First and second letter to the Thessalonians

Rejoice always

The first letter to the Thessalonians is probably the oldest of the New Testament writings; Thessalonica was a seaport city, situated beside the Roman Egnatia way, which connected the Bosphorus to Durres. We can imagine a situation similar to Corinth: booming traffic, persons of different origins, a lot of money in the hands of few rich people, laxity in mores (see 1Thess 4,2-8). The apostle evangelizes the Thessalonians in his second missionary journey; his stay could not be long-lasting because of the persecutions by the local Jews. Longing to know if the Thessalonians remained faithful to Christ, in spite of the enemy context and the shortness of his preaching, Paul sends Timothy his collaborator to verify (see 1Thess 3). Timothy’s return brings good news: the Thessalonians kept the Faith, but they have some doubts that the apostle decides to clarify with the letter we are examining. Paul writes from Athens or maybe from Corinth around 50 AD: the first part of the letter (chapters 1-3) remembers the warm reception the Thessalonians gave to the Gospel, the persecutions against Paul by the Jews, the sending of Timothy to the community; the second part (chapters 4-5) contains some moral recommendations and clarifications about the resurrection from the dead and «the day of the Lord». In the Old Testament the Hebrew people awaited that moment as a marvelous new manifestation of the Lord’s salvific intervention in history, remembering His past great deeds. Christians reinterpreted it as the glorious Christ’s return into the world for the final judgement.
«Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace» (1Thess 1,1). In the starting greetings Paul connects to the new Christian worship two ideas belonging to Judaism. The word «Church» (in Greek “ekklēsía”) means “assembly”, a people that God calls (the verb “kaleîn”) from (“ek”) many places: in the Old Testament of the Septuagint only Israel is Church of the Lord (see e.g. 1Chr 28,8; 29,20). Now Paul uses it for some Gentiles, considered «chosen» by God (see 1Thess 1,4) «who has also given his Holy Spirit to you» (1Thess 4,8). It reminds us of Ezekiel’s prophecy, no more addressed to the Hebrews alone but extended to embrace all the peoples: «For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. [...] I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them» (Ezek 36,24.27).



The second word in an unusual context is «Lord»: in the Septuagint Old Testament it is reserved to God, while Paul here matches it with Jesus, who is also «Christ» (the definitive God’s envoy in the world). The man Jesus, who died and resurrected, is considered God by Paul: that statement destroys the Hebrew idea of monotheism. They are both outrageous assertions to devout Jews: it is not surprising to see that their majority in Thessalonica decided to oppose Paul (see Acts 17,1-9).
«You became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all who believe in Macedonia and in Achaia» (1Thess 1,6-7). Christianism is not a mere doctrine to learn, but an incarnated reality that lives in its witnesses; Jesus’ truth is not abstract, but it is His same Person: «I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me» (john 14,6). The missionaries’ example is an essential part of the Gospel they preach and with the Gospel spreads in the Church: from Lord Jesus to Paul, from Paul to the Thessalonians, from the Thessalonians to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. In particular, here Paul speaks about Christian joy, a gift of the Holy Spirit. Exactly because it is offered by God, it comes from “inside” and not “outside”, making Christians free from the ephemeral satisfactions or frustrations that the external circumstances can arouse. It is the joy of the Pascal mystery, of the resurrection that brings Jesus back from death, of the mission that continues in spite of persecutions: «I am filled with comfort. I overflow with joy in all our affliction» (2Cor 7,4). That joy is one of the Christians’ distinctive signs. In fact, in the first letter to the Thessalonians we find one of the few passages in the New Testament describing explicitly the contents of «the will of God»; in it Paul asks the community to preserve in every situation the spiritual joy they received: «Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you» (1Thess 5,16-18).
Paul then answers to the community’s doubts about the resurrection from the dead and «the day of the Lord». The apostle seems to consider that this will come soon (he thinks he will be still alive when all will happen). «But we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you do not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. [...] For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore comfort one another with these words. But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you. For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief. You are all children of light, and children of the day. We do not belong to the night, nor to darkness, so then let us not sleep, as the rest do, but let us watch and be sober» (1Thess 4,13-14.16-18; 5,1-6; even see 1Cor 15).
I leave to your personal reading the second letter to the Thessalonians: the main theme is once again «the day of the Lord»; if we accept the Pauline authorship (some scholars put it in question) its date should be only a little later the first letter. The awaiting of the glorious Jesus’ return grew to the point that some of the Christian Thessalonians left his/her work and the daily tasks, considering them without importance since the whole of history would soon come to an end. Paul disapproves of those behaviors reminding them his example: among the Thessalonians he always worked to support himself, renouncing to his apostolic privileges (2Thess 3,7-10; even see1Thess 2,9).
In the next post we will read the first letter to Timothy.