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In what is now Greece, Thessalonica was the capital of one of four districts in Macedonia. Paul visited this port city on his second missionary journey.1 As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue to share the message he had been given:
Acts 17:2-3 And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Yahushua whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.”
Paul used the word of Yahuwah to prove that Yahushua is the Christ spoken of in Scripture and that it was Yahuwah’s plan for Christ to suffer and be raised from the dead.
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Note that the source of Paul’s authoritative teaching was Scripture. Later, in this same chapter, Luke categorizes Paul’s message to the Thessalonians as Yahuwah's word.2 What was the message that Paul shared from Scripture? That Yahushua was a god-man? Or was Christ the second person of the Trinity? Or perhaps that Yahushua pre-existed in heaven as the Word? All of these statements are key elements in today’s orthodoxy. However, Paul is not recorded teaching the Thessalonians these critical doctrinal points. Instead, the text says that Paul used the word of Yahuwah to prove that Yahushua is the Christ spoken of in Scripture and that it was Yahuwah’s plan for Christ to suffer and be raised from the dead.
How did the Thessalonians respond to Paul’s message? Some Jews, along with a large number of Yahuwah-fearing Greeks and several leading women, were persuaded by the former Pharisee that Yahushua was the Christ.3 Conversely, there were other Jews who became jealous and rejected Paul, his companions, and their message:
Acts 17:5-9 But the Jews, becoming jealous and bringing along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. 6 When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset the world have come here also; 7 and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Yahushua.” 8 They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things. 9 And when they had received a pledge from Jason and the others, they released them.
What was the message that the Jews found to be so offensive as to incite violence against believers? That the man from Nazareth was Yahuwah? No. Instead, the crucified Yahushua was the promised king.
The necessity of Christ’s suffering was crucial to Yahushua’s teaching. For example, when Peter received the revelation from Yahuwah the Father that Yahushua was indeed the Christ of Yahuwah, Yahushua warned his disciples that his suffering, death, and resurrection were inevitable:
And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of Yahuwah.” (Luke 18:20)
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Luke 9:18-22 And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the people say that I am?” 19 They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again.” 20 And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of Yahuwah.” 21 But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.”
When Yahushua was raised from the dead, he appeared to two men on the road to Emmaus. The text says that Yahushua “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” What was it that they needed help understanding? That the Christ was actually Almighty Yahuwah? No. Rather, Yahuwah had determined that the man He anointed to be king would suffer:
Luke 24:25-27 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
Yahushua’s suffering was a stumbling block to the Jews. Although it was spoken of in Scripture,4 they had difficulty believing it. Therefore, It is unsurprising that what caused them to stumble–that Christ’s suffering was an integral part of Yahuwah’s plan–had to be addressed by Yahushua and others. For example, Peter taught:
Acts 3:17-21 “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. 18 “But the things which Yahuwah announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20 and that He may send Yahushua, the Christ appointed for you, 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which Yahuwah spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.
Scripture never records any reaction by the Jews to what would have been the most shocking revelation conceivable, that the one God of the Scriptures was actually three persons who co-equally shared a God substance.
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Paul also found it necessary to explain to the Jews in Thessalonica that Christ had to suffer. If Paul had taught the Trinity or the deity of Christ to the fiercely monotheistic Jews, it would have evoked an even greater response than that of Christ’s sufferings. But we are told that the stumbling point for the Thessalonians was that Christ suffered and was resurrected. Scripture never records any reaction by the Jews to what would have been the most shocking revelation conceivable, that the one God of the Scriptures was actually three persons who co-equally shared a God substance.
Patrick Navas, in his book Divine Truth or Human Tradition, emphasizes this truth with this critical observation:
The thoughtful student must ask himself: If it was hard for the Jews in the early church to let go of the Law, wouldn’t it have been even more challenging to get them to change their view of Yahuwah? Fifteen New Testament chapters are dedicated to changing the Jew’s mind on the Law. And if it took that much to deal with the Law, shouldn’t we find at least 1 or 2 chapters explaining the change in how Yahuwah would be viewed from now on? But not a single verse suggests the Jew change his view of Yahuwah…No verse describes it [the Trinity], explains it, or defines it. And no verse tells us to believe it.5
If Paul had taught that Yahuwah was a mystical triune being, or that Yahushua was Yahuwah, it would have created an enormous obstacle to their acceptance of the gospel, much like it does today. But as Navas notes, Scripture never records any such opposition.
Some may wonder, since the book of Acts does not record any Trinitarian teaching by Paul while he was in Thessalonica, perhaps it can be found in his subsequent letters to them. But an examination of both of these letters reveals a glaring absence of these doctrines. Instead of the Trinity or deity of Christ, we find that Paul differentiates between Yahuwah, who is the Father, and Yahushua, who is Lord and Christ. This occurs at least eight times in his first letter.6 For instance:
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to Yahuwah from idols to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Yahushua, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
Paul describes Yahuwah as the living and true God. Yahushua is not the true God but the Son whom the true God raised from the dead.
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Here, Paul describes Yahuwah as the living and true God. Yahushua is not the true God but the Son whom the true God raised from the dead. Furthermore, on more than one occasion, Paul writes that Yahuwah is the Father, while Yahushua is the Lord. Here are two of those instances:
1 Thessalonians 1:1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in Yahuwah the Father and the Lord Yahushua Christ: Grace to you and peace.
1 Thessalonians 3:11 Now may our Yahuwah and Father Himself and Yahushua our Lord direct our way to you;
We find more of the same in Paul’s second letter to believers in Thessalonica. Seven times, the apostle emphasizes a distinction between Yahuwah, the Father, while describing Yahushua as the Lord or Christ,7 positions we are told in Acts 2:36 that Yahuwah exalted him to.
2 Thessalonians 1:1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in Yahuwah our Father and the Lord Yahushua Christ:
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 Now may our Lord Yahushua Christ Himself and Yahuwah our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, 17 comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.
Neither in the in the Book of Acts nor in Paul’s letters to the church in Thessalonica is Yahushua portrayed as Yahuwah or a tri-person being.
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The revelation that caused the Jews in Thessalonica to stumble was that their long-awaited king had to suffer before his exaltation by Yahuwah, not that Yahushua was himself, Yahuwah. The first-century Church taught that Yahushua was a man from Nazareth who humbled himself and obeyed the will of his God, even to the point of suffering and death. But Yahuwah raised His servant from the dead, and those who believe this truth and follow Yahushua as Christ and Lord will likewise be raised to new life.
1 Paul and company presumably went back to Thessalonica on their third missionary journey when they went through the districts of Macedonia. Acts 20:1-5.
2 Acts 17:13.
3 Acts 17:4.
5 Patrick Navas, Divine Truth or Human Tradition, (Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2011), p. 72. Note: Navas is quoting another author in this passage.
6 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 1:3; 1:9-10; 3:11; 3:13; 4:14; 5:9; 5:23.
7 2 Thessalonians 1:1; 1:2; 1:8; 1:12; 2:13-14; 2:16; 3:5.
This is a non-WLC article. Source: https://oneGodworship.com/pauls-theology-in-thessalonica/
We have replaced the English titles and names of the Father and the Son with those employed by the apostles. In the scriptural quotations provided, we have restored their original names as used by the inspired writers. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the historical development by which the name Yahushua came to be rendered as “Jesus.” Additionally, we recognize that the English term “God” has been commonly employed as an equivalent for the Hebrew Eloah or Elohim. -WLC Team
