Opening Greetings: Part 2 - 1 Thessalonians 1:1b Written by LaRosa Johnson
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Last time, we started our verse-by-verse study by looking at the first part of Paul's introduction in 1 Thessalonians 1:1. In that lesson we detailed the typical salutation used in Greco-Roman letters which included the author(s), followed by the recipient(s), and then the greeting. We have already looked at the authors of this epistle (Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy), so our focus now turns to the second aspect of the introduction, which addresses the recipients. If we are ready for the study of spiritual truth, then let's open our Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 1:1 and begin our study.
- Quote :
- 1 Thessalonians 1:1b (NASB) - ...To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ...
Much like the listing of the authors, on the surface, this appears to be a pretty straightforward passage of Scripture. The text states it very plainly for us, this epistle is addressed to a group of believers in the city of Thessalonica. We could stop there and move on, but there's more that we can know about this group of believers if we dig beneath the surface just a little bit. The first thing that we find, when we refer back to our account in Acts, is that the Thessalonian church consisted of both Jewish and Gentile converts (Acts 17:4). This in and of itself is a very important distinction because it helps to explain the rest of the passage, that it's a church "in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
Before we jump into the rest of the passage and that distinction, let's take a moment to talk about the word "church." Church is the Greek word ekklēsia (Strong's G1577) and has the meaning of an "assembly, gathering, congregation, or community." This word originally meant "assembly" (Acts 19:39), but later came to mean an organization for worship, whether assembled or disassembled. In our context here, ekklēsia is referring to Christians who are living and meeting in a particular locality or larger geographical area. This is a bit different from the way we view churches today, where a given city can have multiple churches; instead, Paul is referring to the collective group of believers in and around Thessalonica. It'd be more accurate to think of this ekklēsia as a community of believers, as opposed to how we view things in the Twenty-First Century.
Now that we have an idea of who these people are and what this church is, we can move forward with the rest of our passage, starting with "in God the Father." As we pointed out in our introduction to the epistle, Thessalonica was a very transit area, and with that typically comes the partaking in religious activity. At this point in the city's history, they were a highly religious area and one that contained many secular ekklēsiai (plural form of ekklēsia), as well as a Jewish synagogue. So, this city was no stranger to religious activity or knowing what an ekklēsia was. It is when you bring in the phrase "in God the Father" that the term takes on significant meaning. When Paul adds this prepositional phrase, he is identifying the community as one committed to the God that both Jews and Christians serve, as opposed to an ekklēsia that worshiped pagan gods. Given the early date of this epistle, it's possible that many of these Christians did not connect the word ekklēsia with a Christian gathering, so that also necessitated the addition of the phrase.
Paul didn't stop with just "in God the Father," but he continued; he also attached "and the Lord Jesus Christ" as a part of that prepositional phrase. Realizing that a good number in this church were Jews who had converted from Judaism, it was important for Paul to add this additional piece of information so as to remind them that this is also an assembly that is to worship Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Paul didn't want there to be any confusion amongst the Jewish and Gentile believers, making them well aware of Jesus Christ and not just God the Father. It's interesting to note that Paul uses Jesus' full title here, which gives us further detail about this assembly and who they are worshiping. Let's look at His name in some detail. Jesus means "Jehovah is salvation" (Matthew 1:21) and is the personal name of the Man of Galilee whom Paul had once persecuted. Paul's use of Jesus here references both the person and the meaning of His name. Next is Christ; this title recognizes that Jesus was and is indeed the promised Messiah that the Jews had anticipated. This was an essential point for those who were Jews. Finally, the title Lord makes reference to Christ's deity. Not only is Jesus the Messiah, but He is also Lord and master, which puts Him on an equal level with God the Father.
Jesus Christ being equal with God the Father is the final point that we want to focus on. Not only does Jesus' title of Lord refer to His deity, but the structure of the grammar in the Greek, as well as the English, help to emphasize this point. In the Greek there is a single use of en (in) for the prepositional phrase and the two proper names (God and Jesus) are joined together with a kai (and) which links them together. This can be plainly seen in the English text with the "in" and "and," but the Greek grammar helps to emphasize that they are on the same level. How so? Paul could have very easily stated "...in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ," which wouldn't necessitate the two being equivalent or joined together in any way. With the way Paul chose to word it, the connection is clear that Jesus is Savior, Messiah, and deity.
Again, we've seen just how much can be uncovered with just a little bit of legwork. It's very tempting to want to skip over an introduction like this, but we would miss out on so much truth if we didn't take the time to investigate as we have. In our study today, we saw just how important it was for Paul to add his prepositional phrase, as well as the importance behind using Jesus' full title. Next time, we will look at the final part of the letter's opening, which is the greeting. Until then, keep walking in the Light!
devotion courtesy of Trailblazin Ministries
http://www.trailblazinministries.com/devotions/1thess011
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