Here is a short summary of 1-2 Thessalonians: Paul wrote these two letters to a brand new church in the city of Thessalonica, the largest city in Macedonia. After starting the church and only teaching them for a short time, Paul was forced to leave town. The church was facing opposition from the people in town, and some didn’t understand why Paul hadn’t returned to help them. Since they were so new to the way of Jesus, there were a few issues affecting the church: some were struggling with sexual holiness, others were taking advantage of the church’s generosity, and there was some confusion concerning Jesus’ Second Coming and what would happened to fellow Christians who died before Jesus returned. Paul writes to address these issues, as well as ground the young church more firmly in the way of Christ.
Backstory to Thessalonians
The city of Thessalonica lies on the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea. In the first century, it was the largest and most important city in Macedonia (the modern city, Thessaloniki, is still the second largest city in Greece), named after the sister of Alexander the Great and founded by her husband Cassander in 315 B.C.
The apostle Paul wrote two letters to the church he started there, which are quite possibly the earliest letters he wrote (and maybe the earliest documents in the New Testament). Here’s the backstory to those letters.
Paul and Silas had traveled to visit the churches started on Paul’s first missionary journey. They had recruited Timothy to join them and were prepared to head west to make more disciples. In some way they were prevented by the Spirit of Jesus from going all the way west to Ephesus or up north to Pontus. Paul and his ministry team found themselves on the northwest coast of Asia Minor in the city of Troas.
“Paul and Silas had traveled to visit the churches started on Paul’s first missionary journey.”
One night while there, Paul received a vision of a man from across the sea in Macedonia calling them over to help them. So the next day he and his team set sail and made their way to Philippi in Macedonia. You can read the summary of Philippians for the full backstory of what happened there, but the way Paul puts it in 1 Thessalonians is that they were “treated shamefully” in Philippi (2:2). They were beaten with rods and put in stocks, and essentially forced to leave town for the good of the new church (though he did leave some of his team—at least Luke—behind to help with the new church).
From Philippi they eventually made their way to Thessalonica, where they were hosted by a man named Jason. Thessalonica was a large city with an ethnically mixed population. The city had a very strong allegiance to Caesar and Rome maintained by local authorities through the emperor cult. But unlike Philippi, it also had enough of a Jewish population to have a synagogue.
So Paul, hoping for a better reception in the city than at Philippi because there was a larger population of Jews, spent the next three Sabbaths discussing Jesus in the synagogue, trying to persuade them that Jesus was the Messiah. Many believed, especially a large number of Gentiles who had been God-fearers associated with the synagogue, including some influential women.
“Paul spent the next three Sabbaths discussing Jesus in the synagogue, trying to persuade them that Jesus was the Messiah.”
The Jews became jealous of Paul’s influence, stirred up a mob, and attacked the home of Jason, Paul’s host. Since Paul wasn’t there at the moment, they seized Jason and hauled him to court before the city leaders. They accused Paul of violating the Roman peace in the city by proclaiming a king other than Caesar, namely Jesus. And since Jason was his host, he was responsible for Paul’s actions. The outcome? Jason was forced to pay a bond guaranteeing that Paul wouldn’t disturb the peace in this way anymore. As a result, Paul was forced to leave town to keep the peace and ensure Jason’s wellbeing.
And thus, a fledgling church was left without much instruction.
Paul traveled south, did ministry in Berea and left Timothy and Silas behind to care for the new Macedonian believers. Chased out of Berea, he continued south to Athens. Timothy and Silas came down while Paul was in Athens, filling him in on the new churches to the north were faring. Paul deemed it best to continue on alone for a while and chose to send them back to Macedonia to continue encouraging the new believers there.
Not long after, Paul headed to Corinth, one of the largest cities of the Roman Empire, where he settled down for an extended season of ministry. While there, Timothy and Silas once again rejoined Paul. Timothy specifically brought news from Thessalonica, and the report on the church was mixed.
“Timothy specifically brought news from Thessalonica, and the report on the church was mixed.”
On one hand, the young church was growing in faith and love, and for this Paul was grateful. But on the other hand, some didn’t understand why Paul hadn’t returned and were beginning to doubt his care for them. And what made that even more difficult was the hostility they were facing from people in town because of their new faith in Jesus.
Timothy also reported there were some problems with sexual holiness affecting the church. And a real issue was brewing around caring for the needy: some were taking advantage of the church’s generosity. There also seems to have been some confusion concerning the Second Coming of Jesus, about when it would happen and what would come of fellow Christians who died before he returned.
So Paul wrote a letter to them, the letter we call 1 Thessalonians, sometime probably in late A.D. 51.
A little while after Paul wrote that letter, he received word concerning continuing confusion about the day of the Lord and that the people who were taking advantage of the church’s generosity hadn’t improved in response to the letter Paul had sent. They had stopped working and were bumming off their fellow Christians. Not only that, but in their idleness they were acting as busybodies stirring up all sorts of problems.
“In their idleness they were acting as busybodies stirring up all sorts of problems.”
So Paul fired off another letter addressing the issues, the letter we call 2 Thessalonians.[1]
Overview of 1 Thessalonians
Keep in mind that the church in Thessalonica was only months old when Paul wrote his first letter to them, and he had to leave town rather suddenly. So Paul writes to affirm them in their new faith and reassure them of his care for them. He also needs to offer some specific instruction based on the issues Timothy has told him they are struggling with.
So the letter has two main sections: Part 1 revolves around Paul’s relationship with them (chs. 1-3), and part 2 contains Paul’s instructions to them (chs. 4-5).
1 Thessalonians 1-3
After the standard opening and greetings in 1:1-2, Paul expresses his gratitude for their positive response to the gospel in 1:3-10. He affirms the genuineness of their faith, love, and hope, recalling how they responded to the gospel even in the midst of hostility because of it. He encourages them by telling them that the news of their faith in Jesus has resounded all throughout the region.
In 2:1-12, Paul recounts his ministry among them to assure them of his genuine love and care for them. He recalls how he didn’t come looking for money but worked with his own hands to pay for his own room and board. Rather than seeking their money or honor from them, he gave himself up for the Thessalonians, just like a mother or a father would for their children. Why? Because they had become very dear to him.
Summary of 1-2 Thessalonians: “Paul recounts his ministry among them to assure them of his genuine love and care for them.”
Then Paul returns to his thanksgiving for the Thessalonians in 2:13-16, celebrating that they received the message of the gospel as the word of God. And they did so even in the face of great opposition from their fellow Thessalonians, similar to how the early Jewish Christians faced opposition from their own countrymen.
In 2:17-20, Paul assures them with emotion-laden language that he desperately wants to return to them but in some way Satan hindered it.
He tells them that it was actually this deep care and concern for them that motivated him to send Timothy back to them when he had come to Athens. He sent Timothy to strengthen them and encourage them in face of the opposition they were dealing with (3:1-5), so that the tempter would not destroy their faith.
But now Timothy has returned to Paul (who’s now in Corinth) and brought good news (3:6-10). The Thessalonians are standing firm in their faith and love. They think fondly of Paul. And for all of this, Paul greatly rejoices, praying that he might be able to see them face-to-face soon!
Part 1 concludes in 3:11-13 with a prayer for God to open the way for Paul to return to Thessalonica and for the Thessalonian Christians to grow in love and be established in holiness.
“Now Timothy has returned to Paul and brought good news.”
This leads right into the second part of the letter in chapters 4-5: Paul’s instruction to the Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians 4-5
Paul begins his instructions in 4:1-8 with the topic of sexual holiness, calling them to abstain from sexual immorality. He urges them to learn how to possess their own body sexually speaking in a holy and honorable way, not being consumed by sexual desire. God takes sexual holiness seriously and holds people accountable for it.
In 4:9-12, Paul encourages them in their love for one another. As part of that, they need to live a quiet life, work hard, and not be busybodies, so that they can behave properly toward unbelievers.
Then in 4:13-18, he addresses the issue of fellow believers who die before the return of Jesus. He instructs them that because Jesus rose from the dead, we can rest assured that those who die in Him even before he returns will be resurrected too. And those who are alive when Jesus returns will be transformed, so that all who are in Christ will live together with Him forever.
Summary of 1-2 Thessalonians: “He instructs them that because Jesus rose from the dead, we can rest assured that those who die in Him even before he returns will be resurrected too.”
Paul continues the discussion about the second coming of Jesus in 5:1-11. In this paragraph, Paul focuses on the timing of Jesus’ return. We don’t need a timeline, Paul says, because we know that it will happen suddenly like a thief in the night. In view of that, we must prepare by being level-headed and alert and by putting on daytime character of faith, hope, love.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 contain a bunch of Paul’s final instructions for the church. Here are instructions about how to treat Christian leaders (with honor; see 5:12-13) plus a number of short commands about various Christian practices for life together: correcting each other, encouraging each other, praying, etc. (5:14-22).
Paul concludes the letter in 5:23-28 with a prayer for God to set them apart in holiness and blamelessness until the coming of Jesus and the final greetings, which include inviting them to pray for him and calling the read the letter to all the Christians.
Overview of 2 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians was likely written just a few months after 1 Thessalonians. Two problems are still troubling the young church and seem to have even intensified: confusion about the coming of Jesus and idleness. So the content of 2 Thessalonians revolves around those two subjects.
After the typical introduction and greeting in 1:1-2, Paul provides another extended thanksgiving (1:3-12), which also serves to encourage their steadfastness in the faith. He thanks God for their growing faith and love and celebrates how they are standing firm in the face of opposition. He reminds them that God will repay persecutors and that their endurance is evidence that God’s vindication of them will be just.
Summary of 1-2 Thessalonians: “He thanks God for their growing faith and love and celebrates how they are standing firm in the face of opposition.”
In 2:1-12 he tackles their confusion over the day of the Lord (the coming of Jesus). It appears they’ve fallen prey to some deceptive message saying that the day of the Lord has already happened. He reminds them of what he taught them when he was with them—that the day of the Lord couldn’t have happened yet because the man of lawlessness (whom he briefly describes here) hasn’t been revealed. This passage is notoriously difficult because Paul is reminding them of things he taught them when he was with them, and we aren’t privileged to that information.
After clearing that up (at least for them!), in 2:13-17 Paul offers another thanksgiving for their salvation and exhorts them and prays for them to stand firm.
In 3:1-5, Paul requests that they pray for the word of God to continue to spread and that he and his team will be delivered from opponents. He also expresses his confidence in the Lord and in them that they will follow his instructions, and that the Lord will allow him to visit them again.
Then in 3:6-15 he addresses the other major issue facing the Thessalonian church, namely idle, disorderly people who won’t work but instead mooch off the generosity of the church. He appeals to his own example while he was among them of working to pay for his own food and lodging. He instructs the church to no longer associate with anyone who operates differently, that is, who could work but won’t. The church has no responsibility to care for such people. But they should still be sure to care for others who genuinely need help.
“He appeals to his own example while he was among them of working to pay for his own food and lodging.”
Paul signs off the letter in 3:16-18 with a prayer for the Lord to give them peace. He also writes the last few words of the letter himself to make clear that this letter is from him and to give them a handwriting sample for any future letters claiming to be from him.
1-2 Thessalonians in 10 Passages
1. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place the news of your faith toward God has gone out, so that we have no need to say anything.[2]
—1 Thessalonians 1:8
2. For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of mere men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which also is at work in you who believe. For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews,
—1 Thessalonians 2:13-14
“For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of mere men, but as what it really is, the word of God.”
3. For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God.
—1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
4. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to excel even more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we instructed you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.
—1 Thessalonians 4:10b-12
5. For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
—1 Thessalonians 4:15-16
Summary of 1-2 Thessalonians: “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”
6. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord is coming just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction will come upon them like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, so that the day would overtake you like a thief.
—1 Thessalonians 5:2-4
7. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek what is good for one another and for all people. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
—1 Thessalonians 5:15-18
8. As a result, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.
—2 Thessalonians 1:4
9. No one is to deceive you in any way! For [the day of the Lord will not come] unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.
—2 Thessalonians 2:3
“No one is to deceive you in any way!”
10. For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.
—2 Thessalonians 3:10-11
[1] Note: Some question the order of the two letters, suggesting that 2 Thessalonians was actually written first, but in my opinion the traditional order still makes the most sense.
[2] All Scripture references are from the NASB.
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