Life Project Blog

1Thessalonians 4:13-18

This passage (and the next for that matter) can either be simple to understand or difficult; the choice is ours to make. If you prefer simple, as I do, then all we need to do is to remember Paul’s purpose for writing this letter. If on the other hand, you like your texts to be hard, then forget the context and have at it…

Why did Paul write to the Thessalonians?

They were a new church that came very quickly under serious persecution, and Paul wrote to encourage them to hold onto their faith. So far, they had been able to do this, much to Paul’s relief and thanksgiving, and Paul is encouraging them to continue, even to increase their faith and good works, as I’m sure you will remember. I’m also sure that you will remember that when he mentioned the persecution they have been experiencing, that he was primarily interested in the condition of their faith, and not their physical condition; at least he hasn’t mentioned it yet. Now, he is suddenly writing about what happens when you die: Does this strike you as odd, or does it strike you as a sudden discourse on eschatology?

Here, let me put that another way: He hasn’t mentioned anything about the physical realities of a persecution in the first century up to this point, for that really isn’t his main concern, for his main concern is the condition of their faith. This is because if they keep their faith in Jesus Christ intact, they have nothing to fear even if they are killed in the persecution. Thus, this section is neither odd, nor is it a sudden discourse on eschatology; it is an encouragement to hold onto their faith, just as the rest of the letter is.

Guess what? This passage just became simple to understand.

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. (4:13)

Persecution was a violent and bloody thing; people were being killed for their faith. Even so, death has no power over us, so do not grieve like the pagans do.

For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. (4:14-15)

Jesus rose from the grave, and this confirms that we also will rise from the grave, in fact, the dead will rise first!

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (4:16)

When the Lord returns, and that could happen at any time, He will return with those who have died before His coming.

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (4:17)

When Jesus returns, which may happen at any time, the dead will rise from the grave first, and then those of us who are still alive will meet Jesus in the heavens, where we will remain with Him forever.

Therefore encourage one another with these words. (4:18)

During this terrible time of persecution and death, encourage one another with this: Death has no hold on us! By the way, this verse confirms that the context is to encourage those in persecution, and is not intended as an eschatological (End Times) dissertation, because “therefore” denotes Paul’s conclusion from the evidence he has cited.

This is a message of hope and joy for all us as we go through our lives and deal with grief, sorrow, illness, and eventually with our own mortality, rather than an opportunity to jump on our hobby horse and ride off into the nearest tangent.

1Thessalonians 4:1-12

The time has come for Paul to give instruction more explicitly and more like what we are familiar with in his other letters. Notice as we go through these verses, however, that unlike some of the other churches he writes to, the Thessalonians are doing quite well, even under persecution. Of course, we can always do better and we must keep growing; this is the major emphasis in the section.

The first 2 verses bear this out: They had been taught how to live to please the Lord, and they are doing so. Now gang, let’s kick it up a notch and do even better!

Verses 3-8 provide a warning reminder that they should not go back to their old pagan ways, living in sexual immorality, passions and lust, and they must never take advantage of other people. With these words, Paul is reminding them (and us) of what they were taught from the beginning, that we are to live as a holy, set apart people; set apart from the ways of this world, for God.

For me, the real crux of this passage is found in verses 9-12:

Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

God has shown them that they should love one another, and they have, and continue to do so. Let’s do so even more! Notice that this is linked to living quiet lives, working with your hands and being respected by outsiders and a burden to no one. Loving one another and living quiet lives: What do these have in common? If we love one another in community, then we must necessarily be considerate of one another, for to do otherwise wouldn’t be loving. People who lead quiet lives are people who aren’t creating controversy, showing off or lording it over others. To work with one’s hands means that they are self-supporting and not a burden on the community, which unless I am mistaken, is also being considerate of others. A quiet, steady community of hard-working people who don’t cause problems and who demonstrate selfless love for one another would surely earn the respect of outsiders; it might even gain a hearing for the gospel, and isn’t that ultimately the point?