I THESSALONIANS:
INTRODUCTION: The city of Thessalonica was located in what is now modern-day Greece. Ancient sources tell us that it was not only situated on a major east-west trade route (the Via Egnatia), it was also a thriving seaport. It was a free/independent city. 
As we would expect, Thessalonica was bustling, energetic and vibrant. It was an amalgam of different cultures and nationalities. Spices, works of art, luxurious goods and exotic animals passed through the city on a daily basis. The businessmen and leading citizens of the city were very prosperous. However, as in most large cities, there were also lower classes of poor people as well as slaves.
While Thessalonica had many pagan temples and altars, scripture tells us that it also had a sizable Jewish population - enough to sustain its own synagogue.
During his second missionary journey, Paul stopped in Thessalonica. As was his custom when arriving in any city, Paul went straight to the synagogue and made contact with the Jewish leaders. He was given the opportunity to speak and for three consecutive weeks, he preached the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Acts 17:1-3 – Now when they [Paul and Silas] had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”
Scripture tells us that some Jews, a large number of Gentiles, and even some women of prominent standing in the community responded to the gospel message and became Christians.
Acts 17:4 – And some of them [the Jews] were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
However, the majority of the devout Jews rejected the gospel. Why was that?
One of the problems was their intense national and personal pride.
The Jews were fiercely proud of their heritage as the chosen people of God. They considered themselves superior to the Gentiles, because they had the law and the promises of God. In order to accept the gospel message, they would have to set aside their national identity and blend into the church along with the Gentiles. But in their eyes, it was practically blasphemy to consider Gentiles equal to themselves; their pride would not allow this to happen.
Another issue was that the Jews refused to accept a Messiah that did not fit into their traditional beliefs (or preconceived ideas) about him.
For example, the Jews had a long-held belief that the Messiah was a conquering hero (Isaiah 42:13, Isaiah 52:13). Obviously, we also accept this as truth; Jesus is head over all things and one day every knee will bow before him. At the appointed time, he will defeat all his enemies (Philippians 2:9-11, Revelation 19:11-21, Hebrews 10:13, etc) and reign forevermore.
However, the Jews completely ignored any scriptures that described the Messiah as a suffering servant, or that spoke of his death on behalf of mankind (Isaiah 53).
Consequently, Jesus was rejected by most of the Jews because he did not fit their idea of a national champion/deliverer who would raise an army, defeat Rome, assume rulership over Israel and usher the Jewish nation into a new ‘golden era’ which far surpassed the glory days of David and Solomon.
The devout Jews of Thessalonica were so bound by their traditions (and so blind to the truth), they actually became enraged when Paul suggested that Jesus was the Christ.
Scripture tells us that they responded to the gospel with violence - they engineered a riot and attempted to have Paul and Silas brought before the mob, who would have surely stoned them. (Thus, those who had suffered much religious persecution themselves were now the persecutors!) Their actions are eerily similar to what the religious leaders did to Jesus about 50 years earlier.
Acts 17:5 – But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attached the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.
The crowds were so agitated, Paul and Silas were forced to flee to Berea (about 50 miles away) in the dead of night.
Soon after their arrival in Berea, they commenced preaching the gospel. But when the men of Thessalonica heard about it, they immediately dropped everything and traveled to Berea. Once again, they did everything in their power to stir up the crowds and silence the gospel through violence.
For his own safety, Paul was forced to move on to the city of Athens, where he waited for Silas and Timothy to join him.
The point of all this discussion is to show that the church of Thessalonica was established in the midst of fervent opposition and that wasn’t likely to change. The members of the synagogue were going to continue to hinder the growth of the true church. They would continue to show open animosity/hostility toward the Christians whenever possible. 
WHO: As you probably already know, the Apostle Paul wrote the books of I & II Thessalonians. He clearly identifies himself in the letter’s introduction.
WHEN: Paul most likely wrote his letters to the Thessalonians shortly after he arrived in the city of Corinth (Acts 18:1-5). This would put the date of writing for I Thessalonians at about 51-52 AD. The second epistle was written also written at Corinth, later that same year.
WHY: Why did Paul write to the church at Thessalonica?
There appear to be three main purposes in his letters:
First, he wanted to encourage the new believers to persevere in their faith, despite the intense opposition they faced.
Second, he wanted to correct some false rumors that were circulating about himself and his fellow missionaries.
Third, he wanted to give the Christians at Thessalonica some further teaching, which would contribute to their spiritual growth.
Throughout I & II Thessalonians, Paul reveals some very important theological revelations concerning future events, particularly the return of Christ for his bride (the rapture). He also discusses some of the moral and ethical implications we should consider, knowing that Christ will soon return.
I think our study of Thessalonians is going to be exciting, encouraging and beneficial. Feel free to jump in and read both books; it won’t take you long. I hope you will join me next week for part one!