But we, brethren, having been bereaved of you and separated for a little moment in person, not in heart, have used more abundant diligence to see your face with much desire;
Paul has been looking back at his work in Thessalonica and at the enemies who fought the message. Now his tone turns tender. One question sits behind the verse. What happens to Christian love when force pulls believers apart?
The separation was not a choice. Paul left the city under pressure, and it happened fast.
The apostle had to break off his ministry in Thessalonica suddenly. Persecution had broken out in that city. "The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea" (Acts 17:10). He must have felt that the new converts needed more instruction. He writes about this in the letter.
What Paul says next stands out against that violence.
Against this dark background, how beautiful is the picture that verses 17 to 20 present. The apostle was hurried out of their midst under cover of night. Warm longings toward them filled his heart. As his spiritual children, born through the gospel, he looked on them as his hope, and joy, and crown of rejoicing.
Paul does not describe this as a trip away. His own word for it is a word for loss.
What knitting of heart there was between Paul and these converts! How he longed to be with them again, but was hindered by the enemy! To that he had to bow. But his forced absence did not lessen the strength of his love. While it lasted he was, as it were, bereaved of them (aporphanisthentes), though only for a time.
One writer renders the phrase "for a little season." He notes that it is literally "of an hour" (William Kelly).
The distance was real, but it was only physical. What Paul denies is that distance reached his heart.
Truly, for a time, circumstances may rob saints of one another's company. They are "separated for a little moment". But, says the apostle, "not in heart." We are linked together with bonds that are as eternal as the love that binds us.
Absence did not cool his affection. It made him try harder to get back.
He also lets them know his affectionate desire. Absence did not weaken it; it did the opposite. There is nothing so real on earth as the love of Christ reproduced by the Spirit in the Christian.
Paul's longing is the mark of genuine care for people he had led to Christ. Yet the enforced absence was not wasted.
The Spirit of God had used Paul's absence for the good of the Thessalonian saints, to strengthen them to stand without his help. Yet his heart was greatly with them, and he had plainly looked for an opportunity to return "with great desire." Here was the heart of a true shepherd. He cared for the state of the flock, yet he was held back from his longing to come to them again.
Because he could not close the gap on earth, Paul's eyes move forward to the day when it closes for good.
Circumstances may hinder the full enjoyment of these divine affections — physical separation, the power of Satan, death itself. But they cannot destroy them. That was the case here. Paul was taken from them in presence, but not in heart. Yet these very circumstances only made him look beyond this scene, to the day when these new affections will have all their full blessedness.
- Torn — Paul did not drift away from Thessalonica. Persecution drove him out by night, and he felt the young converts still needed teaching.
- Bereaved — he writes as one bereaved of them, yet he limits the loss at once: only for a short time.
- Not in heart — circumstances can take away a believer's company, but never the bond. Those ties last as long as the love behind them.
- Eager — absence made the longing stronger, not weaker. That is the mark of love the Spirit produces, not mere friendliness.
- Forward — Paul could not close the gap on earth, so he looked ahead to the day when these affections have their full blessedness.
wherefore we have desired to come to you, even I Paul, both once and twice, and Satan has hindered us.
Paul tried again and again to get back to Thessalonica, and something stopped him — not distance or weather, but a person. That raises two questions: what can block an apostle, and why would God allow it?
Here is a man whose plans kept failing while his love kept pressing. Paul also stresses his own name: Timothy reached the city later, but Satan blocked Paul.
The Spirit of God had used Paul's absence for the good of the Thessalonian believers, to strengthen them to stand without his help. Yet his heart was very much with them, and he had clearly looked for an opportunity to return "with great desire." Here was the heart of a true shepherd, concerned for the state of the flock and yet hindered from his longing to come to them again. In verse 18 he says "even I Paul," because in fact Timothy was able to visit them before this time, as we see in chapter 3:1, 2. But Satan hindered Paul and Silas. What form this resistance took we are not told, but Satan's malice against the truth did not want an already devoted assembly strengthened further.
Paul does not blame bad luck or bad weather. He names a person.
There is a reality for evil in Satan, the great personal enemy, as much in a certain sense as there is in Christ for good. Let us not forget it.
The Lord will one day crush Satan. So why did He let Satan win this round?
Could not the Lord have thwarted Satan's efforts? Certainly He could, and does when it agrees with His ways. Shortly He will tread Satan under foot, though at present He may use Satan as an instrument to try His people. Suppose the Lord had hindered Satan. Then the saints might have missed the blessing that came from the trial of their faith.
Read this verse beside the record in Acts and the hindrance looks different. The enemy chose the obstacle; God chose the destination.
This passage plainly shows that God permits Satan to harass and hinder the servants of the Lord. Yet compare this with the history recorded in Acts. It is very clear that God knows well how to overrule Satan's hindering work for good. Satan hindered Paul from returning just then to Thessalonica. But God led him to Corinth — and He had many people in that city!
Paul kept trying; he did not read the block as a red light. An obstacle means one thing when you know God's will, and another when you are careless.
Suppose I do something with the full certainty that I am doing the will of God. Then an obstacle is clearly no more than a test of my faith, and it ought not to stop me. It stops us perhaps through our lack of faith… When we are doing our own will, or are careless in our walk, God in His mercy may warn us by a hindrance. It stops us if we pay attention to it, while "the simple pass on and are punished." Where there is much activity and labour, God may permit Satan to raise up hindrances, so that we may be kept in dependence on the Lord.
The block was real, but temporary. One future meeting no enemy can stop.
"We wanted to come to you — I, Paul, again and again — but Satan hindered us." Very wonderful! Very mysterious! Yet so it was. Satan hindered an angel of God in his work in the days of Daniel. He also hindered an apostle of Christ in his loving desire to see his brothers at Thessalonica. But thanks be to God, he will not be able to hinder the joyful meeting of Christ and His saints for which we wait.
- Desire. Paul's blocked journey shows a true shepherd's heart. He longed for the flock he could not reach, though Timothy could go.
- Enemy. A real, personal enemy blocked the way — as real for evil as Christ is for good. Scripture does not say how.
- Permission. The Lord could have stopped Satan but did not. He used him to test faith, and the test gave the believers what an easy visit would not.
- Overruling. The closed road to Thessalonica became the open road to Corinth, where God had many people waiting.
- Discernment. When you are sure of God's will, an obstacle is a test to press through. When you are careless, it may be His mercy stopping you. And no obstacle can touch the reunion at Christ's coming.