1 Thessalonians 2:19–20 – Our Wreath

19 For who is our expectation, or joy, or wreath of glorying? Or is it not even you, in front of our Lord Jesus, in His presence? 20 For you are our glory and joy.

Paul does not ask what his expectation, joy, and wreath of glorying are, but who. The answer is certain to him: the Thessalonians. A stephanos was the wreath with which a victor was honored. Paul likewise has a wreath in view, but his consists of people. With them he will be able to appear before the Lord Jesus.

This is not glorying in his own achievements. Earlier, Paul wrote about “the word of God, which is operating also in you who are believing” (1 Thess. 2:13). He had heralded that word to them, but God was the One operating in them through His word. The Thessalonians were the fruit of that ministry and therefore Paul’s wreath. His glorying consisted of what God’s word had worked out in people.

This also explains why Paul longed so intensely to see them again. They were not merely beloved ones whom he missed because of the distance. He also viewed them in light of their shared future. At the parousia, he will stand before the Lord Jesus with people in whom the evangel was operating. Hence his heartfelt conclusion: “you are our glory and joy.” What a wreath: people in whom God’s word has done its work!

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