and *ye* became our imitators, and of the Lord, having accepted the word in much tribulation with joy of [the] Holy Spirit,
The Thessalonians took in the message, and what came out of them looked like Paul and looked like Christ. The striking part is the pairing at the centre of the verse: heavy affliction and joy, in the same people at the same time.
An older translation reads "followers of us" here. One writer explains what that following was, and what it was not:
Being "followers of us" was not simply following men as a party. Their conduct followed the godly example of these men, who were themselves formed by following the Lord. He is speaking of the practical effect on their ways, not of recognising leaders. They had received the word from those who suffered for it, and they met the same affliction themselves — but sweetened by "joy of the Holy Spirit." It was not slavish loyalty to popular leaders, but pure joy in suffering alongside those who had suffered for the Lord's sake.
The likeness runs further back. They copied Paul, and Paul was copying the Lord:
The apostle's life, his whole conduct, confirmed the testimony that he bore — it formed part of it. And this is always the case: the fruit of his labours matched in character the one who laboured. The Christianity of the Thessalonians resembled that of Paul. It was like the walk of the Lord Himself, whom Paul followed so closely.
Receiving here is more than agreeing. These hearers took the message as coming from God, and it kept working long after the day they believed:
They heard Paul and Silas preach, but they felt that the words carried truth from God to their souls. It was God's word they listened to, which gave them life and then went on working in their hearts. Conversion with them was only the beginning. The word then began to work in them, and did not stop working in their souls.
Commentators differ on what the affliction was. One reads it as persecution. Taking the word in set them apart from the world, and the world turned on them:
They received the gospel "in much assurance." The result was that they were completely different from the world, which became their enemy. This was not the most pleasant part. They had "much affliction" — but then there was also "joy in the Holy Spirit."
Another writer sets this verse beside the parable of the seed that fell on stony ground. He finds the affliction earlier still — inside the hearer, before any opposition comes:
This affliction, which came before their gladness, was the result of their being awakened to their sin under the convicting power of the word. The stony ground hearer skips over the affliction, because he does not feel his real need. He lands himself in a shallow gladness that fades when tested — and he fades with it.
The sufferer does not manufacture this joy. The verse calls it the joy of the Holy Spirit, and that is why hostility cannot cancel it:
This testimony in power stirred up the hatred of those who rejected it. That malice showed itself in persecuting the believers. Yet the Holy Spirit kept these believers in joy. The devil may stir up persecution, but the power of the Spirit is greater than all the power of the enemy. Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, was held up in triumph in the middle of his sufferings as a martyr.
Christ Himself held the same two things together. That is why the verse names Him too:
They suffered bitterly for the truth that filled their hearts with joy. So did Paul, dying daily while he lived. So did the Lord, who died as no other, yet lived the perfect example and fullness of joy in God His Father, under complete rejection here on earth.
Their joy under pressure became a testimony to the people watching them:
They see in Christians a power they know nothing of, motives they have never felt, and a joy they may mock but do not have. Their patience shows how helpless the enemy is. He is fighting a power that endures everything and rejoices despite all his efforts. What can you do with people who let themselves be killed without becoming less joyful — who in fact become more so?
- Received. The word came to them as God's word, not man's, and kept working after conversion — the beginning, not the whole story.
- Reproduced. They copied conduct, not a personality — and Paul passed on what he had copied from the Lord.
- Resisted. Taking the word in put visible distance between them and the world, and the world turned hostile.
- Rejoiced. The joy belonged to the Holy Spirit. Persecution could not remove it, because the Spirit is stronger than the enemy.
- Radiated. Their mix of suffering and gladness left the watching world with a puzzle it could not explain away.
so that ye became models to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia
The Thessalonians had been believers only a short time. Their city had already turned hostile. Yet Paul tells them that every believer across Macedonia and Achaia was now looking at them. The verse opens with "so that," which links this standing to what came before it — and raises a question. How could such young converts become the measure for everyone else?
One reference work traces the Greek word behind "example" here. Its entry is on the English word "type":
This English word occurs in the Authorized Version only in the margin. The Greek word is τύπος, from which comes the word "type." It is translated "print" in John 20:25, "form" in Romans 6:17, and "pattern" in Titus 2:7. It is also translated "ensample" in 1 Thessalonians 1:7 and "example" in 1 Timothy 4:12.
So the Thessalonians were not just admired. They were a pattern — a form that shaped other people.
The example did not grow in comfort. The same preaching that saved them made enemies for them. How they carried that suffering is what others copied.
This testimony in power stirred up hatred in those who rejected it. That malice showed itself in persecuting the believers. Still, the Holy Spirit kept these believers in joy. The devil may stir up persecution, but the power of the Spirit is greater than all the power of the enemy... A martyr whose sufferings only draw out praise to the Lord gives a striking testimony. Before the world, it displays the power of God! So the joy of these young converts under persecution became an example to believers. It was also a testimony to the world around them.
They were followers before they were models. One writer is careful about what that following did and did not mean:
Being "followers of us" was no mere party following of men. Their conduct followed the godly example of these men, who were themselves formed by following the Lord. He is speaking of the practical effect on their ways, not of recognising leaders... In this simple, godly way they became a model of true testimony to all Macedonia and Achaia. And they were still very young in the faith.
Newness in the faith, then, was no barrier to being a pattern.
The verse points to what other believers could see in them:
As for their fellow believers, they became examples. Every believer in Macedonia and Achaia could see in them a practical example of the grace that the gospel brings and builds up in those who receive it.
Being watched across Macedonia and Achaia is dangerous ground. The safeguard is a life lived in God's sight.
It is a life of holy fear lived before God. It is not lived in front of people to win a religious position, or in front of fellow believers to gain a reputation for devotion. These young believers became "examples to all the believers," and news of their faith in God spread far and wide. But their witness before people came out of a life lived before God. They knew they lived and walked "before our God and Father."
The pattern spread with no campaign behind it. The Thessalonians were not managing their reputation.
These Thessalonians were living in another world after the word came to them in power. There was a divine spring in them that nothing could touch. In other places believers might be going along more quietly. But there was power here. Everything they did was connected with God; they did it all under God. This is what we have to seek. Then the testimony went out, and they hardly knew how. But people saw this link with God. They did not trouble themselves about what was said of them.
- Pattern, not compliment. The word means type, form, pattern — a shape that others take, not a badge of praise.
- Pattern by imitation. They copied men who were copying the Lord. Followers first, models second.
- Pattern through pain. Joy that persecution could not chill is what made them worth copying.
- Pattern for believers. Believers across Macedonia and Achaia could see in them what grace produces in people who receive it.
- Pattern rooted before God. Their public witness grew out of a life lived before God. They never troubled themselves about what people said of them.