Acts 17:1-15

In Thessalonica 1When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. 4Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.
5But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. 6But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus." 8When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.In Berea 10As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.
13When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. 15The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
Devotional (by Isaac Pellerin):
The story of Paul’s journey definitely has a theme running through it. As more people receive the good news, others feel jealous that such a good thing should be given to people who don’t "deserve" it. In a lot of ways it is a repeat story of the parable of the Prodigal Son. Do you remember that story?
Jesus describes the coming back of the younger brother who had made some foolish decisions. In that moment the Father, with open arms, celebrated his son’s return. What good news, however, the older brother (who had everything the Father would give) became jealous that such forgiveness would be celebrated.
Interestingly enough, Jesus’ story was a little bit of foreshadowing to these moments. When the good news went out to the world, the Jews began to get jealous. It shows how fickle our hearts can be and that we need to guard against feelings of jealousy when others receive a wonderful gift!

Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you for the gift of abundant life. As others receive the news of this great gift, help me to rejoice because of the greatness of your grace. In Jesus’ name. Amen.