I Thessalonians 2:13-20
Please forgive my focus on the triads! But when you look for the triads, you find them. The triad in verse 19 is clear: hope, joy, crown of boasting. But another is more hidden in verses 13 and 14: …you received … and accepted the word of God… (v. 13), you became imitators of the churches … in Judea (v. 14), and you suffered the same things from your own countrymen (v. 14). One thing worth noting about this second triad – whereas some triads are simply listings, as in verse 19, the triad in verses 13 and 14 is sequential: You received the word, you became imitators, you suffered.
In Paul’s letter he is affirming what Luke had written in Acts 17: …you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they (Judean Christians) did from the Jews (v. 14b). You may recall that Judean Christians were being murdered (Stephen in Acts 8, James in Acts 12) and that in Acts 17 Jews from Philippi had come to Thessalonica to create [made] havoc for Paul, driving him out of town whereupon he headed to Berea. Paul has three references (vv. 14, 16, and 17) to their harsh treatment in Thessalonica. We’ve already seen Paul in Galatians 1, 2 affirm Luke in Acts 9. We’ll see this on other occasions in Paul’s letters.
Slava Bohu!
Wow, receive, imitate and persecution follows. Simple, but we leave out that unpleasant third part.
I was struck by v. 17-18 “we were made orphans by being separated from you, in person not in heart, we wanted to come to you but Satan blocked the way.” Sounds like us in our present situation, save for technology.