Wisdom Wednesday: The Wisdom of Searching Part 2 (of 2)
Submitted by Debbie’s Dad
The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. (Acts 17:10–11 NASB 1995)
In part 1 of this study on searching Scripture, we saw Jesus explain to a group of hostile men that they searched the Old Testament Scriptures and entirely missed God’s message–that was about Him–the Messiah.
In the passage above, we see another group of Jewish people that searched the Scripture with an open heart to see how the Law and Prophets spoke about Jesus. In Paul’s Second Missionary Journey, Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica and preached the Gospel in the synagogue. Apparently, they stayed in the home with a man named Jason (Acts 17:5, 6, 7, 9) who was also perhaps a relative of Paul (Romans 16:21). Paul and Silas were challenged by jealous Jews that formed a mob and even attacked Jason after Paul and Silas had escaped town.
They headed to Berea, a city about 45 miles away, where they received a much different welcome in the synagogue. Luke describes them: “These were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”
Notice three characteristics of these Jews and God-fearing Gentiles at Berea:
- Noble-minded–These people were honorable in their thinking; Luke used this term to praise their openness and consideration of the Gospel without prejudice.
- Eager reception–They were enthusiastic to examine Paul’s claims, the Greek word is also translated as readiness.
- Examined daily–The Greek word anakrinō is translated examined–meaning to investigate or appraise. The object of their examination was the Old Testament Scripture, and the purpose of the examination was to determine if the claims Paul made about Jesus as the Messiah and the good news of the gospel were affirmed in Scripture. Some translations use the word searched to refer to their examination throughout the Old Testament for the passages that showed the Messiah would suffer before being glorified, His lineage, His works, and more.
Unlike the persecutors at Thessalonica, they received the message and searched the Old Testament and Scripture to compare Paul’s claims with the documents that they held dear and the word from God.
We have a good idea of Paul’s message themes from Steven’s message (Acts 7), Philip’s explanation of Isaiah (Acts 8:25-40), Peter’s earlier messages (2:14-36; 3:11-26; 10:34-48) and Paul’s messages (Acts 13;16-41) all recorded in Acts. He focused on explaining that Jesus was the Savior promised in the Pentateuch- the Lamb of God- and Messiah of the Prophets that would suffer before being glorified. These and more were likely the themes that Jesus covered with the discouraged disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). And Paul always emphasized the recent death, burial and resurrection of Jesus–and the need to believe in Him for eternal life.
Down through the centuries, Christians have honored the nobility of these people of Berea, because they “searched the Scriptures daily”. Many Sunday School classes have been named the Berean Class.
Let us be wise, like the Bereans, and search the Scriptures daily.