Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost; 22 October 2023; Proper 24A (RCL); Exodus 33:12-23; Psalm 99; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Matthew 22:15-22.
Since 1 Thessalonians is chronologically the first piece of Christian literature of which we have evidence, it is an interesting exercise to try to forget everything we know about Jesus and infer only what we can from Paul’s letter. What strikes me immediately is Paul’s use of phrases like “God the Father,” and “the Lord Jesus Christ.” As familiar as those phrases are to us, they would have sounded a new note to the readers of this letter.
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