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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Paul and Silas in Thessalonica and Berea.
Preaching at Thessalonica:
v. 1. Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews;
v. 2. and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath-days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures,
v. 3. 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.
v. 4. And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks a great multitude and of the chief women not a few.
As the change of pronouns at this point indicates, Luke remained at Philippi, and it may be that Timothy remained there with him. There was much to be done in establishing the congregation and in organizing it for successful work, and these two disciples labored with great success in bringing about stable conditions. But Paul and Silas traveled toward the southwest, first of all to Amphipolis, thirty-three miles from Philippi, the capital of this district, but second in importance to the metropolis. The missionaries did not, stop in this city, probably because there was no synagogue there, but pushed on, first to Apollonia, thirty miles farther along the coast, and then to Thessalonica. They went along the Roman military road, the famous Egnatian Way, which ran for a distance of five hundred miles from the Hellespont to Dyrrachium on the Adriatic. The two intermediate places are probably mentioned as Paul's resting-places for the night. Thessalonica, formerly called Thermae, situated at the head of the Thermaic Bay, was during Roman times the capital of the second of the four districts of the province of Macedonia, the largest as well as the most populous city in the province, a great commercial center. The city, now known as Saloniki, is important to this day. Paul, with his usual wisdom and foresight, chose this center of civilization and government in the district as a place from which the Gospel-message might radiate in every direction. Here was also a synagogue of the Jews, and the apostle continued his method of choosing the Hellenist Jews as the medium through which he might reach the Gentiles. According to his custom, therefore, Paul went in unto them, he visited their congregation in the synagogue. For three Sabbaths, and during the week when there was an assembly of the Jews, and thus for a matter of almost four weeks, he reasoned or argued with them from the Scriptures, basing all his remarks upon the acknowledged canonical text of the Old Testament. His method was to open up the meaning of the Scriptures, to explain them by bringing forward the proof-passages, and thus to set forth clearly the connection between prophecy and fulfillment. He showed the progress of prophecy concerning Christ; he proved clearly that Christ had to suffer, that this was predicted, and was an essential mark of the true Messiah; and he explained that, according to prophecy, it was just as necessary for Christ to rise from the dead. Then he applied the prophecy to Jesus of Nazareth, showed the exact fulfillment, and presented the conclusion that this same Jesus whom he preached could be none other than the Messiah. This form of argument, effective at all times in preaching the Gospel, was especially demanded by the position of the Jews, to whom the cross and the crucifixion was an offense and a stumbling block, and their prejudices had to be removed by a convincing presentation based upon their acknowledged Scriptures. And Paul's method was fully justified by the results: some of the hearers were persuaded and associated with Paul and Silas as disciples of the faith, not only Jews, but also of the God-fearing Greeks, the proselytes of the gate, a large multitude, and even a considerable number of the leading women of the city, such as were socially prominent. The prominence assigned to women in Macedonia is altogether in accord with the best historical accounts. The preaching of Jesus Christ, the Crucified and Resurrected, on the basis of the Bible, is the one means of gaining true converts for Christ and His kingdom, and must never be replaced by the methods in vogue at the present time, by which Jesus Christ is relegated to a very hazy and obscure background, methods which are altogether out of harmony with the dignity of the Gospel, and will never result in real additions to the Church.