1 Thessalonians

Chapter 2

vs 11-12

So PS&T have been both mother and father to the Thessalonians - mothers are gentle and caring, while fathers are encouraging, comforting and urging. I wonder if that is how we treat our children, and moreso, if that is how we treat the world we are trying to reach with the gospel?

vs 13

This is worth praising God for. It wouldn't be the first time, at least for Paul, that people had thought he was a god, and that's no good for your ministry. It's very interesting at seeing what has happened to make the work so fruitful in Thessalonica. The people (some at least) were prepared to believe the word was the Word of God, they were prepared to ditch their idols, they were accepting of those who came with the message. Basically, they were open to the message.

It doesn't always happen like that, of course. We don't have "Paul's letter to the Athenians" for example.

vs 14

Note that PS&T are not saying, at least in my reading, that the Thessalonian church imitated the Judean church in its traditions and activities. They imitated it by their suffering. Oh golly gosh - you mean the Thessalonian church isn't doing things the way it's done in Acts 2:42, but it's still a New Testament church that receives praises from Paul! Shock horror!

vs 15

Yes, PS&T would get dragged into court for saying this these days. I wonder what would happen if I went and read it out aloud in the city square, or had it published on a shirt?

vs 16

Killing Jesus for selfish purposes, hostility so as to prevent gentiles from hearing the gospel - they pile it on like ice cream. The greek for that last bit is in the past tense - perhaps Paul is saying that their denial, and indeed violent opposition, to the gospel is the show of the wrath of God because they are Jews (ie the ones who are supposed to be trying to follow God). So it would seem that sometimes, being such a stickler for tradition and your own church paradigm that you violently oppose a movement that is of God (*coughpentecostalismcough*) is wrath of God in itself - after all, you've put yourself in opposition to a movement of God, and you sit there saying "Hah, I sure showed them".

vs 17

I think the opposition that PS&T present here with the use of the word 'but', is an opposition of action primarily. So they say "The Jews were eager to stop us preaching to you, but we are eager when away from you to come back to you". It could also be "The Jews were keen to stop you hearing us, but didn't really care to tell you any truth - they didn't care about you, just about us preaching to you. Whereas we are eager to come to you because of who you are!" I guess this verse could be seen as a subtle jibe against any Judaising influence, but I haven't seen any evidence of that in the book so far.

vs 18

Here Paul makes his own self and actions known. It's funny how often Paul tries to go somewhere but just gets stopped. Corinthians is another example.

vs 19-20

"Crown in which we will glory" literally means "crown of boasting" - but I guess the translators didn't want to use a negative word. Wouldn't it be nice to be the joy of someone's ministry. "Oh, I have reached a hundred people, but it's that group of people there that are going to be my crowning joy in heaven".

Of course, as I have said before, a crown might sound really cool, but it almost explicitly states here that the only thing they want it for is to put it at the feet of Jesus. As much as having crowns and glory and joy is nice, these guys have been doing this for Jesus, and so that's their primary joy - that this church is a glory to Christ.