2 Thess. 1, 3-10.
We shall always give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is right. For your faith is greatly increased, and the love of every one of you toward one another is increased; so that we may boast of you among the wicked of God, of your patience and faith, in all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure; which indicates that God will judge aright, and you will become worthy of the kingdom of God, above which you also suffer; since it is right with God to repay tribulation to those who put tribulation on you, but to you who suffer tribulation, rest with us, when now the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with the angels of his power, and with flames of fire, to give vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who are not obedient to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; Who shall suffer torment, eternal destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from his glorious power; when he shall come to appear glorious with his saints, and marvelous with all them that believe. For our testimony unto you of that day ye have believed.
984 L. 9, 371-373. on the twenty-sixth Sunday after Trinity. W. m, 1293-129". 985
First, St. Paul praises his church in Thessalonica, which was one of the finest and best because of its faith and love, which endured under the cross and persecutions and increased through patience, to encourage it to continue in this way, so that he might also present an example and image to others of the fruits that the preaching and knowledge of the gospel should produce, and show how the true church is edified and received by Christ. After that he consoles them about their suffering and patience of the glorious future of the Lord Christ, for their redemption and retribution in their tribulation with peace and joy, and the eternal vengeance over their persecutors etc.
(2) But he takes such comfort precisely from their suffering and God's righteous judgment, so that he may show why he allows them to suffer on earth and what he has decided to do about it. For if one looks at Christianity with human reason and thought, there does not seem to be a more miserable, afflicted and wretched people on earth than these who confess and praise Christ crucified; for they are persecuted without ceasing in the world, and in addition are afflicted and challenged by the devil with all kinds of misery, hardship, accident, death, and so on, that it does not seem otherwise in their eyes than that they are forgotten and abandoned by God in the sight of all men, because he leaves them pressed under the cross for and on their behalf, while the rest of the world, especially their persecutors, live and soar in great honors, happiness, pleasures, power, wealth, and they have it their way; as the Scriptures, and especially the Psalms, often lament about it; and St. Paul 1 Cor. 15, 19. Paul 1 Cor. 15, 19. himself confesses and says: "If we hope in Christ alone in this life, we are the most miserable of all men."
Now it does not have to be and remain like this, and it cannot be God's opinion that he should let his Christians suffer eternally and without cessation and thus die and remain in death; for that would be inappropriate to his eternal divine honor and truth, if he testifies by his word that he wants to be God to the pious who fear and trust him, and has given them such a great promise. From this it follows that he must be a
He has decided to give something else to both his Christians and to the other group, which they both now have on earth. And that this is one of the most important reasons why he lets the Christians suffer on earth, so that he shows that he intends to make another being with both of them; therefore, both the suffering of the believing Christians and the wicked world's malice, tyranny, raging and persecution of the pious must now be a sure testimony of another future life and final judgment of God, through which all men, pious and wicked, shall be eternally and without cessation forgiven.
See, this is what St. Paul wants here, when he speaks of the tribulations and sufferings of Christians; which indicates that God will judge rightly, and that you are worthy of the kingdom of God, above which you also suffer etc. As if to say: O dear Christians! Let your suffering be dear to you, do not think that God is angry with you because of it, or that he has forgotten you; for you have in it a great, rich benefit and comfort, namely, that through it you have the testimony that God wants to be a right judge, and to make you richly blessed, and to avenge you on your persecutors. Yes, you certainly have a testimony to this, and may you therefore comfort and rejoice without doubt that you belong to God's kingdom and are already made worthy of it, because you suffer for its sake.
5 For what a Christian suffers here on earth from the devil and the world, that certainly happens to him only for the sake of God's name and word. For it should be right, because he has been baptized and is now God's child, that he should have all good things, comfort and joy on earth; but now that he is still in the devil's kingdom here, who has also put sin and death into his flesh, he must also serve him; but still, what he does to him with his and the world's plagues, persecutions, terrors, tortures and death, he does to him violence and injustice. Therefore he has the comfort of God's word, because he suffers for the sake of Christ's and God's kingdom, so that he will certainly be able to partake of it eternally; for no one is worthy of it, except he who suffers for the sake of it.
6. "Since it is right with God," he continues, "to repay affliction to those who afflict you. etc. It must not and cannot be and remain forever as it is now, that it is well with the world, but evil with you; for God's justice suffers it not: but because he is a righteous judge, it must become another thing, that the pious may have it good forever, but the wicked also be punished forever. Otherwise God would not judge rightly, which would be just as much as if he were not to be God. But since this is impossible and God's justice and truth cannot be changed, He, as the judge, must see into this and come from heaven one day (when He has brought all His Christians together) and avenge them on their enemies, and pay them what they have earned, and also give them eternal rest and joy for the suffering they have had here.
7. Christians may and should certainly take care and comfort that God will not let it go unpunished and unspotted, as if he had forgotten (as it now seems) that the pious Abel was so shamefully murdered by his brother, and his prophets and martyrs, as, John the Baptist, Jeremiah, Paul and others, by their bloodhounds, Herod, Nerone and such shameful tyrants and despots, shall be put to death, because he gave them glorious testimony even in this life that they were his dear children. Therefore, the judgment must not be delayed,
that the tyrants may suffer their torment and punishment, and the pious also, having rejoiced in their suffering, may have eternal rest and joy; that all the world may see that God has not forgotten them even after their death etc.
8) Behold, this is the consolation of the future judgment in the resurrection of the dead, which God's justice requires that the saints be most abundantly and gloriously repaid for their suffering. And so St. Paul takes this as the foremost cause (to them for more comfort) that God must punish the world with eternal chastisement for putting tribulation on His Christians. This is said as if God does not care so much about the devil and the world doing against Him by high contempt and blasphemy and hatred of His name and word, without any other wickedness and disobedience, so that they bring upon themselves their eternal torment and damnation: but rather that He intends to punish them for persecuting and tormenting His poor believing Christians. Just as Christ will put these things on at the last day, saying, "Go, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for whatever you did not do to one of the least of these, you did not do to me. Matth. 25, 40. 41.
What St. Paul goes on to say about how the judgment will take place, and what the chastisement and punishment of the wicked will be, is clear enough in itself and explained by the following gospel that it is not necessary to say more about it here.
To the reader.
If it should happen that over these twenty-six Sundays still one would be overlong (which, however, is quite rare), then one may save the next preceding epistle for the last twenty-seventh Sunday, and in between take the following text for the epistle of the next Sunday before.
2 Petr. 3, 3-7.
And know this first, that in the last days there shall come scoffers, walking after their own lusts, saying, Where is the promise of his future? For after the fathers have fallen asleep, all things remain as they were from the beginning of the creation. But they will not willingly know that the heavens were before, and the earth of water, and in water, by the word of God; yet at that time the world was destroyed by them with the flood. So also the heaven now and the earth are saved by his word, that they are kept to the fire at the day of judgment and condemnation of the godless men.