Acts 16:11-12

‘Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the first of the district, a Roman colony.'

The necessary voyage is now outlined for us, well remembered by the writer. Taking boat from Troas, they sailed for Samothrace, a high, rocky, forested island lying between Troas and Philippi, then on to Neapolis on the Aegean coast and from there inland the few miles to Philippi which was in Macedon. Philippi was important both agriculturally and as a source of gold, it had a strategic location on both sea and land routes, and possessed a famous school of medicine. It is pointed out that Philippi was a Roman colony, partly settled by retired legionnaires who were Roman citizens, and a prominent city in the area. Here at least as themselves Roman citizens they might have expected just treatment. It was not to be. Luke probably mentions that it is a Roman colony because ‘being Roman' lies at the heart both of the accusation against Paul, and his final response.

‘Made a straight course (because the wind was favourable and behind them).' The wind was with them, an indication that the Spirit was with them too. God's pleasure was expressed in the wind. In contrast with all the delays it could only be seen as striking. Paul knew that he had got it right at last.

‘On to Neapolis.' Who could have dreamed that when the ship moored at Neapolis and the gangplank was let down, the little bald-headed man with bow legs who came down it to stand on the soil of Europe for the first time was about to change the face of Europe. God's triumphs are rarely trumpeted beforehand. This was not an Alexander. A greater than Alexander was here. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.

‘The first of the district.' Unless this means simply in one district, this may have been a touch of local pride, for Thessalonica was the provincial capital. But the writer may well have had in mind its fame and what it said about itself rather than its political distinction. Such claims to be ‘first' among cities were typically Greek.