I Thessalonians 5:25-27 – “All”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²⁵Brothers, be praying for us. ²⁶Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. ²⁷I adjure you [before] the Lord [that] the epistle be read to all the brothers.

In my first post on these verses, I noted how this is a “brothers, brothers, brothers” passage in a book of the same. In this short little triad of three verses, we see what Christian “brothers” do.

We noted in v25 that first of all, they pray for each other. In v26, we next find them being people who express affection. Finally, in v27, we find them people of the Word: “I adjure you [before] the Lord [that] the epistle be read to all the brothers.”

I believe it is an established fact that, in the ancient world, the vast majority of the population was illiterate. For most people, if they were going to “know” their Bible, someone had to read it to them. In I Tim 4:13, Paul says, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching, and to teaching.” The “public reading of Scripture” was essential if people were to know the Bible, since they could not read it for themselves. In fact, to Paul, it was so important that he even charges this admonition with an element of severity – “I adjure you before the Lord …”

We should pause and be thankful for how the Lord made the Bible for everyone. Stop and think about it: “… the epistle be read to all the brothers.” “… to all the brothers.” There could have been a completely uneducated slave sitting on the pew at Thessalonica. Surely it would be sufficient if the leaders of the church would study the Bible and just tell him what it all means, right? Wrong. The Lord thinks even that man has a right to know his Bible. If he can’t read, someone should read it to him! Every single person in the brotherhood of faith has a right to know their Bible – young, old, rich, poor, male, female. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” “Thy words were found and I did eat them, and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart…”  (Jer 15:16).

I guess I point that out because I think we totally take it for granted that God’s Word was meant for each of us. Perhaps because in our world “everyone” can read and because there are Bibles everywhere, we would just say, “Well, of course, anyone can read it …” But I think it worth pausing to ponder that our God, the true and the living God, is such a personal God that He doesn’t want His people to just know about Him. He wants them to know Him. As I’ve said before, somewhere, sometime, someone said, “To read the Bible is to see the face of God.” And for the illiterate? “To hear the Bible is to see the face of God!” Those of us who can read regularly experience how we literally meet God when we open our Bibles. Even for myself, I know the same thing happens even when the Scriptures are being read to us in Church. I am often very aware of the Lord speaking to me personally when the text of the sermon is being read. And I mean that in a way that doesn’t happen during the teaching or preaching. The teaching and preaching is great, but there is nothing like the very personal experience of God moving in my heart as I hear the reading of the Scripture itself … and for most of us, we have the wonderful privilege of being able to read it ourselves in our own homes.

… Which brings us back to our passage. The brotherhood of Christianity is a brotherhood of people who know their Bible. All of them. They’re a people who want to know God, who want to know His heart, who want to live lives of love and joy and peace, whose greatest joy is to sit at Jesus’ feet and drink His words.

I’m very thankful I’ve had the privilege to learn how to study the Bible even in Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic. I wish everyone could learn at least how to study to whatever extent they’re capable. But no matter what, the greatest blessing of all is simply knowing the words of the living God, and knowing them for myself.

It is a mark of the brotherhood of real believers that they know their Bible. All of them.