See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.
1 Thessalonians 5:15
If you recall, the Church in Thessalonica endured great persecution. In the midst of this persecution, Paul calls the church to abandon their desire for revenge.* Imagine the difficulty in this context of this call of Christ Jesus to forgive enemies. The amount of persecution that the Church in Thessalonica faced would have made this a frequent decision to forgive.
Furthermore, the Christian community, as seen in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 and 5:14a, did not always conform to the moral standards of Christ.* There were even some members of the church that took advantage of others within the community.* The desire to repay evil for evil was alive and well in the church.
The desire for revenge isn’t limited to Thessalonica, however. The people of Israel were instructed, “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” (Exodus 21:23-25; Leviticus 24:19; Deuteronomy 19:21).* This command wasn’t intended to permission retaliation, but to limit it to appropriate levels.*
Like so many of the sayings of Jesus Christ (as echoed by Paul in this verse), Jesus calls us beyond what is permitted by the law.
As Jeffrey Weima shares,
The proper Christian response to harmful treatment from others, regardless of its source or its nature, is not merely that of patience and nonretaliation but additionally the aggressive pursuit of what is best for the offending person or party*
I find the verb that Paul uses for “seek” when describing how we are to pursue good for all interesting. In a context of persecution, where enemies pursued the early church for harm, Paul uses the word diōkete which is the usual word for “persecute.”* It’s almost as if Paul is saying, “your enemies relentlessly pursue you for harm; we must pursue them for good with the same tenacity.”
Making this call all the more difficult, the pressure to pursue revenge was not just personal, but it was social as well. A Roman (Thessalonica was in the Roman Empire) could not socially afford to “turn the other cheek” as Jesus required.* When someone harmed a Roman, the act was an affront to their social status.* Failing to seek revenge meant forfeiting one’s social status.* Jesus calls us to forfeit our social status. Why?
There are many reasons why we should forgo revenge. The least of which is not the call to obedience.
Leon Morris tells us,
Revenge is one of the most instinctive and natural sins, and it was the early Christian practice of the radical ethic of 5:15 that likely had significant impact on the spread of Christianity throughout the ancient world*
Your lack of revenge and pursuit of the good of your enemies may just spark a wave of salvation to a dying world.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to abandon your desire for revenge. Perhaps today God wants you to tenaciously seek the good of your enemies. Maybe today God wants you to give up your social status in obedience to Him.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!
*Holmes, M. (1998). 1 and 2 Thessalonians (p. 181). Zondervan Publishing House.
Shogren, G. S. (2012). 1 & 2 Thessalonians (p. 223). Zondervan.
Green, G. L. (2002). The letters to the Thessalonians (pp. 255–257). W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.
Kim, S., & Bruce, F. F. (2023). 1 & 2 Thessalonians (D. B. Capes, Ed.; Second Edition, Vol. 45, pp. 468–471). Zondervan Academic.
Morris, L. (1984). 1 and 2 Thessalonians: An introduction and commentary (Vol. 13, p. 103). InterVarsity Press.
Beale, G. K. (2003). 1–2 Thessalonians (pp. 166–167). InterVarsity Press.
Weima, J. A. D. (2014). Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: 1–2 Thessalonians (R. W. Yarbrough & R. H. Stein, Eds.; pp. 396–398). Baker Academic.