Presence And Absence
PRESENCE AND ABSENCE
1 THESSALONIANS 2:17-20
Like any parent separated from their child, Paul feels intensely for the church at Thessalonica.
Paul had been forced to leave Thessalonica abruptly (Acts 17:5-10). He had moved on to Berea, Athens and finally Corinth. The mission to Thessalonica had been initially successful. Yet he remained anxious about his converts. When it became impossible to satisfy a strong desire to return to Thessalonica (“Satan hindered us,” 2:18) the apostle while still in Athens sent Timothy, who afterward rejoined him in Corinth (3:1-6). Timothy’s report greatly encouraged Paul, but there was also sobering news. Taking advantage of the apostle’s absence, opponents had maligned his character and misinterpreted his failure to return to the city as proof that he did not care at all for his converts. They compared Paul to the roving charlatans who could be found in any Greek city, preying on the gullibility of the people. Such imposters moved from town to town, working solely for their own advantage, with no real concern for those who flocked to them.
Paul answers these insinuations in 2:17–3:13. Was his failure to return to Thessalonica proof that he did not care at all for his converts? When he had been separated from them (“in person not in heart”), even for a short time, he had eagerly wanted to return and see them face to face. The degree of eagerness the apostle experienced is apparent as he abandons the first person plural used in the letter to this point (“we were bereft … we endeavored … we wanted to come to you”) and he thrusts himself before his readers (“I, Paul, again and again”). With a rush of emotion he demands of his converts, “What is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?” (2:19).
The apostle’s language could not help but evoke deep feelings among his listeners since his words show his alertness to the conventions of the society in which they live. When a ruling monarch officially visited a Greek city, the populace would form a triumphal procession to escort him into the city. Citizens knew when a state visit was planned because taxes were levied or contributions solicited in order to prepare an appropriate gift for the royal guest. A papyrus from the third century BC speaks of contributions for a crown of gold to be presented to the king. While the monarchs of this world at their coming expect a costly crown, the Thessalonians themselves constitute the crown which Paul will joyfully present to Jesus at his coming (2:20).