Homilies on 2 Thessalonians

Contents

Reading pages: 1.1 · 1.3–1.4 · 3.1–3.4 · 4.1–4.4 · 5.1–5.5

1. 1.1Homily 1 (the argument) explains why Paul wrote again: deceivers claimed the day of the Lord had come and forged letters, so Paul reveals the sign of the Antichrist; Chrysostom then warns against pride, the beginning of sin. Homily 2 begins on 2 Thess 1:1–6: God’s favour, illustrated by Joseph, and the Thessalonians’ growing faith and undivided love under persecution, evidence of God’s just judgment.
2. 1.3The persecutors will be punished in flaming fire at Christ’s revelation; Chrysostom urges believers not to gloat but to keep the thought of Gehenna constantly before them, since fear of judgment keeps the soul from sin.
3. 1.4Bearing hard words trains us to bear hard deeds; the soul takes the shape of its conversation, so children and households should be taught about judgment, and believers who prepare carefully for human courts should prepare for Christ’s judgment seat.
4. 3.1Gehenna is eternal; at his coming Christ will be glorified in the persecuted saints; Paul prays that God may count them worthy of their calling, since something is still lacking in this life.
5. 3.2Believers are glorified when God is glorified in them; Paul warns against forged letters and teaches that the day of the Lord will not come before the apostasy and the man of sin, the Antichrist; Chrysostom explains the need for repetition by the parable of the seed and calls wealth a thorn, rebuking the rich who come to church for display.
6. 3.4Those who come to church for display gain nothing; the Scriptures read are letters from God, not from the preacher, and are clear in Greek to all, so excuses for not knowing them are pretexts.
7. 4.1What restrains the Antichrist is the Roman empire, which Paul names obscurely to avoid needless danger; Nero was a type of the Antichrist; when the empire falls the lawless one will come, and Christ will destroy him by his mere coming.
8. 4.4The Antichrist’s false signs will convict unbelievers who rejected Christ; Elijah will come to strengthen the faithful; God chose the Thessalonians for salvation through sanctification and faith; unwritten tradition is as trustworthy as letters; Paul asks prayer, and Chrysostom begs his people to pray for their bishop, with whom they share the same table, baptism and Spirit.
9. 5.1God, who is faithful, will guard the Thessalonians if they also do their part; Paul prays that the Lord direct their hearts to God’s love and Christ’s steadfastness, and in Christ’s name commands them to keep away from idle, disorderly brothers, following his own example of working with his hands.
10. 5.2Paul now commands sternly that the idle work and eat their own bread, yet tells the church not to let them starve but to admonish them as brothers; Chrysostom rebukes those who insult beggars, laments that church discipline has lapsed through cold love, and teaches that each Christian should teach his household by his life.
11. 5.5Slaves’ virtue can reform households; every Christian should share the preacher’s ministry by teaching his own household, and husbands, as heads, should repay their wives’ many services by leading them in spiritual things.