Предисловие

a) Inscription and greeting (1 Sol. 1, 1) 1 Thessalonians 1:1. Paul and Silouan and Timothy, to the churches of Thessaloniki in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The ancients did not begin their letters our way. We usually put only the name of the person to whom we are writing at the beginning, and put our good wishes and our name at the end. With them, all these inevitable accessories of letters were indicated at the beginning. The holy Apostles also followed this custom. Saint Paul follows him, both in all his epistles and in this epistle. Only everything about him is filled with a different spirit. Everything is written and wished well about God and the Lord, and from God and the Lord. As he lived in Them, in Their name he illuminates all his affairs and relationships. In the particular features of inscriptions and greetings, Saint Paul did not follow one established form, but acted in this with complete freedom, as he found best, as required by circumstances or at the inspiration of the Spirit of God who guided him in everything. With all this, however, in other cases, one might think, there were reasons that forced him to write this way and not otherwise. Thus, in this epistle, Saint Paul places Silouan and Timothy with him, because they were his collaborators, known to the Church of Thessalonica. He exposes the collaborators in the case as accomplices in the message, because even though he was the only one who spoke the word, it was compiled on the basis of information delivered by Silas and Timothy. In addition, Silouan and Timofey were there in person, teaching, giving orders. By placing them alongside himself, the Apostle gives weight to everything that was said and done by them, gives the idea that everything should be accepted, as if it had been said and done by himself, and affirms it with his apostolic authority. And for the purposes of the message it was not useless. To the Thessalonians, all three persons became kind and dear, all three, as if with one mouth alone, taught them the saving Gospel. As they preached Christ orally together, it was fitting for the written word to come from everyone, as evidence of the ongoing unity between them, testifying to the indestructible unity and firmness of the teaching they proposed, which came as one from two and three mouths (see: Matt. 18, 16, 20) and has hitherto remained unchanged in the three witnesses (2 Cor. 13, 1). In general, the individual in the Church of Christ is of little value. Why did the Apostles in Jerusalem and the bewilderment of the Antiochites resolve the council, and the message to them was written not from one person, but from everyone, and not only the Apostles, but also the elders and all the brethren (Acts 15:23). It was from them that St. Paul took a sample; for he himself was there, and that conciliar message was constantly in his memory, since on this second journey, which took place soon after that council, he, following the previously laid trail, betrayed to the Churches to keep the statutes, judged by “the Apostle and the Elder who were in Jerusalem” (Acts 16:4). If he had more employees with him at that time, it is true that he would have written them all down; and if at other times he did not write to anyone, it is true because no one was with him. Silouan - the same as in the Acts of Silus - was placed first as the eldest. He was already among the best and most successful in the Church of Jerusalem when Saint Paul and Barnabas came there to seek a solution to the question that was occupying the Antioch Church, and, upon its decision, on behalf of the Council of Antioch, as a dedicated man among the brethren (Acts 15:22), together with Judas he was sent to accompany the Apostle Paul and Barnabas to Antioch, where, as a prophet, he consoled and affirmed the brethren with many words ( 1 Thessalonians 15:32). Here he later remained forever, and was chosen by Saint Paul to go with him on his second apostolic journey (Acts 15:40), when he and Barnabas separated. So, together with Saint Paul, he went through all the Churches of Asia Minor, and moved to Macedonia, together with him he preached and endured in Philippi and Thessaloniki, and with him, finally, he established the Corinthian Church (2 Cor. 1:19). Thus, at this time he seems to be the closest and strongest collaborator of St. Paul, from whom he was probably alienated by the bonds of the Apostle, which temporarily stopped his preaching activities. After this, history indicates him under the Apostle Peter, who sent him to carry messages to the Churches of Asia Minor, as a “faithful brother” (1 Pet. 5:12), known to them before for his activities there with the Apostle Paul. Saint Timothy, on this only his second journey, showed his talents and was called to cooperate in preaching, according to the testimony of the brethren present in Lystra and Iconium (Acts 16:2). Although in this short time he had already proven himself trustworthy to the point that he was entrusted, as a servant of God and an associate in the gospel, to console and strengthen the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 3:2); but his full devotion to the gospel of the word and to Saint Paul was revealed later, and Saint Paul testified that no one worked with him so sincerely and selflessly as Timothy, who worked with him like a son with a father (Phil. 2:22). Why did he speak of him everywhere with excellent praise, calling him not only a brother in general (2 Cor. 1:1; Col. 1:1; Phil. 1:1), not only a fellow servant and companion in the gospel (Rom. 16:21; 1 Cor. 16:10) and a servant of Jesus Christ, along with himself (Phil. 1:1), but also a child to their faithful, relatives, and beloved (1 Cor. 4:17; 1 Tim. 1:2, 18; 2 Tim. 1:2). Saint Paul does not distinguish himself here with any title, perhaps because it has not yet been established how best to write; for this was the first epistle; or perhaps the state of Thessaloniki demanded it, as Saint Chrysostom notes: “They were still new catechumens and did not know him briefly.” “Why shouldn’t you show off your dignity in front of them,” Ekumeny continues, “so that they wouldn’t be tempted by this somehow.” Or maybe Saint Paul did not want to occupy the attention of the Thessalonians with his apostolic authority, because even without that he already had the strongest power over them in the power of love, with which he was disposed towards them and with which he tied them to himself. Why did he judge it more decent and in the message to appear before them only in the same spiritual light in which they saw him in themselves - in “power and the Holy Spirit, and in the knowledge of mankind” (1 Thessalonians 1:5). Perhaps, in omitting his apostolic dignity, Saint Paul did not mean the Thessalonians, but Silas and Timothy, and hid it, so as not to seem to be arrogating to himself any advantage or predominance over them, although he was truly an Apostle “neither of man nor by man, but Jesus Christ and God the Father” chosen and called (Gal. 1:1). It is impossible to believe that he did this precisely for this purpose; but it cannot be denied that by this omission he revealed his modesty; and the more simply and unsophisticated it is discovered, the more attractive it is here. The only way Saint Paul distinguished himself from others was that he put himself in first place; I put it in first place because modesty must have limits. The true model for church and non-church authorities in their attitude towards the lower is not to dominate, but not to be humiliated either! "Churches of Thessaloniki". The word “Church” makes us believe that in Thessalonica there were not only believers, but also a corresponding hierarchy - builders of secrets and ministers of the word. Although Saint Paul does not mention here, as in other epistles, bishops, presbyters and deacons, this does not mean that they did not exist; for at the end he writes a commandment about obedience to their superiors, who work for them and punish them, by which, of course, we must mean sacred persons (1 Thessalonians 5:12). Is it not to them that St. Paul commands at the end to read this epistle before the whole Church (1 Thess. 5:27)? "About God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ". The Church of Thessaloniki, he says, which is about Bose. For there are congregations of Jews and pagans, but they are not about God. “The dignity of the Church is great and incomparable if it is about God,” says Saint Chrysostom. The Church about God is that which is gathered at the command and assistance of God and organized according to His plan and for the glory of His name, the Church is one that honors the true God, worships Him and pleases Him, according to His commandment. This is the characteristic feature of the true Church. The word about “God” means not just communication with God through a confession of faith, but a real, vital abiding in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (John 15:4, 17:21; 1 John 2:5, 5:20). Previously, the Thessalonians were outside of God and Christ, where everything lies in evil. The Jews did not know Christ; The pagans did not know the true God. Now from them the society of those who exist in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ has been established. This change is a miracle of God’s favor towards them, for which Paul later offers praise and thanksgiving, as in all his epistles. Reminding of this, the Apostle Paul inspires: see that you do not make yourself unworthy of this high perfection, and in every possible way keep yourself clean from all sin: for “whoever is a slave of sin can no longer be said to be of God,” says Chrysostom. "Grace and peace to you". – In all the epistles of St. Paul, the welcoming benevolence is expressed in these words. Only in the epistles to Timothy and Titus is it added: “grace, mercy and peace.” We see the same thing among the other Apostles. The first image of expression appears in both epistles of St. Peter, and the second in two epistles of John. Saint Jude’s greeting is different from all others: “mercy, and peace, and love.” “Grace - χαρις resembles the Greek form of greeting - χαιρειν (see: Acts 23:26), which was retained by the Apostles in their conciliar letter to the Antiochians (Acts 15:23) and used in the letter of James (1 Thessalonians 1:1). “Peace” is the usual Jewish (and Arabic) form of greeting (Gen. 43:23; Judges 19:20, etc.). The Savior commanded the Apostles to use it when he sent them to preach (Luke 10:5-6). He Himself used it when appearing to the Apostles after the resurrection (John 20:19, 21, 26). And even before that, in In His farewell conversation, He left peace to His disciples as a sign of His victory over the world, as an inheritance to them, as a distinctive feature of them from those whom the world deceives (John 14:27, 16:33). Both words, taken from ordinary Jewish and Greek speech, where they related to earthly life and external prosperity, were exalted by the holy Apostles to mean the fullness of blessing and salvation in Christ Jesus. A noteworthy example of the formation of Christian biblical language! “Grace”, in general, is favor, favor, welfare, in what sense is it said about the youth Jesus: “the grace of God was upon Him” (Luke 2:40). But more specifically, grace, as opposed to law, works, duty (Rom. 4:4, 6:14, 11:6), is a free, free and unconditional manifestation of God’s love for those who not only have no right to it, but, in all truth, deserve the opposite (Rom. 3:23-24; Eph. 2:3-5). This is the New Testament saving grace revealed to sinners in Christ Jesus (Titus 2:11; John 1:17). It is not only the once-forever perfect deliverance and redemption of the sinful human race in the Lord Jesus, but it is also a life-giving force that draws everyone to Christ, generating and nurturing new life in him, which in Christ through the Holy Spirit is communicated and imprinted, sometimes accompanied by special gifts (John 6:44; Rom. 5:5; Eph. 1:17). What kind of grace does the Apostle wish for the Thessalonians? - both of them - both as goodwill and as living communion with God through faith in the Lord; for in the former is the source of the latter; however, he wishes to continue it, multiply and return; for both graces have already been revealed by Him. “Peace” is the immediate effect of God’s grace in the hearts of people - as the inner harmony of life and its joyful feeling after the internal decay and disintegration that characterized a sinful life, emanating from this and resting on the fact that sin, which corrupted everything, and disturbed the conscience, and separated from God, is now expelled, and a person, having been pacified and healed inside, again enters into his destined living communion with God. So there is peace in a Christian. and the fruit of the feeling of health and vitality that fulfills him in a new life, and the trace of the innermost feeling of the prodigal, who returned to the father’s house and was accepted by him again into full sonship, being such, it has within itself the compulsory power to direct a person to use every effort in order to remain forever in this pleasing order of life, however, as he also sows and grows, it is very appropriate to wish for its increase and its speed. growth, with which Saint Paul greets and addresses the Thessalonians. “From God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” - as the only source of grace and peace. In Saint Paul, God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are combined in countless places. With this loud voice he preaches Their consubstantiality. According to the economy of our salvation, the Father is the Source of advice about salvation, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the Accomplisher of this salvation, having redeemed us at the price of His blood. Therefore, through Him all the powers come to us from God, “including life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3), the giver of which is the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:4). You might be interested in: