©Michael Player
Chapter 1:1-3 (ESV) - Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace.
We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Question to consider: In what way are we all considered “priests” in Christ's church?
“These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” (Acts 17:6-7) Paul, Silvanus (Silas), and Timothy founded the church in Thessalonica in AD 49 after being asked to leave Philippi. In Philippi, Paul had cast a demon out of a slave girl who made her master money as a fortune-teller.
The subsequent uproar landed Paul, Silas, and Timothy in jail where the Lord miraculously broke their chains, and their jailer came to faith. Since Paul was a Roman citizen, the Philippian ruling council asked them to leave rather than go through the trouble of punishing them further. When they came to Thessalonica, they preached in the synagogue there. The quote in the first paragraph was from a mob that was stirred up by the rabbis of that synagogue out of jealousy for the multitude of Gentiles who wished to be baptized into Christ Jesus.
It would seem that Paul had planned to spend several weeks in Thessalonica– building tents and helping to catechize this young church, but once the mob started forming, Jason ushered them out of town, and Paul and Silas ended up in Berea. The Jews from Thessalonica followed them down there to stir up trouble for them, and so Paul escaped to Athens. It was about three years later when Paul met back up with Timothy and Silas in Corinth and received an update about the Thessalonians from Timothy which prompted this letter.
Given the words from the mob that Paul and the gang were preaching that Jesus was the true king and not Caesar, it stands to reason that Paul emphasized in the opening of his letter the Lordship of Christ. This was not a gathering of Caesar worshipers but a church of citizens in the kingdom of heaven.
As in most of his epistles, Paul wished for them to have all blessings (grace) and peace from the Lord. Even though Paul, Timothy, and Silas were prevented from living among the Thessalonians, they could still intercede for them in prayer. Because we belong to Christ, we are considered among His royal priests, and we can thus intercede for one another in prayer.
One day, we will all be together again in Christ’s kingdom where there will be no more pain, suffering or death, but until that day comes, we have the privilege to support one another in prayer. The Lord has us where we are in order to use us for His good purposes. Paul understood that he had a very limited amount of time to establish churches and catechize them before he would be killed or judgment would come upon that generation.
Dear heavenly Father, please help us to receive this letter from Paul like the Thessalonians did in the first century. We do not know when Christ will return to judge the living and the dead, but we ask for the fortitude to remain faithful and willing workers in the Your church until that day comes. Amen.