What is the history and significance of the church at Thessalonica?

A large and populous city on the sea-coast of Macedonia. Cassander having enlarged it, named it after his wife Thessalonica, the sister of Alexander the Great. Under the Romans it was a city of note, and was eventually made a free city and became the capital of Macedonia. It lay on one of the routes from Rome to the East, and became a great commercial centre. This naturally attracted Jews to the place, and they had a synagogue. When Paul had preached there, some Jews and many Greeks believed. It was on Paul's second and third missionary journeys that he visited them. He wrote the two Epistles to the saints there during his stay at Corinth of a year and a half (Acts 18:11). It was for many years called Salonika, and was one of the most important cities in European Turkey. The city is now in Greece (Macedonia), the name has reverted to the ancient one in the form of Thessaloniki (alternatively Saloniki or Salonica). Many Jews still reside there [1894]. Acts 17:1, 11, 13; Acts 27:2; Phil. 4:16; 2 Tim. 4:10.

Paul on his second missionary journey, accompanied by Silas, visited Thessalonica. The conversion of some Jews, of a great multitude of Greeks, and of many chief women led to an assembly being gathered there. Paul soon left them, hoping to revisit them within a short time, but Satan hindered him. Fearing as to their firmness under persecution, he sent Timothy to confirm and encourage them. He was cheered by the news which Timothy brought of their faith and love, and wrote the First Epistle from Corinth, about A.D. 52, and somewhere about a year after his visit to them. Acts 17:1-11. As to date it is the first of Paul's Epistles.

This epistle is evidently the first written by the apostle Paul, likely in the year 52 A.D., the same year as his first visit to Thessalonica. He and Silas and Timothy had come there from Philippi, leaving Luke in the latter city. Persecution was raised in both places, and the apostle remained only briefly, but not without having established bright, solid testimonies to the grace of God: Philippi remaining steadfast and devoted through the years, and Thessalonica a shining example of Gospel witness in the face of continued persecution. Only "three sabbath days" we are told Paul reasoned with the Jews there out of the Scriptures, some of them believing, but "a great multitude" of Greeks also receiving the Gospel (Acts 17:1-4).

When the Apostle Paul during his second journey (around 51 to 54 AC) with Silas and Timothy came from Philippi to Thessalonica he - as was his custom - first of all went to the synagogue and preached the gospel of the salvation in Christ to the Jews (Acts 17:1-4; compare 1 Cor. 15:1-4). Some of the Jews, a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and of the chief women not a few believed the message preached. But the Jews which believed not put the whole city in an uproar against the servants of Christ. Paul and Silas were immediately sent away and had to leave by night (Acts 17:5-10). Their stay had probably lasted three weeks only. During this short period the believers of Philippi had already sent unto the apostle's necessity (Phil. 4:16).

From the capital of Macedonia Prirna, they went to Thessalonica, the capital of Macedonia Secunda, passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, and along the great Roman road, the Via Egnatia. The distance to be travelled was about one hundred Roman miles. There - what in Philippi was not - was a synagogue of the Jews. At Philippi we read not of Jews stirring up the multitude, such as Paul had experienced in Asia Minor. At Thessalonica, however, the Jews were again prominent, and foremost in the uproar. Leaving Luke at Philippi, Paul and Silas began work at Thessalonica, and first with the Jews. "For three Sabbath days he reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening," we are told, "and alleging, that the Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is the Christ" (Acts 17:2,3). His heart's desire, and prayer for Israel, was that they might be saved (Rom.10:1). In accordance with that he first laboured in the synagogue, and with great effect. "Some of the Jews were persuaded" (better here than "believed"), "and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks" (i.e., proselytes), "a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few." The work was extensive, and souls were in earnest. Of this we have confirmatory evidence from the Apostle Paul himself, who, writing to the Thessalonians, could say, "When ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the Word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe" (1 Thess.2:13). So simple were they, so hearty, so real.

It is remarkable that the more ancient manuscripts (ℵABD, et al.) omit the article before synagogue, as do the Authorized and Revised Versions; but the testimony to its existence is ample and varied. On the one hand it is well-nigh impossible to conceive its insertion unless it were originally there. On the other it is easy to understand its omission, because of its unusual connection. It would be quite justified if in fact there was but that synagogue in the district, which would give it notoriety. At Philippi we saw that there was none; there was only the place for prayer by the river, where a few used to assemble on the sabbath.

'And Paul as his custom was went in among them, and on three sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures, opening and alleging that the Christ must suffer, and rise again from [among] the dead, and that this Jesus, whom I announce to you, is the Christ' (vers. 2, 3). Here the apostle returns to a testimony of pointed application to the Jews. No doubt it is of the highest value to everyone, but the form of it exactly suited the place where his discourses were given. A suffering and a risen Christ was proved out of the scriptures, and this not merely as a truth in what they owned to be the word of God, but the absolute necessity because of man's sin, and the only adequate remedy in God's grace, with the further and clenching conclusion that 'This is the Christ Jesus, Whom I announce to you.' No miracle was needed here to arrest attention. The scriptures are a testimony beyond miracles, and the most permanent of all testimony. Jesus alone, as far as His first advent is concerned, gives full meaning to the word of God, and this it is which completely meets the conscience and the heart of the believer for purging to the one, and giving a blessed and blessing object to the other. But it is not all that the apostle had to say at Thessalonica, as we shall shortly learn, and as it is all which is mentioned here, no more need be added now.

'And some of them were persuaded and added [joined themselves] to Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few' (ver. 4). Thus, as the apostle wrote afterwards, 'Our gospel was not with you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance' (1 Thess. 1:5). The harvest was considerable, not only from among the Jews, but far more from the Gentiles, including not a few women of rank. In no assembly of apostolic times do we find in fact greater simplicity, freshness, and power of the truth than among the Thessalonians.

But the success of the gospel is ever apt to rouse bitter opposition and nowhere so much as among the Jews, who would keenly feel that rancorous spite which is natural to those who were overwhelmed by their own scriptures, for which they could not account, but to which they would not bow. 'But the Jews, having been stirred up to jealousy, took to them certain wicked men of the rabble (lit., market-loungers) and gathering a crowd set the city in confusion, and besetting the house of Jason, sought to bring them out to the people. And not having found them, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the city-rulers (or, politarchs), crying out, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also whom Jason has received; and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus. And they troubled the crowd and the city-rulers, when they heard these things. And having taken security for Jason and the rest, they let them go' (vers. 5-9).

Here we see the usual lack of common honesty, which marks the religious assailants of the truth. The Jews, who professed the fear of God did not scruple, through jealousy, to form a party with wicked men of the lowest sort against the gospel. Abandoned heathens were good enough allies against the truth of their own Messiah, Whom worldly lusts would not let them discern in the suffering, but risen Jesus. God was in none of their thoughts; and self-will wrought to darken and destroy the force of His word. Their degradation could not be hidden in the company with whom they consorted to form a crowd and set the city in uproar. Yet were the Jews the exclusive representatives of divine law before all nations. They were now alas! the standing proof of utter failure, not because the law was not holy, the commandment holy and just and good, but because they themselves were unholy, unjust, and evil. Even now, their own Messiah being come, they failed to recognize Him through unbelief, urged the Gentiles to crucify Him, and now were also forbidding His servants to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved. Thus were they filling up their sins always 'but the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.'

The host of Paul, Jason, was the special object of their animosity, his house they beset in their desire to bring forward the Lord's servants to the people, i.e., the regular assembly of the city. Not finding them, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the city-rulers,1 a peculiar title of the local authorities, which so much the more attests Luke's accuracy because the term occurs in no known remains of Greek antiquity. But an inscription still extant on the marble arch of the western or Vardir gate of Saloniki proves that such was the title of the Thessalonian magistrates, and that there were seven. By a remarkable coincidence three of the names of Paul's companions found here, or in the Epistles, answer to as many in that inscription given from Boeckh, No. 1967, in Conybeare and Howson I. 395. Sosipater, Secundus, and Gaius are common to both, a fact which points to the prevalence of these names in that region. It was a free city anciently called Therma, which afterwards received its name of Thessalonica from Cassander in compliment to his wife, Thessalonica, sister of Alexander the Great, and it remains a flourishing city of the Turkish empire in our day (1887) under the derived name of Saloniki or Salonica. {1 The Greek noun here, πολίαχος, not πολίταρχος, is a word, with its cognate verb, of common occurrence in Dio Cassius, for praefect or commandant of a city, besides its broader usage in the past as said of a king or prince. But I do not find it applied to magistrates in Greek cities, only to the praefect of Rome.}

As a result of his testimony a church was at once gathered out. "And some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few" (Acts 17:4). From this we learn that a number of Jews were persuaded that the Lord Jesus is the Christ and accepted Him as their Saviour and Lord. But the church was mostly composed of devout Greeks. These were not heathen, but Greeks who had given up idolatry and had become Jewish proselytes. They were convinced that paganism was wrong and seeking for light attended the synagogical services. Of this class a great multitude believed. The third class mentioned are women who occupied positions of distinction. Not a few of them believed. The Epistles Paul wrote to the church of the Thessalonians also shows the character of those gathered. That the majority of them were Gentiles is learned from the statement that they had turned to God from idols (1 Thess. 1:9). The evils against which he warns (1 Thess. 4:1-8) were mostly practised by the Greeks; and they belonged mostly to the poorer, the working class (1 Thess. 4:11).

Paul's labours at Thessalonica were very brief; at the end of about three weeks they were cut short by a riot. Very solid work was done however, as this first chapter bears witness. We may take it as certain that intense Satanic opposition is always a sign that a real work of God is proceeding. The rioters called Paul and his friends, "These that have turned the world upside down," and this designation was not far from the truth. The truth was that the world itself was completely upside down, and the labours of Paul and others were setting men right side up before God. The world itself was left in its upside down condition, but many in Thessalonica were converted out of the world and set in right relations with God. These converts became the church, or assembly, of the Thessalonians.

In the people to whom they are addressed, we see an eminent, distinguished faith — a faith which had been tested by sufferings for the truth's sake beyond any. Accordingly, they are very encouraging. The apostle, characteristically, is an exhorter as I may call him, and in these Epistles (as Rom. 12 speaks) "waits on exhortation." He encourages the suffering Church of the Thessalonians by speaking very much to them of the coming of the Lord, which is the due, appropriate comfort of those who suffer with Him and for His sake in this evil, revolted world. There is, accordingly, no doctrinal method in these two Epistles. They are written chiefly in the spirit of sympathy, according to the grace of one who was exhorting or encouraging a tried and suffering people. But they convey instruction on this great truth of the coming of the Lord beyond what the Thessalonians had already reached; instruction, too, most fitted to carry on the comforting, sympathizing ministry of an exhorter, such as the apostle is in these Epistles.

At Rome, at Athens, at Corinth, at Ephesus, as well as at Jerusalem and Antioch, God worked and souls were converted. But at Thessalonica a work was commenced, carried on, and completed within a short time, as far as the apostle’s preaching was concerned, which became a pattern or “type“ of what may be achieved by evangelization, and what those evangelized should exhibit. And the example the church at Thessalonica set is the more valuable, because the majority certainly of the converts were, previous to the apostle’s visit, heathens. The change to them and in them was immense. The marks of it as seen by others were unmistakeable. These converts had a faith, a definite hope, and a clear object before them. No haze clouded their minds; no uncertainty dimmed their perception of the truth. The message was plainly delivered, and simply received. They had life, and life in its activity, developing itself in a healthy and true way. There may be, how often-times there is, such feebleness of life that its very presence is doubted. In Paul’s mind, there was not a mere hope about their spiritual existence: there was certainty. He could thank God for their decided conversion. He “remembered without ceasing their work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope of the Lord Jesus Christ.” The work in them being real, he could speak to God about it. He thanked God for the fruits brought forth. He saw by their progress, he knew by their life, that they were of the number of the elect. Hence he owns them as brethren, and writes of them as beloved of God; “knowing,” he writes, “brethren, beloved of God, your election.” Their faith, their love, their hope, all these were manifest. And this epistle, though written soon after their conversion, was not penned till their steadfastness in the truth had been tested, and the reality of their faith plainly demonstrated, (1 Thess. 3:6.).