.
1 Cor. 2: 14 Someone living on an entirely human level rejects the revelations of God’s Spirit, for they make no sense to him. He can’t understand the revelations of the Spirit because they are only discovered by the illumination of the Spirit. 15 Those who live in the Spirit are able to carefully evaluate all things, and they are subject to the scrutiny of no one but God.[2]
How about you, is Jesus your King? Have you submitted to Him? Just as there was a harvest of souls despite the battle in our story, the same is true today.
To hear how there is a harvest of souls in the battle, listen here: https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/series/mission-trip-two-radio-show/harvest-in-the-battle
[1, 2] The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.