Pelajaran Sekolah Sabat 9, Selasa 28 Ogos 2018

Pelajaran Sekolah Sabat 9
Selasa, 28 Ogos  2018

Tesalonika Dan Berea

Apabila Paulus dan Silas dibebaskan dari penjara, mubaligh-mubaligh ini berangkat ke Filipi (Kisah 16:35-40). Dari Filipi, Paulus dan kumpulannya langsung ke Tesalonika, ibunegara Makedonia.

Sila baca Kisah 17:1-9. Bagaimana sambutan orang-orang Yahudi Tesalonika tentang khutbah yang berjaya di antara orang-orang bukan Yahudi?

Sekali lagi kita perhatikan Paulus mahu mencari rumah ibadah di mana dia dapat mengongsikan injil. Ramai orang Yunani yang taat dan tidak sedikit juga wanita terkemuka yang diyakinkan oleh mesej Paulus. Bahawa saudara baharu ini “bergabung dengan Paulus dan Silas” (Kisah 17:4) nampaknya mereka membentuk kumpulan yang berasingan dan bertemu selain pada rumah ibadah, mungkin di rumah Jason.

Digerakkan oleh perasaan cemburu, lawan mereka memulakan rusuhan. Tujuan mereka adalah untuk membawa Paulus dan Silas-nama Timotius tidak disebut-ke hadapan perhimpunan Bandar dan menuduh mereka. Oleh kerana mereka tidak dapat mencari mubaligh-mubaligh itu, Jason sendiri dan beberapa orang percaya yang baharu telah diheret ke hadapan penguasa tempatan atas tuduhan memberi perlindungan penghasut politik.

Sila baca Kisah 17:10-15. Apakah respon orang-orang Yahudi Berea dibandingkan dengan yang ada di Tesalonika?

Istilah eugenes (Kisah 17:11) maksud asalnya “lahir baik” atau “kelahiran mulia” akan tetapi, secara umum, sikap “berfikiran adil” yang mungkin berlaku di sini. Orang-orang Yahudi dari Berea mendapat pujian bukan kerana mereka setuju dengan Paulus dan Silas tetapi kerana kerelaan mereka sendiri untuk meneliti Alkitab dan setiap hari untuk melihat apakah yang dikatakan oleh mubaligh-mubaligh adalah benar. Ia hanyalah tindak balas emosi kepada Injil, tanpa keyakinan intelektual yang diperlukan, cenderung kepada hidup yang dangkal dan hidup pendek.

Bagaimanapun, tidak lama kemudian, penganiyaan menganggu pelayanan produktif Paulus di Berea, memaksa dia untuk pergi jauh ke selatan, iaitu ke Atena.

Bilakah kali terakhir anda dengan teliti menyelidiki Alkitab untuk mengetahui “sama ada semua perkara tersebut [apapun juga] demikian adanya”?

Sabbath School Lesson 9
Tuesday August 28

Thessalonica and Berea

When Paul and Silas were released from prison, the missionaries departed from Philippi (Acts 16:35-40). From Philippi, Paul and his companions went straight to Thessalonica, the capital city of Macedonia.

Read Acts 17:1-9. How did the Thessalonian Jews react to Paul’s successful preaching among the Gentiles?

Once again we see Paul looking for the synagogue where he could share the gospel. Many devout Greeks and not a few prominent women were persuaded by Paul’s message. That these converts “joined Paul and Silas” (Acts 17:4, NKJV) seems to mean they formed a separate group and met apart from the synagogue, probably in Jason’s house.

Moved with jealousy, their opponents started a riot. Their intention was to bring Paul and Silas—Timothy is not mentioned—before the city’s assembly and accuse them. As they could not find the missionaries, Jason himself and a few other new believers were dragged to the local authorities under the charge of sheltering political agitators.

Read Acts 17:10-15. What was the response of the Berean Jews in comparison to that in Thessalonica?

The term eugenes (Acts 17:11) originally meant “well born” or “of noble birth” but came to denote more generally a “fair-minded” attitude, which is likely the case here. The Jews from Berea are praised not simply because they agreed with Paul and Silas but because of their willingness to examine the Scriptures by themselves and on a daily basis to see if what the missionaries were saying was correct. A merely emotional response to the gospel, without the necessary intellectual conviction, tends to be superficial and short-lived.

Before long, however, persecution interrupted Paul’s productive ministry in Berea, compelling him to move farther south, to Athens.

When was the last time you diligently searched the Scriptures in order to find out “whether these things [whatever they were] were so”?