The Berean Jews’ Noble Character

We learned last week about Lydia’s house church in Philippi. Lydia was a business woman, a purple cloth dealer. She opened her heart to the gospel and opened her house as a house church. In Philippi, Paul and Silas were put in prison. They were praying and singing the Lord in prison. God intervened. Suddenly there was a violent earthquake, and Paul and Silas’ chains came loose. With this incident, Paul delivered a message to the jailor, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.” The jailor and his family members accepted the gospel and were baptized. Today’s passage tells us about the work of God in Thessalonica and Berea.

Verse 1 reads, “When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.” Thessalonica was a port city, located at the intersection of major Roman roads. It was the capital of Macedonia, a prominent commercial city with about 200,000 people at that time. Verse 2 reads, “As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures.” Here, the word “reasoned” in Greek is διαλέγομαι [dialegomai], which the root of English word “dialogue”. Paul had dialogues and discussions from the Scriptures with the people gathered in the synagogue. He had group Bible studies. In Pisidian Antioch in Asia Minor, Paul proclaimed the gospel message in the synagogue. Now he came to the city with Greek dominant culture. Probably, Paul was aware of the Greek culture of philosophical dialogue. Here, Paul shared the gospel in the format of dialogue and discussion.

Verse 3 continues, “...explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. ‘This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,’ he said.” When Paul had reasoning and dialogues with the people in the synagogue, he had a clear purpose. That was explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. The word “explaining” in Greek is διανοίγω [dianoigó] which means “to open up completely”. He opened up the Scripture completely. He knew the Scriptures so well that he could explain with clarity from the Scriptures. The word “proving” in Greek is παρατίθημι [paratithémi] which means “to set before as evidence.” The word “proving” is usually used in mathematics or in a court. Proving is not easy. That’s why we call “The burden of proof.” Here, Paul was able to prove that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead.

We can imagine Paul’s dialogue with the people in the synagogue. In order to explain and prove his point, Paul must have used all the possible resources from the Scriptures: examples of Abraham in Genesis, the story of Exodus under the leadership of Moses, the Ten Commandments, King David, prophesies of Isaiah, and so on. All his teachings were grounded in the Scriptures.  In those days, the general view of the Messiah among the Jews was the glorious image of the Messiah who would establish a glorious kingdom like King David. Against the general view, Paul explained and proved that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. He made the conclusion, “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.” Paul’s missionary work was done through deep Bible studies. His Bible study was Christ-centered.

Our prayer topic is to raise excellent Bible teachers like Paul. Luke 1:77 tells us about “the knowledge of salvation the forgiveness of sins...” What does it mean to have the knowledge of salvation? Does it mean that we are saved by knowledge? No. By studying the Scriptures, we come to know who God is, how God prepared salvation for us, and what Christ did for us. This knowledge leads us to have faith in Christ and salvation in him. When this knowledge and conviction grow in us, God leads us to grow as Bible teachers. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us, “...Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” May God bless each of us to grow as an excellent Bible teacher like Paul.

Let us see how they responded to Paul’s explaining and proving. Verse 4 reads, “Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.” Paul’s Bible study was so convincing that some of the Jews were persuaded. They put aside their fixed idea and accepted the gospel. Moreover, a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women also joined. 

Again where there was the work of God, there was persecution by the Jews. They were jealous of God’s work through Paul’s mission team. They persecuted them, not because they found anything wrong in the gospel, but because they were jealous. They stirred up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas. When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials. They shouted, “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” Jason opened his house for the mission team. His house was a house church in Thessalonica. Simply because he opened his house for God’s servants, he was also persecuted.

The mission team was forced to leave the city. We wonder what could be done in this violent city. But God worked there and an exemplary church was established in Thessalonica. Paul said later in his epistle to the Thessalonian believers, “You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia” (1 Thessalonians 1:6-7). When we are persecuted or rejected, we wonder why we have to share the gospel. But God works in the midst rejections and persecution. In fact, persecution is the evidence of powerful work of God.

The next city was Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Verse 11 reads, “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” What does it mean that the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica? The word “noble” in Greek is εὐγενής [eugenes] which means “of noble birth or noble in nature”.

Let us think about “What is noble character?” A dictionary defines as “people who have high morals and ideals, or people who are royalty, or who have good breeding.” But it does not help us much. An article describes people of noble character with the following 8 traits.

They’re responsible. …

They intentionally live their lives. … 

They’re kind. … 

They’re courageous. … 

They practice integrity. … 

They’re optimistic. … 

They’re independent. … 

They’re confident. ...

A person with noble character would not take advantage of others, would not take illegal money, and would not get involved with criminal or immoral activities. A person with a noble character has a sense of justice, compassion for others. He/she is willing to participate for the good cause of the world, and seeks higher values.

Let us think about what the Scripture tells us about noble character. Proverbs 31:10 describes a wife of noble character. “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.” (It is Rebecca’ annual key verse for this year.) I found a summary of a wife of noble character in the following 8 ways:

She Is Wise. … 

She Is Gentle. … 

She Provides For Her Family. … 

She Is A Caring Mother. … 

She knows what her husband wants. … 

She Is A Hard Worker. … 

She Is A Critical Thinker. … 

She Knows How To Listen....

Proverbs 31:30 says, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Beautify is only skin deep. But a woman of noble character is truly beautiful.

We would like to be people of noble character. In reality, however, we may be disappointed with ourselves to find ignoble character in us. Since Adam’s fall, sinful nature is in us like a weed that makes us ignoble. If we are not nurtured in building noble character, by default ignoble character is built in us. Without nurturing noble character in us, we become self-centered by nature, and seek immediate gratification instead of seeking the benefit of others or seeking God’s will.

The word of God encourages us that noble character can be built in us. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” It emphasizes “Think about such things!” Noble character is built from our thinking, thought world. It is not built overnight. From noble thinking, noble perspective is built. From noble perspective, noble mind, noble heart, and noble character are built in us. A person with a noble character seeks something that is just, something that is universally true, something that is eternal, and something that is divine. A person of noble character is like a good heart soil. Jesus taught us about 4 different heart soils: path, rocky soil, thorny soil, and good soil. The good soil accepted the seed, the word of God, and produced 30, 60, and 100 times of what was sown.

Let us go back to the Berean Jews’ noble character. To these people of noble character, the gospel was introduced through Paul’s team. How did they respond? “...they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” When they heard the gospel, they had a “Wow!” moment. They received the message with great eagerness. They shouted in their hearts, “That’s what we are looking for! What’s what we are waiting for! Amen!” They examined the Scripture every day. They meditated on the word of God every day. As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men (12).

Where there is the work of God, there was the work of the devil again. The Jews in Thessalonica heard about what was going on in Berea. They came to Berea, agitated the crowds, and stirred them up to persecute the mission team. Paul had to leave the city to go to Athens. May God bless us to be men and women of noble character.