1 Thessalonians 2:17

The church at Thessalonica was very young when Paul had to leave it. Acts tells how he reasoned in the synagogue there for three sabbaths, and Jews, devout Greeks and chief women believed (Acts 17:1–10). Jealous Jews then stirred up a mob and accused the missionaries of saying “that there is another king, one Jesus”, and Paul and Silas were sent away by night. In a city of the Roman Empire a charge of proclaiming another king was dangerous, and the new believers faced that hostility with their teachers gone.

Paul has spent most of this chapter (1 Thessalonians 2) recalling how he lived among them. He was gentle with them as a nursing mother and urged them on as a father (1 Thessalonians 2:1–12), and they received his preaching as the word of God and suffered for it as the churches in Judea had (1 Thessalonians 2:13–16). With “But we, brethren,” he turns to what happened after he left, and the language of a parent carries straight on.

“Wherefore” (dió) draws the consequence: because Paul longed for them, he set out to come. “We would have come” joins thélō, to will or determine, to érchomai, to come, so this was a firm purpose. Paul then steps out from the “we” with “even I Paul” (Paûlos), to make plain that he himself meant it. “Once and again” is hápax and dís, once and twice, so he tried more than once.

“But Satan hindered us.” The verb enkóptō means to cut into, and so to impede or hinder. Paul uses the same verb in Romans 15:22–23 of what had hindered him from coming to Rome. The name Satanâs came into Greek from Aramaic, and it means the accuser, the devil. Paul lays the blame on a personal enemy of God and his people who opposes the work of the gospel.

“For” (gár) gives the reason for all this longing. Paul asks what his hope, joy and crown of rejoicing will be, and answers with another question: “Are not even ye...?” The “ye” (hymeîs) is emphatic, and the Thessalonians themselves are the answer.

Hope, elpís, is expectation, a looking forward with confidence. Joy, chará, is gladness, and the word also covers what causes joy, which is how Paul uses it: these people are his joy. The crown is stéphanos, a wreath or chaplet, given as a badge of royalty, as a prize in the public games or as a mark of honour, and more elaborate than the simple band called diádēma. The Thessalonians knew such wreaths from athletic games and from the honours their city gave. “Of rejoicing” is kaúchēsis, boasting, which can be good or bad. Here it is the glad boast Paul will make before the Lord over what God has done in them.

“At his coming” is parousía, a being near, a presence or arrival. Here it is the return of the Lord Jesus, the hope that runs through this letter and gives its comfort to those who grieve (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18). “In the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ” places Paul’s joy on the day when every man’s work will be made manifest (1 Corinthians 3:10–15). So Paul’s reward is kept for that day, and it consists of people. He called the Philippians “my joy and crown” (Philippians 4:1), he told the Corinthians that they and he would be each other’s rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:14), and Daniel speaks of the shining of those who turn many to righteousness (Daniel 12:3).

“Wherefore” (dió) again ties what follows to Paul’s longing. “When we could no longer forbear” joins mēkéti, no longer, to stégō, which means to roof over, and so to cover in silence or bear patiently. Paul and his companions had held in their anxiety for as long as they could, and it came to the point where they had to act. “We thought it good” is eudokéō, to think well of, to approve. It was a considered decision, and they made it gladly, hard as it was.

After Thessalonica the missionaries went to Berea, where opposition followed them, and Paul went on to Athens while Silas and Timothy remained behind for a time (Acts 17:10–15). The “we” of this verse takes in his companions, and the decision meant that Paul would be “left” (kataleípō, left behind) in Athens “alone” (mónos). Travel was dangerous and news was slow, and the apostles usually travelled together for support, safety and the work itself. Athens was famous for its philosophy and its idols, a hard place to be by oneself. Paul gave up the companion he needed so that the church could have the help it needed more. He tells believers to look on the things of others (Philippians 2:4) and to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), and he speaks of the care of all the churches that came on him daily (2 Corinthians 11:28).

Timothy went “that no man should be moved by these afflictions”. “No man” is mēdeís, no one, not even one. “Moved” is saínō, which means to wag, as a dog wags its tail, and so to shake or disturb. Paul wanted none of them shaken loose from the faith by thlîpsis, pressure, the word for affliction, trouble and persecution. Many of these believers had turned to God from idols, and their neighbours made them pay for it in shunning, lost livelihood and violence.

“For yourselves know” (gár, eídō) points back to what Paul had taught them in person. “We are appointed thereunto” uses keîmai, to lie, to be laid or set, with eis toûto, unto this. Believers are set for affliction, the apostles among them, and trouble for Christ’s sake belongs to the road. Jesus told his disciples so: “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). Paul wrote, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12), and he told the Philippians that it is given to believers to suffer for Christ’s sake (Philippians 1:29). The disciple is in the same place as his master (Matthew 10:24–25), and tribulation bears fruit: “we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience” (Romans 5:3–5).

Verse 5 gathers the passage up. “For this cause” (toûto, diá) means because of these afflictions. “When I could no longer forbear” repeats stégō and mēkéti from verse 1, but now Paul speaks for himself, “I” (kagṓ, I also). “I sent” is pémpō, the same verb as in verse 2. “To know your faith” is ginṓskō, to know or come to know: Paul wanted to find out how their faith was holding.

“Lest by some means” (mḗpōs with -pṓs, lest somehow) introduces the fear. “The tempter” and “have tempted” both translate peirázō, to test, try or tempt, and “the tempter”, ho peirazōn, is a title for Satan, the one who tries people and entices them away from God. Matthew uses the same English title when the tempter came to Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1–11). Paul feared that Satan had used the pressure of persecution to pull them from the faith. Peter warns of the same adversary and tells believers to resist him steadfast in the faith (1 Peter 5:8–9), and James speaks of the trying of our faith that works patience (James 1:2–4).

“And our labour be in vain.” Kópos is a cut, and so toil that wears down the strength. It covers the preaching, teaching and persecution the missionaries had borne for this church. Kenós means empty. If their faith failed under pressure, all that toil would be empty. The fear was answered: Timothy came back with good news of their faith and love, and Paul was comforted (1 Thessalonians 3:6–10).

Paul’s joy in the Thessalonians reflects the greater joy of Christ, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2). Paul hopes to present his converts at the Lord’s coming, and Christ gave himself for the church to present it to himself “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25–27). He will come to be glorified in his saints (2 Thessalonians 1:10), and then “we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

Paul longed to see his people’s faces. Christ promised to be with his disciples to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20), he prayed that those the Father gave him would be with him where he is (John 17), and at his coming we shall ever be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17) and see his face (Revelation 22:4). Paul laid aside his own comfort for the church, and Christ, being in the form of God, “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:5–7).

Paul feared the tempter, and Christ met the tempter and overcame him without sin, so he is a high priest touched with the feeling of our weakness (Hebrews 4:15). He is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11), no one can pluck them from his hand (John 10:28), and he lives to make intercession for them (Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25). That is why Paul can tell the Corinthians that their labour in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

These verses open the heart of a pastor. Paul felt the loss of his people like a bereavement, called them his crown, and gave up his only companion so they would be strengthened. That love came from Christ, and it shows us how the Lord himself cares for his church, longs for his people, sends help to them and will rejoice over them at his coming.

They also tell us plainly what to expect. Affliction for Christ’s sake is the road we are set on, and it was foretold, so its coming is a reason for steadiness. Satan is real and he hinders and tempts, yet in this very passage his hindering ended in Timothy’s visit, a letter and a church standing firm. When trouble presses on us, we have what the Thessalonians had: brothers and sisters God sends to establish and comfort us, the word that warned us beforehand, and a Lord whose coming will turn every faithful labour into joy.