Paul and Silas: The Work in Thessaloniki and Berea
Leaving Macedonia Paul and Silas made their way west through Amphipolis and Apollonia to the wealthy metropolis of Thessalonica in Greek. The city was an urban melting pot boasting citizens from all across the Roman empire. Thessalonica was also close to Mt. Olympus, the sacred Greek mountain said to be the playground of the Greek pantheon of gods. When Paul chose to come to Thessalonica he understood that he had his work cut out for him. It was not an easy city to reach.
As was his custom Paul found a Jewish synagogue and began his work there. Acts 17:2 says “and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ”
As a result of his preaching a great multitude’ of Greeks, along with some Jews accepted the message of the gospel. Over the course of three powerful and persuasive sermons, Paul managed to raise up a Christian church in the midst of one of the most pagan and secular metropolises in Greece.
That feat alone is evidence that the Holy Spirit was working through Paul. Persuading people to accept something new is never easy. Persuading them to accept something that creates deep cognitive dissonance is almost impossible but as Jesus said in Matthew 19:26 “with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”
Sometimes God calls us to serve him in ways that seem impossible. We might be called to break ground in communities that are largely ignorant of Jesus or to simply stand for our faith in an environment that is hostile to Christian values. Whatever the case, we need to remember the example of Paul and Silas. Regardless of how daunting the territory before them, they went where God called them which in turn enabled God to do great things through them.
Paul’s success among the Jews and Greeks in Thessalonica stirred up the jealousy and resentment of the Jews. Engaging the services of a group of rabble-rousers they instigated a riot. Soon the mob was calling for blood and most of them weren’t even sure why. They came to the house of Jason, a new convert to Christianity and vandalized his house demanding that Paul and Silas be delivered to them.
When they discovered that the missionaries weren’t there they took Jason and a few other Christians to the local authorities crying “these that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.” (Acts 17:5) It was an interesting choice of words. To allege that Paul and Silas had turned the world upside down was to say that their reach had spread throughout the Roman empire, which in a sense was true since Christianity had spread far and wide. Their statement also revealed how counter-cultural Christianity was. In essence, the gospel of Jesus Christ turned the world upside down by interrupting the natural progression of life on every level. Christianity was diametrically opposed to paganism and threatened to upend the Roman system that was based on this paganistic worldview.
In the midst of the uproar, the new believers thought it best for Paul and Silas to make a quiet exit which they did, leaving the city by night and traveling to Berea. When they got to Berea they again entered a Jewish synagogue and preached the gospel.
However, the Bible points out one significant difference between the Jews in Thessalonica and the Jews in Berea. Acts 17:11 says “these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so”
Instead of dismissing what Paul and Silas had to say the Berean Jews opened the word of God and studied it. The result was that many of the Jews accepted Christ and were converted alongside quite a number of Gentiles.
Unfortunately, the Jews in Thessalonica got wind of the fact that Paul and Silas were preaching in Berea and came down to stir up the people. In order to safeguard Paul the believers sent him away while Silas and Timothy remained to strengthen and establish the church.
It is easy to dismiss the claims of the Bible without actually taking the time to investigate them personally. Ignorance is the great curse of our age. So many of us are content with accepting what someone else believes simply because we respect them or they are more educated than we are. However, we owe it to ourselves to be like the Bereans. Every assertion regardless of whether it is popular or not needs to be investigated and tested before we are willing to embrace it as fact. This applies to the Biblical truth as well as any other facts that might be floating around in the media. Truth is absolute and the only way we can discover it is by taking the time to verify it.
