The Word Made Fresh
1Paul, Silas and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
2We thank God for you and always remember you in our prayers. 3We remember your faithful work and your labor of love and your undying hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4We know that God loves you and that he has chosen you. 5Our gospel was given to you in word and in power and in the Holy Spirit with deep confidence, and you know what kind of people we are because we lived among you and proved to be of benefit to you. 6And you imitated us and the Lord, receiving the word during a time of great suffering, but joyfully, inspired by the Holy Spirit. 7You became an example to all those in Macedonia and Achaia who are believers. 8It isn’t just that the word of the Lord was heard from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but people everywhere know of your faith in God, and we don’t need to tell anyone about it 9because they are telling everyone about the welcome we received from you, and how you turned away from idols and began to serve God, who is living and true; 10and how you wait for God’s Son from heaven who was raised from the dead – Jesus, who will deliver us from the coming wrath.
Commentary
Paul’s stormy visit to Thessalonica is described in Acts 17. He was chased out of town after only a few weeks and fled to Beroea where he was chased out again. He was spirited off to Athens then, leaving Timothy and Silas behind. Later, he sent Timothy back to Thessalonica (see chapter 3, verse 2) to determine how things were going. This letter and the one that follows were sent from Athens, Greece (see 3:1-5), in response to what Timothy reported back to him about divisions within the congregation and their unhealthy concern over when the Second Coming would take place and what would happen to people who died before Christ returned. Other issues are taken up as well.
1: The greeting from Paul, Silas (also called Silvanus) and Timothy will be repeated in 2 Thessalonians.
2-10: The usual thanksgiving for the recipients of the letter follows. He commends them for their faith in the face of persecution. Paul had encountered violent opposition there, and it would seem that the church he started had to deal with the same opponents. Even so, their hospitality to other believers is remarked upon, as is their wholehearted rejection of pagan beliefs. In verse 10 he mentions their eagerness for the return of Christ, a subject on which he will comment in more detail later in the letter.
Takeaway
Today is a good time to thank God for those early believers who risked everything, even their lives, to tell others about Jesus. Thank God also that we today live in a country where we are free to worship Jesus Christ. And pray for those in other countries who risk their lives to worship him.