Study Desk

The jailer told Paul, "They said you and Silas are free to go. Go in peace, cowboys!"

But Paul wasn't having any of it. He said, "We were beaten and imprisoned without a trial. We are Roman citizens and what happened here is against the law. And now they want us to just go away like nothing happened? I don't think so! Let them come here and release us themselves."

When this message was taken to the city officials, they got scared. They had no idea Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.

So the city officials all went to the jailhouse and apologized for what had happened. They led Paul and Silas outside and begged them to saddle up and leave the city.

Paul and his crew passed through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia before arriving in Thessalonica. There was a Jewish church there, so they stopped to say hello.

Like he did all the time, Paul went to the church to preach on the day of rest for three weeks. He used the Good Book to reason with people.

He explained what the Good Book had predicted about how the Top Hand must have the roughest ride anyone ever had, then die, and then come riding back from the grave three days later. Paul told 'em, "This cowboy, Jesus, is the Top Hand."

A few Jews dared to join Paul and Silas. There were many Greeks who believed along with a quite a few well-to-do ladies.

But there were those hard-hearted Jews who wouldn't believe. They became so jealous of Paul that they rounded up some shady characters and convinced them to run through town and shoot out the lights and windows. These fellows tore up the town and then headed toward the home of Jason. They kicked the door down looking for Paul and Silas in order to lynch them.

Since they weren't there, they settled on Jason. The angry mob dragged him, and some other believers to the city council and said, "Paul and Silas have stirred up trouble all over the world, and now they've got their sights on our little town.

That night, under cover of darkness, Paul and Silas slipped out of town and headed southwest to Berea. Once again, they went to the local Jewish church.

But the folks in this town were different than those in Thessalonica. They listened to what Paul had to say. But the best part was that they themselves looked at the passages in the Good Book to see if what Paul and Silas said was the truth.

But as luck would have it, the Jews in Thessalonica heard Paul and Silas were in Berea preaching the good word. They rounded up a lynch mob and thundered down there with blood in their eyes.

The new Berean cowboys smuggled Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed behind.

The good-hearted believers traveled with Paul all the way to Athens and then rode back with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him there.

Paul waited on his pards to get to Athens. He strolled the city and was torn-up inside with all the idols of other gods he saw there.

Now Greece was known for its philosophers, and Paul talked at length with them; ones who followed the Epicurean style as well as the Stoic ones. Some of them rolled their eyes at him, and others acted all high and mighty, saying, "Let us listen to him. He is teaching us about some foreign gods."

Then they invited him to come speak at the courthouse square. They introduced Paul by saying, "We would like to hear more about this new teaching you bring.

Paul stood up and said, "People of Athens, I have walked through your city, and I can see you are a very religious bunch.

When Paul talked about people being raised from the dead, that's when some people started making fun of him. But a few said, "Tell us more, later."