Deeper ReflectionWHEN PAUL PREACHED THE GOSPEL IN THE SYNAGOGUE in Thessalonica, some Jews, and many Greek God-fearers and leading women became believers (Acts 17:1-4). But when Paul addresses “the church of the Thessalonians” as a whole (1 Thess 1:1), he states that they had “turned from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess 1:9). These Thessalonians were “converted from full paganism with no stopover in the synagogue system”
1. And by the time Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians, “the church in the majority was already Gentile Christian”
2. The Thessalonians “received the word” through Paul’s ministry “in much affliction” (v.6) – which they “suffered…from your own countrymen” (1 Thess 2:14). Thessalonica, the provincial capital of Macedonia, was a “free city”
3 that had the autonomy to “govern themselves according to their ancestral custom and were exempt from tribute to Rome”
4 and “had aligned herself with the interests of Rome and had reaped their benefits”
5. And in this context, Thessalonica became “a prominent centre for the worship of the Roman emperors”
6. Thus, when “the people and the city authorities” heard about Paul’s preaching of Jesus replacing Caesar as king, they viewed it as seditious, and were “disturbed” (Acts 17:7-9), for fear of losing their favoured position from Rome.
7 And thus the Thessalonian believers were “accused of being part of a seditious movement”
8 and were persecuted “by your own countrymen” (1 Thess 2:14). But they were “standing fast in the Lord” (1 Thess 3:8).
1 Gary S. Shogren, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Zondervan, 2012), 23
2 Gary S. Shogren, 23
3 Gene L. Green, The Letters to the Thessalonians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Apollos, 2002), 21
4 Gene L. Green, 21
5 Gene L. Green, 21
6 Gary S. Shogren, 18
7 Gene L. Green, 28
8 Gene L. Green, 28