What does Acts 17:7 mean?

Jason is either the host of Paul and his team, or the host of the new church in Thessalonica, or both. Paul started his ministry in Thessalonica in the synagogue, as he usually did. Many of the Gentile God-fearers and some of the Jews accept Paul's interpretation, which echoes Isaiah's prophecy of the "Suffering Servant"—that the Messiah had to die and rise again. Some of the Jews, however, grow jealous of Paul's following and seek for a way to remove him from the city (Acts 17:1–6).

In Paul's travels, his adversaries generally fall into one of two groups: Jews from the synagogue who grow jealous of his quick-growing influence (Acts 13:45), and Gentiles who stand to lose money (Acts 16:19; 19:24–27). Neither influence nor business competition are illegal. Paul's message, however, does break Roman law: he advocates for the worship of a foreign God—Jesus—not authorized by the government, and he promotes a King—Jesus—in opposition to Caesar. In stricter Roman cities, such as Philippi, Paul's adversaries use the former charge (Acts 16:21). In free cities, which are less loyal to the Roman gods, they use the latter. This is the same charge the Sanhedrin used to get Pilate to crucify Jesus (John 19:12).

Caesar is occasionally considered the son of a god or a demigod; in Paul's later letter to the church in Thessalonica, he refers to Jesus as the "Son from heaven" (1 Thessalonians 1:10). In his second letter, Paul talks about waiting for Christ to take down the "man of lawlessness," which could be seen as Caesar (2 Thessalonians 2:3–12). Considering others have used the concept of a "messiah" to stir up political trouble with people in Rome and Alexandria, Paul and Silas' adversaries are crafty to use this charge. Besides touching a raw nerve in the Roman Empire, it happens to be true.