The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Thessalonians — Section 50

power without the action of the Gentile authorities, their own cou11trymen Ar<' rrferrc>·l to as thOBe at wl,ose hands t.he TheHsalonians suffered. A poAition was held for Cbri.,1 at. Thessalonica RB in Juclwa. And, in recordinp: 1his to the praise of the Th8811&!ouians, th.,,, warm tnw~rd tlH•m e.n.l Rcldress them as brethren. III. FoR 1'H!-:lk ENCoURAGDlt;;NT IN HEROISM TRK JEWS ARE PRESENTED IN THEIR TlltrE CR ARA• TER. 1. Tl,eir past CO'Tlduct. (1) Wurst manifestation. O Who both killc>d the Lord J,.,s11s." In the Greek the mind is first mRde to rest on the word " Lord." Then 1.here is hrought into neighbourhood and sharp contrnst with it the word "killed." The "Lord" of ihe Old Testament Scriptures to whom Divine Rttr1- bute8 sre ascrihe,1-whom DRvid owned as bis Lord-they did not own or submit to; but, going in the opposite direction as lar as they could go, him they murdered. They did this not only to him who WIIS the Impersonation of authority, but was also the Acco11,plisher of the lovin11:, saving purpose ol God. For "Jesus" is added as a thil'<l word. This the Jews <lid u a na1 iou. They said in effect, through their constituted au1 horities, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him." In thus charging guilt home upon the Jews, Paul was chardng it bnme upon himself. For wherever he was at the time of the crncifixion, in his then ~,ate of ruind he was in full sympathy with the action of the rulers. And it is right that we should see here not only the blackness of the Jewish heart, but the blackness of the human heart. This was what we did to our Lord when he came on an errand of mercy t,o our earth. We laid hands on him and put him to death. For this let us be deeply humbled before God. Let us say with Jnb, in nearer cont.act with Gn<l, "I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (2) Manife.stati,ms leading up to the worst. "Ancl the prophets." What the Jews did to their Messiah was not an isolated set. It w&.~ only of a piece with what their previou1 conduct had been. " Which of the prophets," said Stephen, "did not your fathers per- secut.e? and they killed them which showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers." The treatment they gave to God's messengers, whose work it was to prepare the way for the Messiah by rebuke and pre<lictiou, led up to the treatment they gave their Messiah. In his pre- Christian state Paul wa.s well enti tied to be called "son of them that slew the prophets; " and so are all who abuse and thwart, or stand Rloof from, those who are 110eking to advance the ea.use of (;od in the world. (3) Manifestatwn BUbsequent to Ille VIO'l'lt. "Ancl dra,·e out us." The reference seems to be to the driving of the apostles out c: Jurliea. This was overruled by God tor the proclamation of the gospel beyond Jud,ea; but none the 1,-ss wa~ it culpable. It showed that the spirit of penitence hail not passed over them for the heinous crime of which they had been guilty. They were still holding to the words, "His blood be upon us, and upon our children." 2. Oon- demnatiun of tJ.eir conduct. (1) It was against God. "And please. not God." The Je"'s thought they were pleasing God in what they <lid to Christ and also to thP pro- phets and apostles. This is deni~ of them. They were really, in their anti-Christi11n po,;ition, setting themselves against the Divine ends. They were setting themselves against the whole meaning of their existence as a nation, against the teaching of their oracles, agai11,t tLe design of their rites. They were setting themselves 8:gainst the evidence of 11,iracles, and against the ~tronger evi 'e11ce of a goodness which should he.ve carried conviction to every honest heart. lr tlwy could be so far mist>1ken, have not we reason to be on onr guard? We may think that we are pleasing God whe11 we have never learned the alphabet of the D,vine teaching, have never subjected ourselve~ to the Di --ine control. (2) It was against man. "And are contrary to all men; for- bidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved." Their conderu11ation rua11ward i~ as s1rong as their condemnation God ward. They were contrury to al_l mtm, is the language used; and the proof wliicli is given is concl11.,ive. The gospel is the offer ofalvat1on to al,l men. But the u11iversality, which is its glory, was t.o thorn its defect. They had the idea of keeping s,,lvatiou to 1hemselves. They had the idea that they were blei;sed the more, the fewer they were that were bleased. And when the apoetles spoke to the Gentiles, and thus preached the larger salvation, u if the blessing were being taken away from them, they forbade them in such manner as they could, by contrad.ctiun, ce.lu111nies, laying s11ares for their life. If this wu their fall, lot us beware le,;t it aoul<l be ours. 'l'he first ,;aved (for as Christians we stand where the Jews stood) moat undersLaud it tn be their duty, not to draw the line at themselv011, OIL o. 1-20,] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONl.A.NB. ff