November 27th, 2021

This Sunday is the First Sunday in Advent. And this is the first Sunday of the third year in the three-year series. This year, when it comes to a primary gospel account, we will be looking at the Gospel according to Luke. And since I have been writing for several years now, this year I will ATTEMPT to look primarily at the epistle texts.

This Sunday’s text is from 1 Thessalonians [3:9-13]. The epistle readings do not always fit with the Gospel and the Old Testament texts, but they are still important.

What would the New Testament be like with the four gospel accounts and without the many epistles? Having just looked at the Gospel according to Mark, we can see the problem with just having the events of Jesus in front of us. We would be very much like the disciples as they followed Jesus around. Those followers saw the events of Jesus, and Jesus was sometimes talking to them, but sometimes they did not understand all of what was going on. And that can be like reading only the gospel texts and never any of the epistle texts.

The disciples were sometimes very confused. And sometimes the people of today are also very confused. When we have those epistles that were sent to a variety of people almost two thousand years ago, that can help us with our significantly different perspectives.

To show this in a down-to-earth manner, it may be helpful to look also at the book of Acts. Throughout this important work in the New Testament, the focus is ultimately not on Peter, Paul, or whoever is the current focus, but the ULTIMATE focus is on JESUS and what he CONTINUES to do (see Acts 1:1).

As we look at the various epistles throughout this year, it may be helpful to see what these original recipients of these epistles have said against Jesus and this ‘Christianity’. It was, in many ways and with many different words, put down. Near the very end of this book of Acts, it is said about Christianity, in a part of Acts 28:22, that ‘everywhere it is spoken against.’ There is a great variety of ways in which Christianity is spoken against today, and there was a great variety of ways in which it was spoken against within the book of Acts.

How was Christianity spoken against in Thessalonica? In Thessalonica, to set the stage, the city is big enough to have a synagogue, and Paul speaking in that synagogue and having some converts to Christianity is what started things. And here is how Christianity is ‘put down’ in Acts 17:5-7 (in a somewhat-literal translation):

And the Jews, becoming zealous, and taking aside of the marketplace-loungers, some evil men, and having made a crowd, they disturbed the city, and coming upon the house of Jason [the man to which Paul was connected], they were seeking them [Paul and his companions], to lead them forward into the mob; but not finding them, they dragged Jason and some brothers to the politarchs, crying that the ones having messed up the inhabited earth, these also have arrived here, whom Jason has received; and these all act contrary to the dogma of Caesar, saying Jesus to be another king.

The description at the end is the heart of the matter, and certainly much could be said about it. The part of the accusation that is especially interesting is one that was translated as ‘messed up’ above. For someone to ‘mess up’ the inhabited earth (a big place!) is a significant accusation.

Here are obviously some other ways in which this word could be translated. The following was taken from The New Testament from 26 Translations, page 547 [Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA: Zondervan Publishing, 1967]:

These that have turned the world upside down [King James Version]

They who have thrown the inhabited world into confusion—Rhm [The Emphasized New Testament: A New Translation (J.B. Rotherham)]

These upsetters of the whole world—Mof [The New Testament: A New Translation (James Moffatt)]

These fellows, who have turned the world topsy-turvy—Wms [The New Testament: A Translation in the Language of the People (Charles B. Williams)]

These world revolutionists—Ber [The Berkeley Version of the New Testament (Gerrit Verkuyl)]

There seems to be a lot of ways to describe how things go badly. That is not too different from describing what the end of the world will be like. And perhaps the reason that this epistle contains some ‘advice’ about the end of the world (see 1 Thessalonians 5) is because of this ‘accusation’ that was connected to Christianity at Thessalonica many years ago.  Whatever the reason, it is important for this topic to be taught.