October 7- Thessalonica
Mt Olympus and its 53 peaks, has snow almost all year long. In its shadow sits Thessaloniki, the co-capital of Greece and a busy seaport. It’s a city of more than a million people, on the northwest corner of the Agean Sea with an incredibly long history. It was founded in 315 BC and named after the daughter of Philip II, Alexander’s sister. It became a free Roman city in 41AD.
At the time the Apostle Paul visited Thessaloniki, it was a free city, and pretty evenly divided between the Greeks, the Romans and the Jews. And it had a large concentration of Jews up until to WWII, when there were still more than 50,000 Jews living there. They were all sent to concentration camps and only 2,000 survived. Today, only about 750 Jews live in Thessaloniki and there are 2 active synagogues.
It is evident that the apostle Paul is still revered here and this is the place of the early church Paul loved so well and believed them to be the example church to the rest of Greece.
“As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people...So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Greece—throughout both Macedonia and Achaia.”
1 Thessalonians 1:3-4, 6-7 NLT
What a marvelous thing to be said—that they were imitators of both the apostles and the Lord. And that they were faithful and loving and carried the divine hope of Christ. I’m not sure how he could have spoken more highly of them. Even though they had some issues he would have to address, this was a really good church. I think about Paul’s vision in which her heard a man saying “Come to Macedonia and help us.” Because he was faithful and heeded the call, he and his companions just took off and began a church in each city they came to. These churches are the reason we have churches today—the very core of our history.
“As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.”
Acts of the Apostles 17:2-4 NLT
Lord Jesus we thank you for the voice of Paul and how many were persuaded on the streets of Thessaloniki and those persuaded began a church. Thank you for places to worship and for the people who handed the faith down to us. What a line of believers! Only through you could such a miraculous chain be unbroken. We love you and worship you today and we ask for your touch and for you to surround us as we go about the things we must do. Guard our tongues and our hearts—keep us fully yours. Amen and amen.
Love you dear friend,
Pam
Pictures of Thessaloniki are on Facebook.
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