![This mosaic from Ostia Antica gives one a glimpse of what a wealthy woman of Roman times, such as Lydia is said to have been, would have looked like. [Photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.]](https://soarlectionarybiblestudy.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/5774910823_50c5f84669_z.jpg?w=620&h=417)
This mosaic from Ostia Antica gives one a glimpse of what a wealthy woman of Roman times, such as Lydia is said to have been, would have looked like. [Description & photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.]
Acts 16:9-15
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OBSERVE:
This passage is an illustration of how the apostles heard and heeded the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
At this time, Paul, accompanied by his usual companion Silas, and his protégé Timothy, had been on a mission trip through Asia Minor. They had arrived in Troas on the coast of the Aegean Sea (Troas is also known more famously as Troy, the site of the legendary Trojan war a little more than one thousand years B.C.).
Paul’s original intent had been to go on a preaching tour of Asia, but for some reason he was prevented:
They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them (Acts 16:6-7).
No clear reason is given for the change of plans, but the interpretation of events is very clear — the Holy Spirit, aka the Spirit of Jesus — did not permit it.
Instead, the time had come to begin the spiritual conquest of a new continent — Europe.
As had happened with Peter and Cornelius, God uses a vision to communicate with Paul:
During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
Note that the obedience is instant — there is no hesitation in crossing the Aegean Sea and going to Macedonia. Paul doesn’t doubt or question the vision at all.
It is interesting to note that prior to Acts 16:10, Paul, Silas and Timothy had been described in the third person plural: they.
As of Acts 16:10, however, the writer uses the first-person plural — we.
We may surmise that Luke, the writer of Acts, has left his medical practice and joined this traveling band of evangelists. Henceforth, his account will be first-person much of the time. Luke’s ethnicity is believed to have been Greek, so Paul is very definitely becoming inclusive of Gentile followers of Jesus.
The first location of ministry in Europe is Philippi, described as a:
leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.
This is fascinating, because Philippi, though situated in Macedonia, is very definitely a Roman city. According to historians, Philippi had originally been established by King Philip of Macedonia, the father of the famed Alexander the Great, in 356 B.C.
Philippi reappears prominently in the annals of history in the battle of succession after the assassination of Julius Caesar, when Mark Antony and Octavius joined forces to defeat Brutus and Cassius in battle in 42 B.C.
Because of Philippi’s strategic importance as a port city, and its location on the Roman highway called the Egnatian Way, it became again an important city in this part of the Roman Empire.
Philippi had been colonized by retired Roman soldiers who could be counted on to help defend the frontiers if the empire was invaded. Part of the retirement “package” of Roman legionnaires was to receive a free gift of land somewhere on the edges of the Roman Empire.
But it is curious that Paul goes outside the gate and down by the river on the Sabbath day. His usual tactic when bringing his ministry to a new city was to go first to the Jewish synagogue and seek to persuade his brethren of the Messianic nature of Jesus; and only later would he go to the Gentiles.
Did he not go to the synagogue because there was none in Philippi? Did the Jews worship down by the river, where they might experience less harassment from the Romans and other Gentiles in Philippi? Or were their numbers so few that they could gather in the open by the river?
Here’s what the Scripture says:
On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.
We are told that Lydia, one of the women, was a businesswoman from Thyatira — which is in the interior of Asia Minor, which Paul and his entourage had only recently left!
What is interesting is that Lydia is not only a traveling businesswoman who sells a very expensive purple cloth usually reserved for royalty , but she is also a worshiper of God.
Worshiper of God is a technical term — sometimes we see it as God-fearers — which describes those who have come to believe in Israel’s God, but have not yet converted completely to Judaism. Very likely, that is what Centurion Cornelius was as well.
Lydia, then, was ripe for conversion to this new message:
The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.
She and her household are quickly baptized, and offer hospitality and lodging to Paul and his entourage.
APPLY:
The old cliché is true — “When God closes a door, he opens a window. ”
Paul may have been disappointed that he couldn’t take the Gospel into Asia and Bithynia; but he did not dwell on his disappointment for very long, or allow it to prevent him from following the next vision from God.
The “Macedonian Call” into Europe was actually quite significant. This would introduce the Gospel into the intellectual, cultural, and political centers of the Greco-Roman world — Athens, Corinth, and even Rome itself!
By crossing the Aegean Sea, Paul was expanding the reach of the church from its oriental, eastern roots into the western world. In a sense, the church was about to “come of age” as Christians began to wrestle with a very sophisticated philosophical and cultural heritage in the west.
Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, Romans, Colossians, and the Philippians themselves, would come to be foundational documents of a faith that would become global in reach.
RESPOND:
I find great ironies in this passage. In 334 B.C., Alexander the king of Macedonia crossed the Hellespont from Macedonia into Asia Minor. He began his conquest of the east with an army, cavalry, and navy, spreading Greek culture all the way to the edge of India.
In or around 49 A.D., Paul crossed the Hellespont going west, with only Silas, Timothy, and Luke, and began the conquest of the world through the Gospel of peace and love.
I also find it ironic that Paul had wished to spend more time in Asia, but was prevented — God instead led Paul to go to Philippi in Macedonia. And yet he meets Lydia — from Thyatira in Asia — on the banks of a river in Philippi.
When we think of our lives and our paths, we may be able to look back and say that God was leading us, and say “so that’s what God was up to!”
The key is to be obedient to God wherever we may find ourselves, and let God direct our steps.
Lord, sharpen my spiritual sense of discernment so that I may hear the “Macedonian Call” that you may send. And may I have the instant obedience that Paul had. Amen.
PHOTOS: "Roman matron" by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.
![This mosaic from Ostia Antica gives one a glimpse of what a wealthy woman of Roman times, such as Lydia is said to have been, would have looked like. [Photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.]](https://soarlectionarybiblestudy.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/5774910823_50c5f84669_z.jpg)
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