17:1,2
Paul continues on his missionary journey arriving at Thessalonica. This was the capital of Macedonia, and had a significant Jewish population, hence the synagogue. Following his usual practice, Paul went to the synagogue, and on three Sabbaths “reasoned with them from the Scriptures”. In the church we sometimes have silly arguments about whether signs and wonders, intellectual argument, social action or whatever are the most effective means of reaching people. You find no such argument in the Bible. God works in a variety of ways, and they all work together. So here we see Paul “reasoning from the Scriptures”. Later we will find him using reason in Athens, earlier there have been signs and wonders.
17:3,4
“Explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead”. Jesus is the fulfilment of all that is prophesied in the Old Testament (see Lk 24:26). Paul’s arguments were persuasive for some, including Jews and God-fearing Greeks. This included “quite a few prominent women”. Luke had always had an interest in how the gospel reached and affected women, this is true of his gospel as well as in Acts.
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