Paul proceeded to rehearse the events of his ministry among his readers summarizing his motivation and actions. He did so to strengthen their confidence in him in view of questions that may have arisen in their minds and accusations that his critics may have directed against him (cf. Gal. 1:11-2:21).
2:1-2 Paul appealed to his readers to remember that his preaching had yielded positive results. It had borne fruit in their lives. He had come to them having been persecuted for his preaching in Philippi, and he had received the same treatment in Thessalonica. Nevertheless he continued preaching boldly (Gr. parresiazomai), even though his message was not popular and might result in public abuse.40This is not the reaction of someone who seeks personal recognition or money. Such a person would move on quickly to a more profitable audience.
2:3-4 Paul claimed that his message was true, his motives were pure, and his methods were straightforward. He had behaved in Thessalonica as he had elsewhere, as a faithful servant of God. He did not preach for the approval of men but God who scrutinizes motives.
2:5-6 Paul abhorred the use of speech that would assure him a positive reception regardless of what he preached.
"Flattery was a well-known and much despised practice in the ancient world."41
Paul also denied any desire to get rich from his preaching. "Greed"(Gr. pleonexia) is self-seeking in all its forms. Paul's readers could testify to the truth of the first of these convictions. Since they could not do so to the second, Paul claimed God could. Itinerant philosophers and orators were common in the Roman Empire. Paul had little in common with them. He had come to Thessalonica to give, not to get. Furthermore he did not demand that the Thessalonians acquiesce to his message because of his apostolic authority.
Having explained his ministry in negative terms so far (vv. 1-6), Paul proceeded to describe it in positive terms (vv. 7-12).
2:7-9 Instead he was gentle and unselfish, more like a nursing mother than an apostle.
"A nursing child can become ill through reaction to something the mother has eaten. The Christian who is feeding others must be careful not to feed on the wrong things himself."42
However, Paul gave himself, not just his message, to the Thessalonians out of love for them, not for personal gain. The measure of his love was the toil and trouble he expended as he worked constantly, probably making tents and other leather articles so he would not be a burden to them.43This is how he and his companions had heralded the gospel among them (cf. Phil. 4:16; 2 Cor. 11:7-11).
"A gospel messenger who stands detached from his audience has not yet been touched by the very gospel he proclaims."44
2:10-12 Paul called on his readers to bear witness, as God could, how he had cared for them. He had done so as a father who has responsibility to prepare his children for the events that lie ahead of them. The figure of the nursing mother (v. 7) emphasizes tender, loving self-sacrifice and that of the father (v. 11) preparation for maturity.45
"In one sense God's kingdom is already present (Matt 12:28; 13:1-52; Rom 14:17; 1 Cor 4:20; Col 1:13), but ultimate realization of the messianic kingdom with its future glory is in view here (cf. Acts 17:7). As frequently in the Thessalonian literature, those Paul is addressing are pointed to the bliss ahead as incentive to godly living now."46
"The Christian minister is expected to give practical instruction to his fellow Christians, but not by way of dictation. Since he cannot rule by decree if he is to be true to the spirit of Christ, he must guide by example."47
Paul reminded his readers how they had welcomed the gospel message to vindicate further his own ministry and to emphasize the importance of proclaiming this message. He did this so the Thessalonians would continue to herald it abroad as they had been doing.
"This section of the letter begins with the second thanksgiving in a series of three (1:2-5; 2:13; 3:9-13) that dominate the tone of the first three chapters."48
2:13 Previously Paul thanked God for the way these believers were bearing the fruit of righteousness in their own lives (1:3). Now he thanked God for the way they responded when he had preached the gospel to them the first time. They sensed that it was a divine revelation rather than a human philosophy, and they believed it. Because they received that divine message, it had done a mighty work of transformation in their lives as God's Holy Spirit used it.
2:14 By believing the gospel the Thessalonians had followed in the train of many others who, when they believed the truth, also found that they attracted enemies.
"Persecution inevitably arises from the outside when a Christian patterns his life after the Lord."49
2:15-16 The Thessalonians' opponents seem to have been mainly Jews (v. 14). Paul desperately wanted unbelieving Jews to come to faith in Christ (Rom. 9:1-3; 10:1). Yet they were some of his most antagonistic persecutors (cf. 2 Cor. 11:24, 26). Their actions were not pleasing to God and were not in the best interests of all men who need to hear the gospel. By their opposition the enemies of the gospel added more transgressions on their own heads with the result that they hastened God's judgment of them (cf. Gen. 15:16). God had already focused His wrath on them for their serious sin.50They not only rejected the gospel themselves, but they also discouraged others from accepting it. It was only a matter of time before God would pour out His wrath in judgment. In view of the eschatological emphasis of the letter, Paul seems to be alluding primarily to the judgment coming on unbelievers during the Tribulation.51
Why did Paul describe this outpouring of divine wrath as past ("has come,"aorist tense ephthasen) if it was future? Jesus spoke of the arrival of His kingdom in comparable terminology (Matt. 12:28; Luke 11:20). The verb connotes "arrival upon the threshold of fulfilment and accessible experience, notthe entrance into that experience."52The messianic kingdom was present in Jesus' day in that the King had arrived and could have established it then, but the Jews did not enter into it because they rejected Him. Likewise God's wrath had come on the Jews to the utmost in Paul's day for their rejection of Messiah, but they had not entered into it's full manifestation yet, namely the Tribulation.
"This indictment implies that Paul saw a continuity in the pattern of Jewish rejection of God's agents from OT times to his own."53
"The Thessalonians' persecution lasted a long time, and so did their steadfastness. Some six years later Paul can still speak of the churches of Macedonia (not least, the church of Thessalonica) as enduring a severe test of affliction' and continuing to give evidence of the reality of their faith in that their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of liberality' (2 Cor 8:1, 2). The extreme poverty' might well have been the result of mob violence and looting; elsewhere in the NT members of another Christian group are reminded how, in the early days of their faith, they joyfully accepted' the plundering of their property in addition to other forms of brutal maltreatment (Heb 10:32-34)."54
