Thessalonica #81

Thessalonica was a major port city in the Roman province of Macedonia, in what is now northern Greece, and it is the place where Paul, Silas, and Timothy founded one of the earliest Christian churches in Europe. Luke tells the story in Acts 17:1-9, and Paul’s two letters to the Thessalonians, among the earliest writings in the New Testament, were addressed to the believers who met there.

Biblical Significance

After leaving Philippi, Paul and his companions travelled west along the Via Egnatia, the great Roman highway, passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia before reaching Thessalonica (Acts 17:1). Following his usual custom, Paul went first to the synagogue and for three Sabbath days reasoned from the Scriptures that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead, and that Jesus was that Messiah (Acts 17:2-3). Some Jews, a large number of devout Greeks, and several prominent women believed. Others, stirred up by jealousy, gathered a mob and attacked the house of a believer named Jason, dragging him and some others before the city authorities. They accused the missionaries of having “turned the world upside down” and of proclaiming another king named Jesus (Acts 17:5-7). Luke calls the city officials politarchs, a rare title that inscriptions from Macedonia have confirmed as accurate. The believers sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea (Acts 17:10).

Paul’s stay was short, yet the church flourished. In his first letter he commends the Thessalonians for turning from idols to serve the living God and for becoming an example to believers throughout Macedonia and Achaia (1 Thessalonians 1:6-10). The letters also address questions about the return of Christ and about those who had died (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12). The church supported Paul’s work financially, sending help more than once while he was in the city and afterward (Philippians 4:16). Aristarchus and Secundus, two of Paul’s later travelling companions, came from Thessalonica (Acts 20:4; 27:2).

Today

The city was founded around 315 BC by Cassander, who named it for his wife Thessalonike, a half-sister of Alexander the Great. It has been continuously inhabited ever since and is now Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece. Remains from the Roman period, including the Roman forum, the Arch of Galerius, and the Rotunda, can be seen in the modern city. The inscription naming the politarchs, once part of a city gate, is now in the British Museum.