Deeper Reflection
ANSWERING THE “MACEDONIAN CALL” DURING HIS second missionary journey, Paul and his team moved from Philippi to Thessalonica (Acts 16:6-40; 17:1). Paul preached the Gospel in the synagogue there, and “some” Jews and “a great many of the devout Greeks” – who worshipped at the synagogue, but were not circumcised to become full proselytes – and “not a few of the leading women” were “persuaded” (vv.2-4). With these new converts, Paul planted “the church of the Thessalonians” (1 Thess 1:1) around A.D. 49/50. But Paul faced strong opposition from some of the Jews, who out of jealousy “gathered some troublemakers to form a mob and start a riot” and accused him of “treason against Caesar” in proclaiming “allegiance to another king, named Jesus” (vv.5-7, NLT). Paul was then forced to leave Thessalonica, leaving behind a very young church – “only a few months old”⁷⁸ – facing persecution and with his shepherding work in building up their faith abruptly disrupted (v.9). Then from Athens, Paul sent Timothy to the Thessalonians “to establish and exhort you in your faith” (1 Thess 3:1-2). And Timothy returned to Paul at Corinth (Acts 18:1, 5) with the “good news” that these young believers were “standing firm in the Lord” (1 Thess 3:6-8). In response to this, Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians. When God’s work is under threat of falling apart, God is still at work. The work of God is the work of God.

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⁷⁸ Gary S. Shogren, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Zondervan, 2012), 17