1 & 2 Thessalonians
Thessalonica the City
Thessalonica (Thessaloniki until 1937) is one of two cities where Paul wrote a letter that is still functioning today. (The other is Rome.)
Thessalonica was the first-century capital of Macedonia, and it was the largest city.
Originally, it was called Therma because of the hot springs located there.
In 315 B.C., Cassander and his wife Thessalonica, the half-sister of Alexander the Great, named Thessalonica.
“But as the elder Pliny refers to Therma and Thessalonica as existing together, it would seem that Cassander founded a new town which in due course extended and swallowed up the more ancient one nearby. Under the Romans it was the capital of the second of the four divisions of Macedonia, and when these were united to form one single province in 146 bc it became the capital, as well as the largest city of the province. Thessalonica was a free city, and inscriptions confirm the accuracy of Luke in calling its rulers’ politarchs’. It was strategically situated on the Via Egnatia, the great Roman highway to the East.”
“Thessalonica was not only an important city politically but also commercially. One of Rome’s major east-west trade routes passed through Macedonia. The Via Egnatia originated on the Adriatic coast at both Apollonia and Dyrrachium. The two routes quickly joined and proceeded east to Thessalonica and the Aegean coast. Roughly following the coast, the road continued on through Amphipolis, Philippi, and Nicopolis to Kypsela in Thrace—a distance, according to Strabo, of 4,280 stadia (535 miles). Military and commercial travel moving east/ west that could not take advantage of the sea routes further south would have moved along the Via Egnatia. Paul and his coworkers traveled this road as they moved from Philippi through Amphipolis and Apollonia to Thessalonica, leaving it as they turned south toward Athens.”
About the Author
The author of both these letters is Paul. He says so in the opening of each letter.
“Paul, Silas, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.” – 1 Thessalonians 1:1 (NIV)
“Paul, Silas, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” - 2 Thessalonians 1:1-2 (NIV)
When was it written?
Thessalonians was most likely written in 48-49 A.D. Many scholars go as far as saying that he wrote these early when he stayed 18-months in Corinth (Acts 18:1–18). “Second Thessalonians was probably penned from Corinth in 48-49 A.D., shortly after 1 Thessalonians.”
About the Audience
As you read in Acts 16, Paul was traveling with two other men, Silas and Timothy. These three were preaching in Philippi when they were apprehended. While in prison, Paul and Silas were singing hymns and then an earthquake knocked their chains loose. This ultimately leads to the conversion of the guard/jailer and his family.
Right after this, they went to Thessalonica and Paul preached three sabbaths (Acts 17:2) and saw success from his gospel message.
“His converts included some Jews, ‘a large number’ of devout Greeks, and ‘not a few’ chief women (Acts 17:4). The chief success of the mission clearly lay among those Greeks who had attached themselves to the synagogue. These people were dissatisfied with the low standards of pagan morality and with the idol worship that fostered them. They were attracted by the monotheism and lofty morality of Judaism, but repelled by its narrow nationalism and ritual requirements. In Christianity they found a faith that satisfied. Some of the converts came of high-class families, but it is probable that most were from the lower classes, for Paul stresses his refusal to be dependent on them in any way (1 Thess. 2:9), and his letters to them contain no warnings about the dangers of riches.”
The Jewish community, specifically, did not appreciate the number of followers they lost to this new religion, Christianity. They responded with hostility and brutality, gathering individuals from the crowd to create a rowdy mob. This mob proceeded to cause chaos in the city and eventually targeted the residence of Jason, who had provided accommodation for Paul and his companions.
With this in mind, we know that Paul is writing to the converts he preached to in Thessalonica. The Church here is made up of Jewish converts, God-fearing Gentiles (those who respected the Jewish religion but did not convert), pagan converts, and many devout Greek converts.
Why did Paul write these letters?
“The letter is a mixture of relief and anxiety. It opens with a burst of thanks and praise that doesn’t stop until the end of chapter 3. The reason for the anxiety is the emotional turmoil Paul and his companions experienced between their midnight escape from Thessalonica and Timothy’s recent return from the city. Both of these emotions are intertwined and not only explain what was happening to Paul and the Thessalonians but also reveal Paul’s heart as a pastor.”
Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 3:10 that he wishes to supply what is lacking in their faith. He wanted this new Church to know that their departure was not due to them “swindling” or trying to lead people astray (especially for money.) “The way he and the others left town in a hurry probably raised a few eyebrows and caused some to harbor suspicions about them. Such suspicions are only a short step away from concluding that Paul’s message was as phony as the one who delivered it. Paul responds by reminding them of how they first encountered the gospel (1:4–10) as well as how he, Silas, and Timothy acted when they were in Thessalonica (2:1–12).”
Timothy returned to Paul with not just good news, but some questioning too. The second half of his first letter is dedicated to addressing these things. For example, some in this new church had died while Paul was away and it left these baby Christians confused about their status since they passed before Jesus returned.
“Paul encourages them not to grieve without hope (4:13–18); rather, they should focus on the time when Jesus returns and God will set all things right (5:1–11). In the meantime, he instructs them to maintain the sexual ethics he taught them (4:1–8), to guard their social relationships (4:9–12), and to live and worship together as a community based on love and their common confession of faith (5:12–22). We can presume that once Paul finished the letter, he sent it back to Thessalonica, probably in the company of Timothy, whom Paul used as a courier now and then.”
According to Byron, Paul’s central themes of 1 Thessalonians are:
Focus on the gospel.
Focus on remembering.
Focus on pleasing God.
Focus on community.
Focus on the future.
Regarding 2 Thessalonians’ purpose:
“Unlike the first letter, there are no indicators as to when Paul wrote this letter. There is no mention of how he has learned about the situation in Thessalonica, nor is there any mention of an emissary going back and forth between him and the church (cf. 1 Thess 3:1, 6). Nonetheless, the close similarity between the two letters in structure and in issues suggests that the letter was written a few months after the first. Timothy or someone else returned to Thessalonica with 1 Thessalonians and discovered things had deteriorated soon after his earlier visit. Paul’s short, somewhat incisive letter may reveal the haste and urgency he felt to respond to the situation before it got much more out of control.”
