Letters to the Thessalonians

The letters to the Thessalonians are gathered near the end of the Pauline collection, but they are the first letters written by the apostle Paul. The first letter to the Thessalonians is not only Paul's first work, but also the earliest New Testament writing we possess. It is, therefore, a fascinating text because it dates from the year 50 or 51, only 20 years after the events of the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is a very ancient text that bears witness to the first Christian community and, therefore, a privileged document to know the faith of a Christian community living in a Greek environment in the city of Thessalonica. A community no longer formed by Jews, but by Greeks, with the presence of some Jews.

St. Paul arrived in the region of Macedonia, in Philippi and Thessalonica, between the years 49 and 50, and founded two living communities. St. Luke relates it in the Acts of the Apostles, also because he was present at that mission and stayed in Philippi while Silas and Timothy accompanied Paul to Thessalonica, where the apostles stayed a short time, we imagine about three months, no more. And, in that short time, Paul gave life to a very active community, and then he was forced to leave because his preaching was annoying, the city authorities were looking for him, and so he had to leave that newborn community. Silas and Timothy stayed, and Paul continued his journey to Athens and then to Corinth, but it is logical to imagine that the apostle was concerned about the fate of that young church, until a few months later, Silas and Timothy joined him at Corinth bringing good news, saying that the community was progressing, constant and faithful despite the difficulties they were facing.

Precisely reacting to the good news brought by his co-workers, Paul took pen and paper and wrote for the first time a letter; as far as we know, it is the first one he wrote, or rather, it is the first that has been preserved. It is a family letter in which the apostle merely relates and recalls what happened. In the first three chapters, the author refers to his style, his preaching attitude and to the greatness of the work that God had done among those people, bringing several people to faith. In the second part, the apostle offers some clarifications because, evidently, Silas and Timothy had brought along with the good news, some concerns, because the initial catechesis had been so brief that inevitably gaps had appeared, and in those gaps had sprouted concerns, erroneous opinions, doubts, and so, the apostle, aware of these problems, answers and addresses a series of questions, the most important of which is undoubtedly that of the final destiny of the dead.

It is interesting to note that the first phase of Paul's preaching and the writing of his letters has an eschatological tone, that is, relative to the final fulfillment. It is the oldest perspective. The first Christian preaching was especially oriented toward fulfillment, the announcement that Christ renews the world and brings the history of humankind to its end. There is, therefore, a tension towards the end, towards the beginning of the new life. Paul and his companions await the imminent glorious coming of Christ, the risen Christ ascended into heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father, takes control of history and will soon come to complete the work.

Now, because of this preaching with its strong focus on the end, a strange opinion had arisen in Thessalonica: that some people, at least, had the idea that Christians would not die. Perhaps they had understood this from Paul's preaching. We can imagine something like this: the apostle announces that Christ is the savior, that Christ offers life, that Christ is about to inaugurate his kingdom; and when he comes in glory, he will take us all with him to a full, eternal and immortal life. Someone who had adhered to the preaching of Paul had imagined that the Christian group would pass directly into eternal life, at the glorious advent of Christ, without seeing death. Panic was created or, at least, these doubts became worrisome when someone in the Christian community died and doubt arose that it was all an illusion.

Probably someone asked, 'But didn't he tell us we wouldn't die? So, if one is dead before the glorious coming of Christ, he is lost. When Christ comes, he will no longer find him on this earth and therefore will not be able to welcome him into his kingdom of life.' It's a way of thinking that almost makes us smile, but we have to keep in mind that they were at the beginning and they were forming a new, original mentality, and these people had no reference points, no texts to rely on for doctrine; and it is precisely in the face of this uncertainty that the apostle Paul decides to write.

He greets, he remembers, he expresses his affection, but above all, he comes to clarify the doctrine, and so he writes in chapter 4: “We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.” It does not say that they should not grieve over the death of a loved one, but that they should not grieve any longer, as if it were an irreparable loss, which is the opinion of those who have no hope. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.”

This is not Paul's idea. Paul is conveying the vital teaching he has received. What he is saying is based on the teaching of the Lord Jesus. "We who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.” An important and unique word is used: The coming of the Lord. But, literally, in the original Greek, there is no verb 'to come,' nor a corresponding noun 'coming.’ We have the word 'parousia,' which in Greek is joined to the verb 'to be,' with the preposition 'pará' = it is an approach. Parousia is the presence, the being there, and is a technical term which was used in Hellenistic language to indicate official visits of great personalities, especially the emperors.

The official visit of the emperor to a city of the empire was called 'parousia,' it is the time of the official presence of the kyrios, the lord. The Christian community used this official language of the empire to say that the kyrios is only one and is not the emperor of Rome but the Lord Jesus and they are waiting for his visit, his coming, his solemn presence; it is about preparing for this official visit to enter his kingdom.

Now, however, Paul stresses that those who are dead are not lost; and those who are still alive have no advantage over the dead for this final encounter with the Lord Jesus. Another interesting detail is that it says "we who are alive” at the coming of the Lord. Notice that Paul believes that he will still be alive at the glorious coming of the Lord; instead, he died, and many centuries passed, and until today, the parousia, the glorious coming of Christ, has not yet taken place. So, was Paul wrong? Did he teach something wrong? No; he did not teach that he would still be alive at the coming, but simply used an everyday image, born out of the desire to be there still, that is, from the desire that the coming was imminent.

We also use this expression. Imagine that you meet a friend, just one, who has been ill for a long time and has not come, you haven't met him because he wasn't well, and when you meet him again, doesn't it come naturally to you to say a sentence like this? 'So, are we healed, are we well?' Why did you use the plural? It's not logical; you were healthy, he was sick, but precisely to create a relationship of solidarity, we speak to only one person, telling him that 'we are healed'; it is the same rhetorical phenomenon by which Paul says 'we who are alive'... he is speaking to the living, and he is alive, but thinking of someone who has died. He says, 'we who shall yet be alive, shall have no advantage over those who have died' because that event will gather them all together.

In fact, he continues: "For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

It is a minor apocalypse. The glorious coming of the Lord will mark the resurrection of the dead and the union of those who will still be alive on earth, in this great procession upon the clouds, in the air. To take this expression literally is simply a sign of foolishness. It speaks of clouds and air to emphasize the difference between an earthly dimension through which a new reality will begin in which we terrestrials will organize this procession over the clouds in the air, i.e., enters a different dimension.

It does not physically describe anything, and in fact, the best explanation Paul offers is in the last expression: "We shall always be with the Lord." It does not describe anything but says everything that is important, 'to be' and 'company' - we shall always be with the Lord. Eternity will be our essence in the company of the Lord. Without describing the details, he says what is important and gives hope to that young community.

It is not correct to talk about ‘return.’ Now and then, someone appears who uses this word, even some priests, perhaps they change the text of the liturgy, replacing the word 'coming' by 'returning,' perhaps convinced that they are doing it right. The New Testament always speaks of coming as presence. The concept of ‘returning’ is not there; if it is sometimes found, it is a translation error; in the original language, it does not appear because the return implies an absence, that the Lord is not there but returns immediately; we are not waiting for the return of Jesus. Jesus is present here, now; we are waiting for the glorious manifestation, the complete manifestation.

So, the underlining is between a veiled presence and a manifest presence, between a weak, sacramental presence and a strong, active, direct, strong presence for fulfillment. The conclusion Paul draws from this doctrinal instruction is the need to maintain vigilance, to be awake, to be ready to wait diligently for this glorious moment.

Shortly after writing the first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul wrote the second letter to the same community because other problems had arisen; as a result of the letter sent by the apostle, some deduced that the coming was imminent and that the world would end at any moment. Paul again wrote about the signs preceding the glorious coming of Christ, stressing that this end is not as imminent as some believe. He reproaches especially some who said that it was not necessary to work. Starting from the idea that the world was going to end at any moment, they had asked themselves why to continue working and, in the end,, they were becoming vicious. While they were waiting for the glorious coming of Christ, besides doing nothing, they were creating problems.

At the end of the second letter, Paul writes with an almost ironic delicacy but very serious so that they continue working and living normally: "We instruct you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to shun any brother who conducts himself in a disorderly way and not according to the tradition they received from us. We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way by not keeping busy but minding the business of others. Such people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and to eat their own food. But you, brothers, do not be remiss in doing good.”

To wait with all your strength for the glorious coming of the Lord means to live well in this world, to continue to do everything well as before. To live in an extraordinary way the ordinary things. This is the way to be ready to receive the parousia, the glorious coming of the Lord Jesus.