Lesson 02 – Paul’s Ministry in Thessalonica (1 Thess. 2:1-16)
▶ Lesson 02 – Paul’s Ministry in Thessalonica (1 Thess. 2:1-16)
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Lesson 02 – Paul’s Ministry in Thessalonica (1 Thess. 2:1-16)
OPEN IT
1. How do you know when someone is using flattery to manipulate you?
EXPLORE IT
Under what conditions did Paul share the gospel with the Thessalonians? (2:2)
2 On the contrary, after we had previously suffered(B) and were treated outrageously in Philippi,(C) as you know, we were emboldened by our God to speak the gospel of God to you in spite of great opposition.
What false charges had been made about Paul? (2:3-5)
3 For our exhortation didn’t come from error or impurity(D) or an intent to deceive.(E) 4 Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted(F) with the gospel,(G) so we speak, not to please people, but rather God,(H) who examines our hearts.(I) 5 For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy(J) motives(K)—God i s our witness(L)—
How did Paul answer the charges against him? (2:3-5)
3 For our exhortation didn’t come from error or impurity(D) or an intent to deceive.(E) 4 Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted(F) with the gospel,(G) so we speak, not to please people, but rather God,(H) who examines our hearts.(I) 5 For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy(J) motives(K)—God i s our witness(L)—
How were other traveling religious teachers deceiving people? (2:5)
5 For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy(J) motives(K)—God is our witness(L)—
How did Paul describe his relationship with the Thessalonians? (2:7)
7 Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles,(N) instead we were gentle[a] among you, as a nurse[b] nurtures her own children.
What were Paul and his companions delighted to do? Why? (2:8)
8 We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.
What did Paul want the Thessalonians to remember about his time with them? (2:9)
9 For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working(O) night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you.
How did Paul describe his work with the Thessalonians? (2:10)
10 You are witnesses,(P) and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously,(Q) and blamelessly(R) we conducted ourselves with you believers.
In what way was Paul like a father to the Thessalonians? (2:11-12)
11 As you know, like a father with his own children,(S) 12 we encouraged, comforted, and i mplored each one of you to walk worthy of God,(T) who calls you into his own kingdom(U) and glory.(V
How did the Thessalonians receive the Word of God? (2:13)
13 This is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is,(W) the word of God,(X) which also works effectively in you who believe.
How were the Thessalonians like the churches in Judea? (2:14)
14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Christ Jesus t hat are in Judea,(Y) since you have also suffered(Z) the same things from people of your own
What kind of opposition had Paul faced? (2:15-16)
15 who killed the Lord Jesus(AB) and the prophets and persecuted us.(AC) They displease God and are hostile to everyone, 16 by keeping us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. As a result, they are constantly filling up their sins to the limit,(AD) and wrath has overtaken them at last.[c]
What is God’s response to people who oppose the preaching of His gospel? (2:16)
16 by keeping us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. As a result, they are constantly filling up their sins to the limit,(AD) and wrath has overtaken them at last.[c]
GET IT
How can we judge the success or failure of our work with people?
How can a desire for popularity (even among Christians) twist our desire and commitment to serve God?
APPLY IT
What can you do this week to make sure that you trying to please God and not other people?
▶ COMMENTARY ▶
(Selected Sources Searched for Context)
LINKS to TEXTS in English Standard Version (ESV)
A defense of spiritual leadership
For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, (2:1) Paul opened the defense of his spiritual leadership with a general statement about the effectiveness of his ministry: For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain. The apostle immediately urged his audience to remember their own experience with him and his companions—what had occurred was obvious and self-evident. Awareness of how Paul ministered among the Thessalonians did not come from a secondhand report (1 Thess. 1:9) but from their own firsthand involvement.
but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. (2:2) Paul’s confidence in the power of God, both to energize his ministry and protect him from harm, gave him boldness, courage, tenacity, and fearlessness in the face of his enemies.
Paul was thinking of those enemies when he reminded the Thessalonians that he and his companions had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi. Luke recorded that episode in Acts 16:16-24: It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. Following Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.” The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Continuing to preach the Gospel despite adversity
Paul and Silas were harmed in two ways at Philippi, as indicated by the two words suffered and mistreated. They were treated brutally, being beaten, and imprisoned in stocks, falsely accused, and illegally punished. Suffered refers primarily to the physical abuse, whereas mistreated refers to public disgrace, or even legal abuse—they were unjustly judged and made prisoners when they had committed no crime. Paul declared that even after they had experienced such bad treatment in Philippi they continued to preach the gospel in Thessalonica, where they were falsely accused of treason (Acts 17:7) and unfairly assaulted by a mob (17:5-6). Even though the missionaries encountered such a terrible reaction in Philippi when they proclaimed the gospel, they came to Thessalonica committed to the same privileged duty of preaching the gospel of God
Paul’s confidence was not in himself. On the contrary, his confidence or boldness was solely in God. Paul wholeheartedly trusted that God would sustain him. As he would later write to the Ephesians, he was “strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (Eph. 6:10). His human weakness was the best tool for God’s power (2 Cor. 12:9-10).
For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; (2:3) The apostle Paul knew he could be confident in God’s power because he was committed to God’s truth, not only in his preaching but also in his living. Enemies of the truth often try to destroy ministers of the gospel by persecution. But when that does not work, as it did not with Paul, they try to undermine people’s trust in the spiritual leader’s message or his personal integrity. That often happened to Paul and his associates. He believed it necessary to defend his integrity by affirming his unwavering commitment to God’s truth, in both speech and conduct. First, he declared, our exhortation does not come from error. Such usage stressed for Paul’s readers the urgency and directness of his preaching. He did not stray from the truth or operate apart from the standard of divine revelation. Paul assured them there was no false teaching or living—in other words, error—in his ministry.
Honesty and straightforwardness of his intentions
Also, Paul affirmed his commitment to God’s truth by declaring that he had not come by way of deceit. With those words he elevated the argument to the realm of motives and asserted the honesty and straightforwardness of his intentions. False teachers often used sorcery, magic, and theatrics to appear as if they had supernatural power and thereby gain converts, both for sexual favors and for money (Acts 8:9-11; 2 Peter 2:15-18; Jude 11). But Paul’s motives were righteous, and he lived and ministered with the utmost integrity (1 Cor. 4:1-5; 2 Cor. 3:1-3; 4:1-6). Paul—and by extension, his colleagues—wanted nothing more than to discharge his responsibility of speaking and living the truth, without deception of any kind. Paul was the opposite of a false teacher: his message was the truth; his life was pure; and his ministry was honest, without hypocrisy or deception.
But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, (2:4a) A third and essential element in Paul’s powerful impact was that his ministry was approved by God. With this point, the discussion moved from the apostle’s commitment to the truth to his commission from God, from which he derived that commitment to truth. God had validated and continued to approve Paul’s ministry.
Clearly God had called Paul to be an apostle; he was not self-appointed (Acts 9:1-18). He was not ministering on his own authority, but he had been entrusted with the gospel. Shortly after Paul’s conversion, the Lord said to Ananias about him: “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel” (Acts 9:15). Paul reiterated the truth of that concept a number of times in his other epistles: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. (1 Cor. 15:10)
God is our witness
So, we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts. For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness—(2:4b-5) While he rejoiced in the privilege of his high calling, a strong sense of accountability to God balanced Paul’s authority to preach the Word. That accountability came from the constant realization that the omniscient Lord knew and examined everything in his heart and life.
Paul was keenly aware that he was not merely accountable to men. He assured the Thessalonians that when he spoke God’s Word, he did so not as pleasing men. Nowhere did he make that clearer than when he responded to the allegation from false teachers in Galatia that he was nothing but a men pleaser. After attacking them with a powerful denunciation and curse, pronouncing anathema on those false teachers and all who corrupt the gospel (Gal. 1:6-9), he then said, “For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ” (v. 10; Heb. 13:17; James 3:1).
The apostle Paul was consumed with pleasing God because he knew that only God truly examines the hearts of those who serve Him. Here hearts refer to the inner self, the real person, where thought, feeling, will, and motive converge. God scrutinizes all those factors and knows with certainty whether His servants are seeking to please Him or people. Paul’s recognition of that omniscience was what motivated his service.
No pretext of greed or self-reward
Since the Lord is the true Judge, the apostle called upon God as his witness in the care of this church and asked Him to confirm that he and his friends had not come to exploit the Thessalonians with flattering speech. The person using flattering speech compliments someone else merely as a ploy to win favor with that person or to gain power over him. Paul did not stoop to the sin of flattery, no doubt remembering the Old Testament words: “May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaks great things” (Ps. 12:3; 5:9; Job 32:21-22; Prov. 20:19; 28:23; Rom. 16:18). False teachers not only seek to gain power and influence through their flattering words, but also their underlying motivation is usually greed. This was common for false religionists in Paul’s day, and it is now. Therefore, Paul also asserted that he had not come with a pretext for greed. Paul and his companions did not come to Thessalonica with a cloak hiding greedy intentions. They were not at all like the spiritual deceivers who come cloaking their real desires for sexual favors and money, using flattery to win over their audience, and then exploiting them for all sorts of personal satisfaction and gain. In contrast, Paul’s ministry was consistent with his later words to the Ephesian elders: “I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me” (Acts 20:33-34). Unlike most false teachers, he worked with his hands, demonstrating that he did not preach the gospel for crass monetary reward. God knew his heart and his motives, and He was the One to whom Paul was accountable.
Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. (2:6) Also unlike typical spiritual deceivers, Paul did not seek glory—esteem, honor, or praise—from men.
Paul did not habitually seek accolades, applause, awards, recognition, and prestige either from the Thessalonians or from others. The only glory Paul ever sought was eternal. To the Ephesians he wrote: “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:20-21). Paul was not in the ministry because of his own ambition. God had gifted, prepared, and placed him there, and therefore he did not deserve any human commendation (1 Cor. 9:16-18; 10:31; 2 Cor. 4:5).
Divinely delegated authority
Even though as apostles of Christ Paul and his associates might have asserted their divinely delegated authority and thereby gained some prestige, they were preoccupied with giving all the glory to God. Apostles refers to specially called messengers. In the strictest sense, the plural apostles were likely intended to link Paul (as one who had seen the risen Christ and been personally commissioned by Him) to the Twelve to identify his unique authority. In a less specific sense, it could designate Silas and Timothy as apostles of the churches, chosen not directly by Christ but by the churches (Rom. 16:7; Phil. 2:25).
Paul never abused his authority as an apostle but always balanced it with accountability and humility . And he knew that God’s omniscience discerned every thought and intention of the heart, so he was careful not to desire praise from men but always to seek to give all the glory to God. “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36) expresses the divine doxology of the apostle.
But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night, and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. (2:7-9)
Calling out the false teachers
Paul begins with the important adversative but, which again contrasts the conduct of his colleagues and him with the sinful behavior of the false teachers (vv. 2, 4). Paul reminded the Thessalonians that instead of operating by the deceitful abusiveness of Satan’s agents, they proved to be gentle among you. (v.7) Paul explained his degree of gentleness toward the Thessalonians by comparing it to a nursing mother who tenderly cares for her own children, the imagery Moses had used for his relationship to Israel (Num. 11:12). As the phrase her own children indicates, Paul was no paid surrogate mother or modern style, hired day care worker. The apostle exhibited the same feelings as a nursing mother when he cared for the Thessalonians’ spiritual needs.
In extending the metaphor of a nursing mother, it was logical for Paul to mention the motive for such nurturing gentleness—love . He possessed fond affection for the Thessalonians. A mother who carries an infant son or daughter on her breast has a naturally fond affection that is unequalled in other human contexts. Paul acknowledged that God naturally designed such intimate affection into the hearts of mothers. The hearts of all righteous spiritual leaders have been supernaturally given the same type of affection for their people, even as he and his companions had for those who were Christ’s.
They came first of all to impart … the gospel of God. (v.8) That is exactly what happens when Christians impart to other people divine truth. They give someone else the good news of salvation, yet without losing possession of it themselves. Paul and his fellow workers taught the transforming truths of the gospel of God and yet retained those truths, even strengthening them by the giving (as all good teachers know), thus forming a loving, enriching fellowship with those who accepted the message. Besides imparting the complete gospel, Paul, Silas, and Timothy also shared their own lives. Literally, they gave up their souls—their real inner beings—for the sake of the Thessalonians. There was nothing superficial or partial about their sacrificial service.
The character of ministry: Labor and Hardship
For proof of his affection for them, Paul again urged the Thessalonians to recall the character of the ministry he had with them. (v.9) Labor and hardship appropriately summarize the ministry at Thessalonica. Labor emphasizes the difficulty of a deed itself, and hardship underscores the strenuous toil and struggle in performing it. Those two words combine to reflect not only the loving attitude of motherly concern, but also the sincere application of that concern.
He and his companions lived on what he received from the Philippians (Phil. 4:16) and what he earned in his trade as a tent maker. Since he clearly stayed in Thessalonica beyond the three Sabbaths which he first taught at the synagogue, he had time to set up a tent making business—which he did, working night and day with his hands to support himself and those with him. Paul did not want to be a burden to any of the Thessalonians because he knew they lacked material resources (2 Cor. 8:1-2). Though they gave generously and sacrificially for the impoverished believers in Jerusalem (vv. 3-4), it was out of the “deep poverty” that was typical of believers (1 Cor. 1:26-28), especially in the war-ravaged, oft-plundered Roman province of Macedonia.
You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. (2:10-12)
God’s omniscient examination of motives
As with all leaders, a father’s duty is to lead by example, setting the standard of virtuous integrity in his family (Deut. 4:9; Prov. 13:24; Eph. 6:4; Col. 3:21; Heb. 12:9); and that is also the spiritual leader’s responsibility to his people. With that in mind, Paul called upon the Thessalonians again to remember what he had said and how he had ministered among them (2:1, 2, 5, and 9). The phrase You are witnesses (v.10) repeats the reminder of verse 1, “for you yourselves know,” and the phrase and so is God looks back to verses 4 and 5 in which Paul described God’s omniscient examination of his motive and his own testimony of his personal integrity. Thus, Paul pointed both to the Thessalonians’ firsthand knowledge and God’s perfect insight into how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly he and his friends behaved toward them. (v.10) Devoutly means “in a holy manner” and emphasizes how Paul, Silas, and Timothy lived before God. The adverb uprightly (“righteously”) refers to how well the men dealt righteously under divine law toward both God and man. And finally, the word blamelessly pertains to their reputation before people. In every respect, they were exemplary spiritual fathers, setting the standard for all who have followed.
just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, (2:11) As a father would his own children expresses the natural, normal function of a father concerned about the well-being of his own children.
Fathers are not only examples, but also instructors. So, the spiritual father is not to be merely a model but also a personal teacher and motivator. (v.11) This fatherly instruction is conveyed in three verbs describing what fathers do and what Paul had done continually. Exhorting (v.11) is from parakaleĹŤ, literally “to call alongside,” and is related to the noun paraklÄ“tos, “one who comes alongside,” which is one of the titles for the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; Gen. 1:2; Isa. 11:2; John 3:6; Rom. 8:9, 15-16; Eph. 1:13; 1 Peter 4:14). The apostle referred to coming alongside children for the purpose of aiding, directing, and instructing wisely as a source of character conduct.
Spiritual growth in spite of obstacles
Encouraging (v.11) (paramutheomai), meaning to encourage in the sense of comfort and consolation, is so critical in assisting toward spiritual growth because of the many obstacles and failures Christians can experience. Used in John 11:19 and 31 for the consolation given to the grieving family of Lazarus, the word was reserved for the tender, restorative, compassionate uplifting needed by a struggling, burdened, heartbroken child. This beautiful expression of natural fatherly kindness also fits the spiritual father.
Finally, Paul reminded the believers that he had been imploring each one (singling them out personally). Imploring is the Greek participle marturomenoi, which is usually translated “testifying,” or “witnessing,” is related to the word martyr because so many faithful witnesses died for their boldness. Paul warned the Thessalonians that any deviation from the divinely prescribed course of conduct had serious consequences. The warning was an admonishment that if they did not follow the course laid out for them, they, as disobedient children would receive from a father, could expect to receive spiritual discipline from the apostle.
So that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. (2:12) Like a father whose goal is the mature wisdom of his children, the apostle Paul concluded his exhortation by affirming that a spiritual father will endeavor to continue his efforts until he produces sons and daughters who walk in a manner worthy— live mature lives. Walk refers to daily conduct, as it often does in the New Testament epistles (e.g., Rom. 6:4; 2 Cor. 5:7; Gal. 5:16, 25; Eph. 2:10; 4:1; 5:8; Col. 1:10; 2:6; 1 John 2:6).
Imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus
For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, (2:13-14)
Paul was first thankful the people willingly received the word of God. They were open and receptive in listening to the preaching from Paul, Silas, and Timothy (Acts 17:4; 28:24). Paralabontes (received) refers to an objective reception of a message, in this case the gospel. The Thessalonians’ reception of God’s Word was subjective as well as objective. Edexasthe (accepted) connotes an inward welcome of the message, a transference from the mind to the heart. Such an eager embracing of what the Thessalonians had heard indicated that God had granted them faith and regeneration. Luke’s record says: “Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women” (Acts 17:4; Rom. 10:10, 17).
The Thessalonians progressed spiritually because they savingly believed the message of the Cross and that belief powerfully affected their daily lives. Paul was thankful for that reality, just as he was later for the Colossians’ reception of the Word: “It is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth” (Col. 1:6).
The Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work
The proof of their complete acceptance of the gospel and the Lord of that gospel is that the church in Thessalonica had become imitators of the apostle and his coworkers, (v.14) Here Paul expands his commendation and says the Thessalonians also imitated the believers in Judea, giving him further reason to be thankful to God for His work in saving the Thessalonians. Though the Thessalonians probably had never been to the churches in Judea to see a pattern they could follow, the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work was making the Thessalonian church a duplicate of His work in Judea, in that both churches experienced suffering (v. 14b). During the first few years following the birth of that church, believers founded other local churches (Acts 8:4) that, by the time of the Thessalonians’ conversion, were all mature assemblies, having benefited from the refining of persecution.
Even as the believers in Judea suffered persecution from their own people, the Jews, the Thessalonians, immediately after receiving the gospel (Acts 17:1-4), endured persecution at the hands of their own countrymen. (v.14) Acts 17:5-8 identifies those persecutors as both unbelieving Jews and their Gentile accomplices: But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset the world have come here also; and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things. In that instance, the mob sought Paul and his friends at Jason’s house on the assumption that they were protected there. (Jason was a name adopted by many dispersed Jews, so he was possibly an Israelite.) The episode illustrates the kind of persecution the Thessalonian church was suffering. Paul and his companions left Thessalonica immediately after the mob uproar (Acts 17:10), but it is likely that the persecution resumed and intensified during the subsequent weeks before Paul sent this epistle from Corinth. The Thessalonians nevertheless triumphed in their sufferings, being joyful in affliction (1 Thess. 1:6), which to Paul was an evidence of their true conversion and thus the culmination of his thanks to God for them.
Who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out? They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost. (2:15-16)
In contrast with the unbelief of the Jews
The apostle Paul made an unusually abrupt transition as he began his criticism of the Jews. It is almost as if the mention of the word Jews at the end of verse 14 instantly catapulted him into the harsh words of verses 15 and 16. The unbelieving Jews were the tragic antithesis of the believers in Thessalonica. The Jewish people had already turned their backs on the spiritual privilege that Paul alluded to in the book of Romans: Who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. (9:4-5; Gen. 17:2; Ex. 4:22; Deut. 4:13; 29:14-15; 1 Sam. 4:21; Ps. 26:8; 147:19; Heb. 9:1, 6)
Knowing that the Jews’ hateful attitude had not changed but rather had intensified since their original hostility in the early days at Thessalonica, Paul made a strong statement about their spiritual condition. His statement consists of three reasons they are a people to be sad for: they rejected God’s Word, they hindered the saints, and they faced punishment in suffering. These three are in direct contrast to the reasons Paul was joyful over the Thessalonians.
Who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out? (2:15a) Amazingly, in clear contrast to the Thessalonian believers’ immediate love of the truth, throughout their long history the Jews rejected the message and messengers God sent them. Most notably, the Lord Jesus, their Messiah, declared the truth of God, and they killed Him (Acts 2:22-23, 36). The Old Testament prophets delivered God’s words to His people, and they killed those men also (Jer. 26:23; Heb. 11:32-37; 1 Kings 19:10; 2 Chron. 24:20-21).
God’s disdain for the apostasy of the Jews
The gospels support Paul’s statement that the Jews killed the Lord Jesus (Matt. 27:20-25; Mark 14:61-65; 15:11-14; Luke 23:20-25). The Romans executed Him, but only at the instigation of the Jews (John 19:12-16). Obviously, it is not all Jews of all time who were responsible for killing Christ. However, the apostate Jewish mob that insisted Pontius Pilate should carry out the crucifixion of Jesus was guilty of murdering Him. Those Jews represented the historic apex of their people’s unbelief and opposition to God’s will (Acts 2:22 -23, 36; 4:10; 5:30; 10:39). Thus Paul’s strong words in verse 15 are without doubt in harmony with God’s centuries-old disapproval of the Jews who apostatized (2 Kings 17:13; 2 Chron. 15:1-2; 36:16; Jer. 25:4-5; Lam. 2:9; Ezek. 3:19; Matt. 23:35-38).
The Jewish people’s culpability for the murder of Jesus also correlates with their deadly hostility toward the prophets. Other than Zechariah’s (2 Chron. 24:20-22), the Old Testament spokesmen’s murders are not detailed in Scripture. However, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews provides a general indication of what occurred: “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated” (Heb. 11:37). The Jews’ long-established rejection of anyone who brought God’s Word to them (2 Chron. 24:19) extended to Paul and the other New Testament apostles. Hence Paul wrote that the Jews drove his associates and him out of Thessalonica (Acts 17:10). The verb rendered drove us out refers to the hunting down of an animal with the intention of killing it. Such stubborn and overt Jewish rejection of God’s Word profoundly saddened the apostle’s heart (Rom. 9:1-5; 10:1).
They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; (2:15b-16a) Whereas the Thessalonians honored the messengers of God, the Jews hindered the gospel preachers by trying to prevent them from preaching their message. By hindering the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles, the Jews, in similar fashion to the unconverted Saul of Tarsus, thought they were rendering God a service. However, Paul said they were not pleasing to God and used the present tense, denoting that the Jews’ antagonistic attitude was habitual.
Jewish apostasy blocked, mocked the spread of the Gospel
The Jews were not only displeasing to God, but they were also hostile to all men. That hostility was not so much a racial prejudice as it was a religious prejudice. They resented, even hated, any religion but their own—and especially the gospel of Jesus Christ, whom they rejected as a satanic, counterfeit messiah (Matt. 12:24). That animosity was expressed in hindering the apostles from speaking the gospel to the Gentiles. The Jews refused to believe the gospel, and they resented it being preached so that others might be saved.
With the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost. (2:16b) The Thessalonians had demonstrated perseverance in suffering and emerged triumphant in the hope of eternal glory. However, the Jews faced an entirely different situation. They would not be able to endure their fearful, deadly, final punishment.
The result of the Jews’ hostility to God’s Word and His saints is that they always fill up the measure of their sins. Literally, that phrase says, “They always heap up their sins to the limit.” There is a well-defined point at which people reach the limit of their sins (Gen. 6:3, 5-6; Matt. 23:32). Paul’s language stems from the kind of expression first seen in Scripture in Genesis 15:16, “The iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.” It means God brings judgment only when sin has reached a certain limit (Dan. 8:23; Acts 17:30-31; Rom. 2:5-6; Matt. 23:32; Heb. 10:28-30).
THINK ABOUT THIS: Contrary to what we often think, affliction produces greater confidence and boldness in the people of God (v. 2). If it is viewed rightly, affliction takes our confidence away from ourselves and other people and settles it on the gospel and God alone. Tenderness for the Lord’s people is one of the characteristics of a spiritual preacher. Paul uses the pictures of a nurse (v. 7) and a father (v. 11). How do both kinds of love form a good soil for spiritual growth?
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