There is another Kingdom!

Acts 17.4 And ^msome of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did ⁿa great many of the devout ^oGreeks and not a few of the leading women. ^{5 p}But the Jews ^qwere jealous, and taking ^rsome wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. ⁶ And when they could not find them, ^sthey dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, ⁷ and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against ^tthe decrees of Caesar, saying that there is ^uanother king, Jesus.” ⁸ And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. ⁹ And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. ^[1]

This audience consists of Jews, Greeks and “leading women”.

The preaching of Jesus as Messiah, found root in the Jewish camp. It was widely accepted by the Greeks / gentiles. And many of the leading women came to become followers of this Jesus.

This mixed group of believers then presumably would become the church at Thessalonica.

There was, however, a vocal and hostile opposition to the gospel. Luke says the motivation for their hostility was jealousy. Those with the most to lose are often the most vehement persecutors of the way. The opposition will not play fair either. They conjured up “rabble” who would bear false witness against the brothers.

The opposition is not only social, but often has the civil authorities in league with them. There is a cost to bearing witness for Jesus in the marketplace of ideas. There are not always the freedoms and liberties that 21^st century Westerners have come to almost expect. Following Christ is not domesticated. There is an edge of wildness to it, especially a life lived out loud.

But inadvertently the opposition says something that turns out to be an enormous compliment:

“These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also…”

The upside down king’s workers are lifting up the lowly and bringing down the haughty!

“…They are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.^”

Indeed there is another king, King Jesus, the upside down King who serves the poor and his enemies. There is a King who pardons the treacherous, who sets captives free, who heals hearts broken by sin and shame.

There is another King.