1 Thessalonians 2:14

“For ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus: for ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen, even as they did of the Jews”

“For”: The connection between verses 13-14, is that when one really embraces the word of God, then they will hold on to what that message teaches, regardless of the personal cost or what the opposition might be. “Churches of God in which are in Judaea”: Evidently, the sufferings experienced by the congregations in Palestine were widely known in Christian circles (Acts 8:1; Acts 8:4; Hebrews 10:32). “The Judean churches may be singled out because they were the first to be persecuted, or perhaps because they had suffered intensely” (Marshall p. 78).. Scriptural name for the church is also the phrase “church of God” (1 Corinthians 1:2). Paul knew all about this persecution, for he had once been one of the primary persecutors (Galatians 1:13; Acts 9:1; Acts 9:13). “In Christ Jesus”: If one is in Christ, they are automatically in the Lord's church. Paul does not believe that one can be. Christian and not be in the church, because the church is the body of the saved (Ephesians 5:23), and the Lord immediately adds the saved to this body (Acts 2:47).

“The same things”: Indicating that the persecution endured by the Thessalonians had been intense. “Of your own countrymen”: “There is no more painful hurt than. person can endure than for his own friends and relatives to turn against him because he has received Jesus Christ as his Lord” (Fields p. 67). This verse infers that many Gentiles had joined forces with the unbelieving Jewish element in Thessalonica, and were making life hard for these Christians (Acts 17:5). In like manner, the Jews would try to manipulate the Gentile rulers in Corinth against Paul (Acts 18:12 ff). “Is it not altogether probable that the husbands of those many women who had become Christians (Acts 17:4), these husbands being themselves leading men were they making life hard for their wives?” (Hendriksen p. 71).