Deeper Reflection
WHEN 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).

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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