Paul and Silas were on their second missionary journey. While in Troas they got the divine guidance to go to Macedonia. Their ministry was effective in Philippi and the families of Lydia and a Philippian jailer (and, possibly, others) accepted the gospel preached by Paul and Silas and became followers of Jesus Christ. Encouraged by the results the missionaries moved on to new cities.
In Thessalonica they got the opportunity to prove from the Scriptures (the Old Testament writings) that Jesus who was crucified by the Roman and Jewish leaders and then raised by God was the Messiah (Christ). Some Jews and many Gentiles accepted the message and believed in Jesus Christ. As in other places, jealous Jews rose against them and created much trouble. Their local host Jason became a marked man. In order to protect Jason, Paul and his associates moved to Berea, a town about 80 km to the southwest.
The missionaries had a call on their life. They were found worthy of the task and entrusted with the gospel by God. In those early days gospel had reached no place in Macedonia. Therefore there was no need to linger in the same place and invite more trouble. A temporarily closed door will lead to another open door.
As Jews in a strange land Paul and Silas looked for opportunities to preach in Berea. Naturally they found a welcome audience in the Jewish synagogue. As in Thessalonica they explained the Gospel message using the Scriptures. The result was fantastic.
We read in Acts 17:11,
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.
Note the following points:
The Jews in Berea listened to the preached word with all readiness (or great eagerness).
They searched the Scriptures daily.
The purpose of their research was to determine whether these strange preachers were true to the Scriptures.
It is evident that the hearers in Thessalonica, though many accepted the message, did not go through this important process daily. Therefore the Holy Spirit records that the Berean listeners were more noble (i.e., fair-minded) than the ones in Thessalonica.
It is recorded that the Bereans searched the Scriptures to test its veracity. We can learn a few principles from this verse.
- We should communicate the message in a way that it not only appeals to the emotions of the hearers but challenges their minds.
- We should encourage the audience to check the authenticity of what we preach.
- The standard to determine authenticity is the written Word of God.
- Since we believe that the Old Testament is part of the Word of God given to us, there is nothing wrong in using the Old Testament scriptures to communicate the gospel message. But any such attempt should culminate in presenting Jesus Christ. We see this model in Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost, in Philip’s interaction with the Ethiopian eunuch, in Paul’s preaching in the Thessalonian synagogue and, most probably in Berea.
All around us in the spiritual world, especially among Pentecostals and Charismatics, there is a tendency to denigrate people’s desire and ability to critically evaluate the substance of a sermon. The main reason is that the speaker considers himself or herself superior to the hearers. They are the ‘anointed ones’ so that everybody should accept whatever they say without any question! Because of the lack of self-confidence of the preacher, he is intimidated by those who diligently study the Word and evaluate their message. Another reason is that their preaching is very superficial and they are satisfied with the euphoria it creates. It is doubtful whether they want to teach some important spiritual lesson that will lead to self examination and produce lasting results. As long as the intention is instant gratification (of the preacher and the hearer) there is no room for thinking minds.
A searching person is different from a skeptic or an agnostic. A skeptic is unwilling to accept or admit as true what is presented to him. According to an agnostic, all ultimate reality is unknown or unknowable. A true student of the Word is different. He believes that God has revealed truth in the Word of God and a good preacher or teacher can exposit it so that the listeners can apply it in their life and be challenged and encouraged. They want to know the truth but do not consider everything coming out of the pulpit is truth. They like to assimilate the concepts they hear. Unfortunately, in our spiritual world such people are hated and ridiculed because they may not get excited and respond emotionally to fire up the preacher or others in the congregation.
The hearers in Berea were considered more noble (compared to those in Thessalonica) for the following reasons:
- They received the spoken word with all readiness of mind. This means that they were not satisfied just by attending the synagogue and performing some rituals (unlike many church-goers of our time). They not only heard but listened with readiness (eagerness). There was some expectancy. Paul was a Jewish scholar from Jerusalem. They might have heard that he, who was a persecutor of those on the Way, was converted and was preaching Jesus as the Lord like others in the Way (a term used to identify the followers of Jesus Christ.) Thus there was great curiosity and Paul must have been given a celebrity status. But they came to find out that he was not an ordinary travelling orator. He was preaching from their Scriptures. He was attempting to prove that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, whom they were waiting for. At least many in the audience, if not all, were intently listening to the message.
- They searched the Scriptures daily. The Scriptures here refers to the Old Testament, because all the Gospels were written later, and even the earliest epistles of Paul must not have reached Berea by this time. Paul’s message about Jesus Christ was based on the Old Testament writings. The teaching was new because the rabbis may not have expounded the Scriptures with an intention of revealing Jesus Christ. They neither rejected the new teaching nor swallowed it blindly. They searched the Scriptures to see whether what they heard from this famous but strange scholar was in the Scriptures. Such practice should be encouraged today rather than discouraged as we see in mass conventions and sometimes even in our Sunday services.
- The Berean synagogue attendees were genuine. The purpose of their searching the Scriptures was not to find fault with the preacher or to contradict him. They wanted to convince themselves that Paul was not presenting merely his feelings, assumptions and experiences. They would accept only those precepts that were not contradictory to the written Word.
- They were in the habit of studying the Word of God. They searched daily. The current practice among the Jews was to go to the synagogue, listen to the rabbis and follow the rules of their religion. But the Bereans were different as they were in the habit of examining daily what they heard from others.
APPLICATION
What are the lessons we can learn from the model of Berean Jews?
a. Can’t we be noble like those who heard the preaching of Paul? Their nobility is determined by their open-mindedness or fair-mindedness as they listened. We have to realize that the message is more important than the name or fame of the messenger. The people who came to the synagogue were religious. Many religious people come to hear a preaching with fear or prejudice. For them such attendance is merely a religious activity. They don’t have any intention of learning anything from the preacher/teacher and their minds are closed even though their ears are open.
b. These days there are popular preachers who can entertain the audience with interesting stories, move them with descriptions of sad experiences or arouse their feelings with great promises, with little or no foundation on the Word of God. And the majority in the audience respond emotionally and the preacher is satisfied. The listeners also do not expect or demand anything more than a temporary gratification. How little importance do we (as preachers and teachers) give to being truthful to the Scriptures!
c. Like the Bereans, are we using the Scriptures as the sole standard of evaluating a message? In the modern world science has become the standard for measuring anything, even the Scriptures. Many people reject Biblical truths because, in their view, they do not tally with science as they understand it. In other words, they consider the ever changing science more authentic than the Word of God that remains for ever. The same may be said about philosophy or other current trends.
d. We use the knowledge we gain from our academic training or daily observations. But our spiritual growth comes from careful study and application of the Scriptures. In other words, we have every right to examine everything we hear from a preacher/teacher rather than gulping all of it and encouraging with our clapping and with shouts of ‘hallelujahs’. Such responses entice certain people to manipulate the undiscerning audience and promote false doctrines for their own advantage.
e. We should insist that Christian preaching should be Christ-centred and not to exalt any noble characters of the Old Testament or of history. Often this does not happen because the listeners do not care.
f. Regardless of our age or experience as believers we should be constantly engaged in the study of the Word. Then only can we judge the veracity of what we hear and help ourselves and others from the trap of some smooth talkers who would use any means to gain popularity, possession and power.
Let the story of the Berean congregation inspire us to be seekers of truth that will have positive impact on our spiritual walk.
