2 Thessalonians 3 (Explanatory Notes)

3:1 The rest. Be praying, brothers [and sisters] for us so that the word of the Lord might run and be glorified as also [it did] toward you 2. and in order that we might be rescued from the wicked and evil people...
Chapter 3 begins the end of the letter. Philippians 3:1 also begins with this expression, "the rest." If we are correct that 2 Thessalonians comes at the end of Paul's ministry, then Philippians would already be written by the time of 2 Thessalonians. In any case, it is a key indicator of the literary structure of the letter.

These verses seem to indicate that Paul, Silas, and Timothy are under significant pressure at the time of writing. This would certainly be true if Paul were in Rome facing his final hour. If the Jewish War is the context, then all Jews, including Jewish Christians, would be feeling the tremendous weight of the Roman empire on their neck. It is a weight of impending doom, like history is headed toward an inevitable conclusion and there is nothing you can do about it. The chess pieces are in play. The fate is sure. Only God's intervention could change the destination.

Pray. That's the only thing to do. Paul faced Roman authority several times. A writing called 1 Clement suggests he was jailed seven times and exiled once (1 Clem. 5). No action on his part, perhaps not even apostasy, would have saved him at his final appearance. Similarly, the war with Rome could only end in significant loss once it had reached a certain point.

We Christians sometimes find ourselves as the by-standers in world machinations. The nations and empires of which we are part go to war. Evil leaders oppress their own people or outsiders. We did not choose the conflicts between the parties fighting through our homes and cities. Still we can find ourselves run over in the conflict.

Accordingly, Paul, Silas, and Timothy pray for rescue, if it would be God's will. We can pray at any time, knowing that God has the power to stop the world. He often does not. He often reserves his salvation and judgment for another time. Our ultimate salvation is what is important far more than our immediate rescue.

The proclamation of the good news continues regardless of world events or personal tragedy. The word of the Lord continues forth. The reception of the good news brings glory to God. The glory of God is the real story, the real significance, despite the world story and what the world thinks is important.

For not all have faith. 3. But the Lord is faithful, who will strengthen you and will guard [you] from the evil [one].
There is a contrast between the Lord, who keeps faith with his people, and those who would persecute Christians, who do not have faith. Two different nuances of words relating to faith are used. The first refers to those who do not trust in Christ. They have not committed or given their allegiance to him as Lord.

By contrast, the Lord is faithful. The Lord is committed to us. Lord here probably refers to Jesus the Lord rather than God the father. Verse 11 below refers to the "Lord Jesus Christ" as does 2 Thessalonians throughout, including just a few verses previous (2:16). There is no indication that Paul is blurring Jesus the Lord with Yahweh as Lord in this letter. [1]

1 Corinthians 10:13 gives us a similar confidence from God--"God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tested above what you are able but will make with the temptation also the escape so you are able to endure it." 2 Thessalonians 3:3 puts this principle in terms of strength and protection. Jesus will both strengthen you in the time of trial and guard you from the forces of evil, especially from the Devil, the evil one.

4. And we have been persuaded in the Lord about you (pl) that what we are commanding both you are doing and you will do.
It is very motivating when someone believes in you, especially someone whose opinion matters to you. It is instructional to those who are in leadership. Fear does motivate, but you will get much greater and long lasting results if you provide positive inspiration. Paul, Silas, and Timothy are instructing the Thessalonians, and there is some corrective in their instructions. But they ultimately believe in them, that they will do it even though Paul is not physically present with them.

It is good to remind ourselves frequently that the "you" of Scripture is typically plural. In a Western individualist context, it is natural to see the "you" in a passage like this one as me as an individual. But Paul, Silas, and Timothy are addressing an entire congregation--or on the apocalyptic reading, all Christians of that day.

5. And may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the endurance of the Christ.
A time of persecution and hardship calls for endurance. Paul calls it "the endurance of the Christ." Perhaps Paul is urging us to what is called the imitatio Christi, the "imitation of Christ." This dimension of Jesus is sometimes missed because we so emphasize the divinity of Christ that we do not see him also as an example of what our humanity should be.

Jesus "endured the cross, despising the shame" (Heb. 12:2). This is how the Thessalonians must face the trials that may come. This is the mindset of those who love God. They will endure to the end.

The expression, "love of God," is a little ambiguous. It can refer to a love for God, God's love for us, a type of love, and there are even more possible meanings. Since the verse seems to be a call to a certain kind of action, it seems most likely that Paul is urging them to behave in accordance with a love for God, namely, to endure. Such action requires God's power. Paul prays for God's "direction" to take them down this path.

Idleness
6. Now we command you, brothers [and sisters] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to stay away from every brother [or sister] walking idly and not according to the tradition that they received from us.
1 Thessalonians 5:14 briefly addressed those who are "idle," who do not contribute to their families and community with work. It has sometimes been suggested that the Thessalonians were so expectant that the Lord would return at any time that they had stopped working. This hypothesis fits with the idea that some thought that the Day of the Lord had already come (2:2). Why go to work if you think the world as we know it is about to end?

Paul indicates that idleness does not fit with the example he, Silas, and Timothy had left them. We note again that the word tradition seems to suggest a longer relationship with the church than the few weeks of his initial visit. Paul suggests a kind of shaming of them by "staying away." This approach certainly fit with the honor-shame world in which Paul lived.

Shaming would not have the same effect in Western culture because we are largely an individualistic rather than group culture. Shaming comes across as harming, as hateful in the Western world. We would probably deploy other means to reach similar ends. Such means include loving conversation and of course consequences such as those mentioned below.

7. For you yourselves know how it is necessary to imitate us, because we have not been idle among you, 8. nor did we eat bread for free from someone but by work and labor, both night and day, working in order that we might not be a burden to someone among you.
Paul uses himself, Silas, and Timothy as examples. It is significant to note that Paul regularly told his churches to follow his example (e.g., 1 Cor. 4:16). He did not view himself as a moral failure but as a moral example, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

In this particular instance, he uses his work practices as an example. Again, they were not long in Thessalonica on his first visit, but we do not know for certain whether he had other stays of greater length. Acts 20:2 and 2 Corinthians 2:13 indicate that Paul did spend at least one more time in Macedonia, but Acts does not give us a complete account of Paul's movements. 

Either way, we know from places like Acts 18:3 and 1 Corinthians 4:12 that Paul worked with his own hands at tentmaking in order to support his own ministry rather than to draw on the support of the churches where he was at, although he would take support from other churches (cf. Phil. 4:16). [2] He likely used this work as an opportunity to share the good news with Gentiles in the marketplace.

This approach kept Paul and his co-workers from the informal strings of patronage. In the ancient world, receiving gifts (charismata) created informal obligations. It is hard enough to preach to someone who is paying for your livelihood. In Paul's world, it would have been deeply insulting to correct your patron. By working with his own hands, Paul was free to speak the word of God unhindered.

9. Not that we do not have authority but in order that we might give ourselves as an example to you that you might imitate us.
If 2 Thessalonians came at the end of Paul's ministry, then we are hearing echoes of his previous letters. Here we are reminded of what Paul told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 9:8-14. Those served by ministers like Paul should materially support their ministers as they "tread the grain" (1 Cor. 9:9). So he would have the authority to receive from those churches for whom he works, but he did not invoke it.

Again, he urges his churches to follow his example. In Philippians 4:11, he tells the Philippians that he has learned to be content regardless of his circumstances. Gifts he received from them did not obligate him to them but were rather their sacrifices to God (Phil. 4:18). He did not live off such gifts but supported himself.

10. For even when we were with you we commanded you this, that if someone is not willing to work, do not let them eat.
This verse is the infamous Protestant Work Ethic, made famous in America by Captain John Smith in the Jamestown settlement. According to the lore, some of those in the settlement were not particularly work brittle. In England, they were used to a softer, more privileged life. But Jamestown was in serious trouble, with starvation, sickness, and attack endangering it. It was "all hands on deck" to survive.

There is certainly an important principle here. It is not right for those who can contribute to do nothing while others do all the work for them. But we should be careful not to drive a cultural truck through the verse. For example, this principle could be applied to rich capitalists and their families in the late 1800s living off the hard labor of workers in their factories. It could be applied to slave owners in the antebellum South who sat drinking mint julip while their slaves toiled in the sun picking cotton.

Similarly, it is blind to think that the economic systems of a society do not channel people in particular directions. Generational poverty is a kind of enslavement that makes it difficult for a person to know how to support themselves by work, let alone to have the motivation to pursue it. Western individualism can blind the dominant culture from the encumbrances of people growing up and living under quite different conditions. One can assume an individual freedom and power to act that simply does not exist in the same way for people in different circumstances.

In such cases the structures of society need to be addressed in order to create a playing field where the Protestant work ethic is actually attainable. In the meantime, it would contradict an even stronger strand of the Gospels and New Testament to use this verse to undermine the gospel as good news for the poor. This verse is clearly not directed at the poor to whom Jesus ministered. It is directed at the able-bodied and ably-situated to contribute.

11. For we hear some [are] walking among you idly, doing no work but being busybodies. 12. And to such ones we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ so that, working in quietness, they might eat their own bread. 13. But you, brothers [and sisters], do not tire of doing good.
1. A "busybody" is someone who, rather than contributing in a positive way, goes around causing problems. The concept will be familiar to parents and teachers. If someone does not have anything to do, they may very get into trouble. You may have heard the saying, "Idle hands are the Devil's workshop."

We do not know if an expectation of Christ's immanent return played any role in idleness in Thessalonica. As we mentioned above, few people are going to go to work if you know the world is going to end that day. From the book of Acts, it seems likely that the church at least tried to take care of its own. The weekly communion meal itself was something to count on. It is at least possible that some people grew to depend on the church for their subsistence rather than taking care of themselves.

Millenarian groups may especially face such dynamics. There was such a group in Chicago around the year 1900. [3] They quit their normal jobs and sold their businesses to live together both in the belief that Jesus would soon return and following the model of Acts 2. Yet the Lord did not come back, and since they were in the city rather than the country where they might farm, they could not feed themselves except by continuing to take in new estates and donations.

Paul suggests that those who are able to work and can provide for themselves should. Again, this basic concept must be developed within an understanding of culture and societal dynamics at work on particular segments of society. But the basic principle is fair and just. It is a principle that is found in the Genesis story before the Fall, where Adam and Eve are caretakers of the Garden of Eden. Work is not a product of sin but part of God's cosmic design.

2. Doing good suggests that we do not merely work for our own benefit but for the benefit of others as well. Work thus fits within both capitalistic and communitarian contexts. In a communitarian context, the community works for their mutual good, such as in some of the utopian communities of the American 1800s like the Shakers and community in Oneida, New York.

A philosophy known as "egoism" would suggest that it is immoral to work for the good of others. The philosopher Ayn Rand even wrote a book called, The Virtue of Selfishness. But this is not a Christian perspective. Giving to others from the abundance of our own work fits deeply with the New Testament.

In 2 Corinthians 8:14-15 Paul tells the Corinthians that when they have an abundance beyond their needs, they should share it with other communities in the church that are lacking. Then when they are in need and the other communities are blessed with over-abundance, they will share with them.

Paul did not anticipate a world where Christians would have the level of abundance that many in the American church have. Most people worked to receive a daily wage that was just about enough to provide for their family. Any abundance beyond subsistence could then be shared with others in need.

John Wesley put it this way: "Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can." By "save all you can" he did not mean to store it up in the stock market or a savings account. He meant to buy the generic rather than name brand so you "save" money. So while Wesley earned lots of money in his life from his books and such, he gave almost all of it away and lived frugally.

14. And if someone does not obey our word through [this] letter, take note of this [person], not to associate with him in order that he might be ashamed. 15 And do not consider [them] as an enemy, but warn [them] as a brother [or sister]. 
The motivational technique of shaming appears here again. We have argued above that this approach probably would not have similar effective in the Western individualist world as it did in Paul's collectivist, group culture. For one, shaming makes enemies in our world. It translates as hateful and hostile in our world.

We can thus warn others in other ways in our culture. There is of course the discipline of not giving, the "love must be tough" tactic. We must be careful in so doing, however, for it is not God's will for anyone to starve and those who practice "tough love" can sometimes come across as arrogant and condescending. Be sure that person will win few to Christ but more likely drive them away.

Still, Paul, Silas, and Timothy believed in church discipline. This letter held and authority. There was an implication of withholding upon disobedience. So while we must be incredibly careful not to think ourselves superior to those we try to "help," one can discipline with sincere love.

Again, extreme caution is necessary. For example, one form of racism is "benevolent" racism. This is when a person "gives" to someone from another race with an air of superiority. "Aren't I wonderful for helping this poor person?" Missionaries of the past sometimes fell into this trap of "helping" people in other cultures with an implied sense of their own greatness and cultural dominance.

Closing Benediction
16. May the Lord of peace himself give to you peace always in every way. The Lord [be] with you all.
We now reach the letter conclusion. Paul blesses the Thessalonians with a benediction wishing them peace. Jesus is called the "Lord of peace." Indeed, peace is one of the greatest gifts that God gives his people and, I would argue, is God's most frequent voice into our lives. Many claim to receive other revelations and directions and no doubt many do, but the peace of the Lord is the baseline of God's presence in our lives.

Not all will feel this peace at all times. Many things can scream over the quietness of God's peace. Sometimes our past, sometimes our body chemistry, sometimes the busyness of life will crowd it out. But the peace is the surest presence of God. "Be still and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10).

17. The greeting with my own hand, of Paul, which is a sign in every letter. So I write. 18. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

This verse strongly indicates that Paul is the authorial voice of 2 Thessalonians. It provides his signature, against which other letters can be validated. Even if the rest of the letter had been written by a secretary--a common practice--Paul would take the stylus and write his name in his own hand here. From Galatians, it might have been a known Pauline practice to write something in his own hand at the end of the letter (cf. Gal. 6:11).

We have speculated whether Silas might have been the primary author of 2 Thessalonians. This verse is a strong argument against that theory. However, authorship in the ancient world was more than simply who literally put ink to papyrus. A secretary could also write the edited thoughts of someone (cf. Rom. 16:22). The author was the "authority," the voice behind the words more than the person who put the words onto papyrus. It would be highly speculative, but we could at least imagine a scenario where Silas or Timothy was saying, "This is the authentic voice of Paul, not any other letter in his name you might see."

The closing is Paul's customary closing in which he wishes Christ's grace on the audience. Christ's grace is Christ's favor. It is of course "unmerited" in the sense that we do not earn it or deserve it. Christ's grace are his acts of love toward us, reflecting his goodness to his merit. This grace is for all who trust in him. If 2 Thessalonians were written narrowly to the Thessalonians, then it is a wish of God's grace on that communion, on that house church or collection of house churches. If 2 Thessalonians is an "apocalyptic letter," then it is a wish of God's grace on all believers who might read this letter, including ourselves!

[1] Quite possibly, reference to Jesus as Lord in the earliest church derived from Psalm 110:1--"The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand'..." In Hebrew, the two Lords are clearly distinguished: Yahweh and the anointed king. Paul rarely blurs the two uses together, although he can (Rom. 10:13; Phil. 2:11).

[2] See also 1 Corinthians 9:12, 15.

[3] The group, affectionately called the "holy jumpers," ended up in Waukesha, Wisconsin. An account of their story is found in William Kostlevy, Holy Jumpers: Evangelicals and Radicals in Progressive Era America (Oxford: Oxford University, 2010).