Paul is still on his Second Missionary Journey…
Thessalonica was where Paul spent 3 weeks preaching Jesus in the synagogue and stayed with a new Greek convert, Jason. The Jews who did not believe the Gospel got a mob together and attacked Jason’s house and basically arrested him and a few other Christians, but they couldn’t find Paul – who was presumably hiding somewhere with his ministry companions. They left Thessalonica under cover of darkness and went to Berea.
Paul and Luke left Timothy and Silas behind in Berea and went on to Athens.
“Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.”
Acts 17:15 ESV
So Paul waits in Athens for the rest of his team to arrive. And he’s debating philosophers. Silas and Timothy must have arrived from Berea because Paul sends them back to Macedonia while he is still in Athens. Timothy specifically went to Thessalonica.
“Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith,”
1 Thessalonians 3:1-2 ESV
Paul hadn’t been in Thessalonica very long. Probably less than a month. That’s not enough time to do much teaching. So Paul sends Timothy back to them for a while. And then Timothy rejoins Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:1-5, 1 Thes. 3:1-6). If Paul is referring to Timothy returning to him after having been sent while Paul was in Athens, then Acts 18:1-5 indicates that Paul was in Corinth at that point and would’ve written 1 Thessalonians from Corinth at that time.
The letter to the Thessalonians wasn’t just from Paul. It’s from Silas (Silvanus is his full name, Silas is his “nickname”) and Timothy too as the opening salutation shows.
This letter follows the standard 4-part structure and order of a Greco-Roman letter:
- Salutation (Sender to Recipient, greeting)
- Thanksgiving (a prayer for the recipient, nonbelievers prayed to one of the Greek or Roman deities)
- Body (the main text)
- Farewell (final greetings, instructions, wishes)
No Empty Exhortations
There is a principle for interpreting biblical epistles called “No Empty Exhortations.” If the writer is admonishing, instructing, exhorting, or otherwise advising the recipients to do or believe something, there is a reason for it. It’s not filler. There are no empty exhortations.
Here’s a little practice for us…
How many things can you learn about the sender, the recipient, and the circumstances by reading this email?
Ok. You probably figured out that the recipient is a son in his first week of college. He plans to go on a hiking trip. He’s smart but may have a tendency to stay up late and goof off instead of study. He has a mom and two younger siblings (boy and girl) and the younger brother has moved into older brother’s vacant room. You may even have worked out that the parents live somewhere between the college and the grandparents’ house. There are more things you could deduce from the email but you get the idea. We can infer a lot of information indirectly.
Keep this in mind when reading any Epistle.
We can work out from what Paul writes to them what some of the big concerns are:
“For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 ESV
Jason and many of the others who became Christians were Greek. They had a background of idol worship. They abandoned their old gods. This brought on attacks from other Gentiles.
“For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews,”
1 Thessalonians 2:14 ESV
Jason had his house attacked and he and some of the other Christians were arrested. Jason was released on bail but Paul and team had to escape to Berea. That’s how it started. Paul seems to be saying that the persecution continued.
“and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.”
1 Thessalonians 3:2-5 ESV
Persecution and affliction can make people give up on serving Christ. Paul is concerned that that Thessalonians will throw in the towel because of it. He had so little time with them to help them get well-established. That’s why he sent Timothy. And the report that came back was good.
“But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith.”
1 Thessalonians 3:6-7 ESV
These rookie Christians – who are being persecuted! – are doing well, They’re trusting God and loving one another.
Now that Paul has let them know how pleased he is that their faith is holding strong under pressure, he going to address some concerns they had. These are questions brought to Paul on their behalf by Timothy. And it’s mainly this:
If Jesus is coming again to establish His Kingdom on earth, what about our Christian friends who have recently died or been killed in persecution? Are they going to miss out on the Kingdom?
Paul answers that question in the rest of the letter.
