OCCASION
OCCASION
Timothy had just come from Thessalonica, and some hold that he brought a letter to which 1 Thessalonians was Paul’s reply. They point to the words "now about” (2 Thess. 4:9, 13; 5:1), which Paul uses when answering points raised in a letter to him from the Corinthians (1 Cor. 7:1, 25; 8:1). They suggest that Paul deals with some topics as though he would prefer not to (1 Thess. 4:9; 5:1), which means he is answering points they had raised in a letter.
There may have been such a letter, but we do not have sufficient evidence to be sure. "Now about” is used in other ways than in answering letters, and we must all sometimes deal with topics we do not choose, even when not answering a letter. What is clear is that Paul is writing to meet the needs of the Thessalonians as they had come before him in Timothy’s report.
It seems that Jewish opponents of the church were slandering Paul. If they could persuade the converts that Paul was simply trying to make money out of them and that his message was his own with no divine authorization, they would make it hard for the new Christians to hold on to their faith. So Paul spends a good deal of time in the first three chapters rebutting the kind of charge that might be brought against him. He aims to strengthen his friends in a time of persecution (1 Thess. 2:14) and to encourage them to live really Christian lives, not adopting pagan sexual standards (4:3-8). Some believers seem to have thought that Christ would come back soon, and when some of them died, the survivors thought the deceased would miss all the wonders of the parousia, so Paul wrote to put them right in this matter (4:13-18). Similarly there was need of teaching about the end times (5:1-11). Some of the believers apparently were idle, relying on others to support them (4:11-12). The authority of leaders was perhaps called in question (5:12-13), and the place of spiritual gifts was not clear to all (5:19-20).
In short, Paul wrote to meet the needs of his flock. They were a new church, not long enough in the faith to understand many things that more mature Christians would take for granted. Paul, their father in God, was concerned about them and wrote to help them go forward in the service of their Lord.
Second Thessalonians is basically more of the same. In some respects the first letter had been successful, and there was no need of repetition. Thus Paul spends a good deal of time in 1 Thessalonians defending himself against slanderous attacks, but none in the second letter. 31 Evidently he had quieted the opposition. But in other respects he faces the same problems. There is some new teaching (as in the matter of "the lawless one” [2 Thess. 2:8]), but for the most part it seems that Paul is reinforcing what he wrote in the earlier letter. The problem of idleness had persisted, and it therefore receives greater emphasis in this second letter (2 Thess. 3:6-13). Misunderstandings about the parousia had to be set right, the timid had to be encouraged, sinners were to amend their ways. Second Thessalonians is another piece of pastoral counseling, a means of putting the young church on the right track.