1 Thessalonians
Chapter 3
Paul’s Apostolic Concerns
Since we could no longer bear it, I decided to go alone to Athens,
and send you Timothy, our brother and coworker of God in the gospel of Christ. I wanted him to encourage you in your faith and strengthen you,
so that none of you might turn back because of the trials you are currently facing. You know that this is our destiny.
I warned you about this when I was there: ‘We shall have to face persecution’; and it turned out to be so, as you have seen.
Therefore, I could no longer bear it and sent Timothy to evaluate your faith and see if the tempter had tempted you and rendered our work useless.
Good News from Thessalonica
But now Timothy has just returned with good news about your faith and love. He told us that you remember us kindly and that you long to see us as much as we long to see you.
What a comfort for us, brothers and sisters, in the middle of our troubles and trials, this faith of yours!
It is a breath of life to us when you stand firm in the Lord.
How can we thank God enough for all the joy we feel before him because of you?
Day and night, we beg him to let us see you again so we can complete the instruction of the believers.
May God, our Father, and Jesus, our Lord, prepare the way for us to visit you.
May the Lord increase more and more your love for each other and for all people, just as he increases our love for you.
May he strengthen you internally, to be holy and blameless before God, our Father, on the day that Jesus, our Lord, will come with all his saints.
Commentaries
Paul’s Apostolic Concerns.
The Apostle’s concern for the Thessalonians is clear throughout the letter. Therefore, from Athens, he sends Timothy to encourage them in their faith and struggles.
Good News from Thessalonica.
Timothy’s return with good news from Thessalonica prompts Paul to burst into an emotional thanksgiving. His apprehension and anxiety about the strength of the Thessalonians’ faith and their possible doubts about him, their evangelizer, were unfounded. His community, which the Apostle had doubted, is the one that gives him comfort, new life, and joy in a time of loneliness and discouragement. The love that unites him to the Thessalonians is not selfish; he shares it with everyone; it is a gift from God.