Page 78 - Acts Student Textbook

Why did Paul Protest when they released him secretly from the jail?

Here the authorities did their part to release Paul and Silas when they discovered that he was a
Roman citizen, but Paul refused to be released secretly (16:35-39). Was he trying to get back at them
for mistreating and embarrassing him publicly? Apparently, Paul does not seem to be as personal as
some might conclude. He was aware of the Church that he had started in Philippi at this point. He
knew the implications of what will happen to her if he was to be released secretly. The general public
would treat her as a foreign, illegal cult among them. And no one would dare to join. The purpose of
Paul's protest was possibly to protect the fledgling church at
Philippi and to achieve a certain recognized status for them. The
leaders, by their actions, imply that gospel preaching was not
illegal! The door was open for future evangelistic efforts in
Philippi. Any one is free to join!

Thessalonica Described

Thessalonica (17:1-9): bustling seaport and capital city of
province of Macedonia; modern Saloniki. (approx. one day’s
journey between each of the towns on the Via Egnatia [Philippi—
Amphipolis—Apollonia—Thessalonica]). Jewish synagogue indicates a colony of Jews in this city of
200,000 plus.

How was Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica?

Paul’s message in the synagogues always began with the OT Scriptures to prove that Jesus was the
Jewish Messiah who fulfilled all the OT prophecies. A very typical response occurred in Thessalonica
of some Jews “along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks” with the special inclusion of the
leading women joining the Christianity (17:4)! And a typical reaction came, Luke records, "the Jews,
becoming jealous" (17:5). Here Dr. Bob Uttly makes a sorrowful comment, “Jewish unbelief is sad to
me (cf. 14:2), but jealousy (cf. 5:17) is tragic! These were not motivated by religious zeal like Saul's,
but jealousy! The number of converts (cf. 13:45), not the content of the preaching, is what bothered
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them.” And this jealousy turned into persecution [as always] which led Paul and his team to flee to
Berea.

Luke uses the term "Jews" often in a pejorative, negative sense (cf. 12:3; 13:45; 14:2; 17:13), as does
Paul (cf. 1 Thess. 2:15-16). It becomes synonymous with those who oppose and resist the gospel.

Berea Described

Berea (17:10-15): Modern Verria. This was a large city in Paul's day about 60 miles s.w. of
Thessalonica, very close to the Ignatian Highway. It also had a Jewish community with a synagogue,
one that was open to listening to Paul and checking his theology from the texts he cited from the OT.
What was the character of the Bereans toward Paul and the Scriptures?

Luke says they were "examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so" (17:11).
This is the way to determine truth. Paul's preaching method was to quote the OT and then show how
it applied to Jesus. “The phrase ("whether these things were so") contains a fourth class conditional
sentence (i.e., with the optative mood, cf. 17:27; 20:16; 24:19; 27:12), which denotes that which is

39 Ibid, ( 17:5)
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