"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Part 1
Jesus Christ, through His ministry here on earth, has made so many changes to the way we humans think about life and death. One simple but obvious way is this before Jesus came to earth when people died, they were buried in a Necropolis. This word comes from two Greek words, and it means a “city of the dead.” Back then, there were cities for the living and then also the place where the dead were gathered and buried.
After Jesus came with His glorious Gospel message, His followers began burying their dead in a Cemetery. This is a “sleeping place” (“dormitories”[1]) where the bodies of the dead saints who are asleep in Jesus await His return. How we look at death has completely changed because of our Savior, Jesus Christ! What else can we learn about those who sleep in Jesus in this beautiful passage?
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren.”
False teachers generally like their followers to be ignorant of the truth. For that is how they can keep them in their grasp. Genuine teachers and preachers of the gospel would echo with Paul that brothers and sisters in Christ should not be ignorant of the truth of Scripture. We need to know what God teaches.
“Concerning them which are asleep.”
The Thessalonians had heard some bad teaching on the second coming of Christ. They needed to learn the truth, just as we do today. What happens to those who have fallen asleep in Jesus?[2]
“That ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.”
There was sorrow among the Thessalonians because of the false teaching that their dead would miss out on Christ’s coming. God’s Word will teach them the difference. They did know that the lost were the “others which have no hope,” because they have nothing in Christ.
“For the Christian death is dead and leaving this body is like laying down for a nap and waking in glory. It is moving, not dying. For these reasons, Christians should not sorrow as others who have no hope when their loved ones in Jesus die” (Guzik).
We take our loved one’s bodies to the “Sleeping Place” to await their resurrection. Come back tomorrow as we think about our Faith in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.
[1] See Guzik. David Guzik’s Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.
[2] The fact that the Apostle Paul and Christianity use the word “sleep” to describe the saints who have died, in no way lends credence to the false teaching of what some call “soul sleep.” This erroneous teaching claims that dead believers are in a kind of “suspended animation.” They say these dead believers will not “come to” until there is a “resurrection to consciousness.” The Word of God does not teach this! The believing dead are with Christ! Why would Paul wish to be unconscious? He didn’t!
See Philippians 1:21-24.