1 Thessalonians 4:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

These two afflictions especially crushed them, as they crush all people: poverty and sorrow. See, then, how he heals them. Their poverty came from the plundering of their possessions. If he commands those whose property was plundered for Christ to eat by their labor, how much more does he command others.

That their possessions were plundered is clear from the words: "You, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judea" (1 Thess 2:14). In what way? In the same way, for when writing to the latter he said, "You accepted the plundering of your goods with joy" (Heb 10:34).

Then here he speaks about the resurrection. Why? Had he not spoken to them about it? Here, however, he has another mystery in mind. What is it? "We who are alive," he says, "who remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep." Certainly, the teaching on the resurrection can calm those who grieve. What is now said can also make the resurrection credible.

But first we must speak of what the Apostle himself said: "I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, that you may not sorrow as others who have no hope." See how gently he speaks here also. He did not say to them, as to the Corinthians, "You are so senseless and unreasonable that, knowing the resurrection, you grieve like unbelievers." Rather, out of regard for their other virtue, he said very gently, "I do not want."

Nor did he say, "concerning the dead," giving consolation at once, from the very beginning. "That you may not sorrow," he says, "as others who have no hope." Therefore, to grieve for the departed belongs to those who lack hope. And this is truly so. A soul that knows nothing of the resurrection, and regards this death as death itself, naturally grieves over the dead as over the lost. It laments and weeps without consolation. But you, who await the resurrection, why do you weep? Therefore, weeping belongs to those who lack hope.

Listen, women, you who love to weep and surrender yourselves to boundless grief. You are acting like pagans. If grieving over the dead belongs to pagans, then tell me, to whom is it fitting to beat oneself and tear the cheeks? Why do you weep, if you believe that the dead man will rise, that he has not perished, and that death is sleep and rest?

You say, "Because in him I have lost a husband, a protector, a caretaker, and a helper in every matter and need." But when you lost a son in infancy, who could not yet do anything for you, why did you weep? What did you lament? "He gave good hopes," you say, "and I expected him to care for me."

This is why I mourn my husband, and this is why I mourn my son. This is why I am torn and sob. It is not because I disbelieve the resurrection, but because I have become helpless. I have lost my protector, my companion, my partner in everything, and my comforter. This is why I weep. I know that he will rise, but I cannot bear even a temporary separation. Many troubles threaten me. Anyone who wishes can wrong me. Servants who formerly feared me now despise and insult me. Whoever was benefited by the dead man has forgotten his benefactions. Whoever was wronged by him pours out anger on me because of hatred for him. This is why I cannot bear widowhood calmly, or refrain from bitter weeping. This is why I am torn; this is why I weep.

How, then, shall we console them? What shall we say? How shall we calm their sorrow? First, I shall try to prove to them that their weeping does not come from these causes, but from an unreasonable passion. Indeed, if you grieve for these reasons, you ought to grieve without ceasing after the dead. But if after one year you forget him so much that it is as though nothing had happened to you, then clearly you are not mourning the dead man, nor his protection.

But you cannot bear separation and the end of married life? What, then, will those who enter a second marriage say? Surely they no longer lament their former husbands. Yet we shall not address our word to them, but to those who nourish sincere attachment to the dead.

Why do you weep for your son? Why do you weep for your husband? You say, "For the first, because he did not bring me the joy I expected; for the second, because I hoped to share joys with him longer." But is it not extreme unbelief to think that a husband or son will protect you, and not God? How does it not occur to you that by this you insult God? For this reason He often takes them away, so that you may not be attached to them so deeply, nor place your hopes solely in them.

God is jealous, and He wants us to love Him above all. This comes from His great love for us. You know that this is the nature of those who love ardently. They are exceedingly jealous and would rather lose life itself than see their rivals triumph. For this reason, therefore, God has taken him away.

Tell me, why in ancient times were there no premature widowhood and orphanhood? Why did God permit Abraham and Isaac to live for a long time? Certainly because Abraham, even while Isaac was alive, preferred God to him. God said, "Sacrifice him," and Abraham sacrificed him. Why did He prolong Sarah's years to such old age? Because throughout her life Abraham obeyed God more than her. Therefore God said to him, "Listen to Sarah your wife" (Gen 21:12).

At that time no one drew God's wrath upon himself through love for a husband, love for a wife, or anxious care for a son. But now, since we are passionately attached to earthly things and have fallen deeply, husbands love wives more than God, and wives honor husbands more than God. Therefore He desires, even against our will, to compel us to love Himself.

Do not love your husband more than God, and you will never experience widowhood. Even if it should befall you, you will not feel its weight. Why? Because you have as your protector the Immortal One, who loves you more. If you love God more, do not weep. The One more beloved is immortal, and He will not allow you to be crushed by the loss of the one you love less.

I shall explain this with an example. Suppose you had a husband who acted in all things according to your desire, who was honorable and loved you. Suppose you were happy with him and had a child by him, but the child died before reaching maturity. Tell me, would you then be crushed by grief? No, because the husband whom you loved more would fill up the loss.

So also in the present case, if you love God more than your husband, then He will surely not take him quickly. Even if He should take him, you will not grieve bitterly. For this reason blessed Job gave himself to no grief at all when he heard of the sudden death of his children. He loved God more than them. Therefore the loss could not sadden him, because the One whom he loved was alive.

What are you saying, woman? Would your husband or son have been your protection? Does God not care for you? Who gave him himself to you? Was it not God? Who created you? Was it not God? Will He who brought you from nonbeing into being, breathed a soul into you, placed reason within you, and was pleased to give you knowledge of Himself, not pity you? He did not spare His Only-begotten Son for your sake. Will such a servant as you are pity you, while He does not?

What great wrath such words arouse! What like this did you receive from your husband? You can point to nothing. If he showed you some benefaction, he did so after already having been benefited by you. But no one can say anything of the kind about God. God does not do good to us in order to repay our former benefits to Him. Being in need of nothing, He benefits the human race by His goodness alone.

He promised you the Kingdom. He granted eternal life, glory, brotherhood, and adoption. He made you a fellow heir with the Only-begotten. After so many blessings, do you still remember your husband? What did he give you? God commanded His sun to rise. He sent rain. He feeds you with fruits that grow each year. Woe to us, utterly ungrateful as we are!

For this reason God takes away a husband, so that you may not be attached exclusively to him. Yet even after his death you would still desire to have him, and you forsake God, when you ought to thank Him and turn wholly to Him.

What did you receive from your husband? The pains of childbearing, labors, insults, frequent reproaches, rebukes, and griefs. Is this not what wives endure from husbands? "But on the other side," you say, "there were advantages." What advantages? Did he dress you in costly garments? Did he put golden ornaments on your face? Did he compel everyone to respect you?

If you wish, God will adorn you with an adornment far better than the dead man gave. Honor adorns a woman more than golden ornaments. This King also has garments, but not such as those. They are far better. If you wish, be clothed in them. What are they? It is the robe with golden fringes. If you wish, clothe your soul with it.

"But with him I was not despised among people." What is great in that? Widowhood, in return, will prevent you from being mocked by the demons. Then you ruled your servants, if indeed you ruled them. Now, instead of household attendants, you have authority over bodiless powers, principalities, authorities, and the world-ruler.

Besides this, you do not mention the hardships you shared with him, such as fear of officials, and the preference of his peers over him. Now you are free from all this, from fear and dread. But you are anxious about who will feed the children left behind. The Father of orphans! Tell me, who gave them? Do you not hear what Christ says in the Gospel: "Is not the soul more than food, and the body more than clothing?" (Mt 6:25). Do you see that the cause of weeping is not widowhood, but unbelief?

"But after the father's death the children become less distinguished." Why? They have God as Father, and they become less distinguished? How many can I show you who were raised by widows and gained renown! How many, on the contrary, were raised with fathers and nevertheless perished! If from their earliest years you raise them as they ought to be raised, this will be far more beneficial for them than enjoying their father's protection.

That widows truly are obliged to raise children, hear what Paul says: "If she has brought up children" (1 Tim 5:10). And again: "Nevertheless she will be saved through childbearing." He did not say, "because of a husband," but, "if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control" (1 Tim 2:15).

From their earliest years instill in them the fear of God. It will preserve them better than any father; it will be an unbreakable wall. When this guardian dwells within us, we need no outer defenses. When it is absent, everything outward is vain. It will be wealth, glory, and adornment for them. It will make them glorious not only on earth, but also in heaven.

Do not look at those girded with golden belts, or at those who ride horses. Do not look at those who shine in royal courts because of their ancestors' merits, or who walk with attendants and tutors. Perhaps this is what makes widows weep over the fate of orphans. Each thinks, "If my son's father were alive, he too would enjoy such happiness. But now he is in humiliation and obscurity, so that no one even wishes to speak with him."

But do not think of this, woman. Soar in thought beyond the gates of heaven. Consider the royal courts there. Behold the King seated there. Consider whether these earthly fortunate ones can be more glorious there than your son. Then grieve. Yet there is no need even to think that someone is distinguished on earth. If you wish, he can become a soldier in heaven and be enrolled in that army.

"But I do not want you, brethren, to be ignorant concerning those who have died," peri ton kekoimemenon, those who have fallen asleep.

Here the Apostle speaks about the resurrection. Even if they had been told about this before, he nevertheless now thought to reveal a certain mystery.

Or they knew everything concerning the resurrection, but they wept, and for this reason he now heals them. Since ignorance of many things grieves us, while knowledge, on the contrary, eases grief, he says, "I do not want you to be ignorant."

He did not say, apothanonton, concerning those who have died, but kekoimemenon, concerning those who have fallen asleep. By the very expression he shows that there will be a resurrection.

What, however, do the words in the same chapter of the Gospel mean, that all slept when the bridegroom delayed (Mt 25:5)?

If we understood this sleep as meaning that because lawlessness increases, love grows cold (Mt 24:12), since the judgment for which Christ will come is delayed, how would we apply these words to the wise virgins (cf. Mt 25:1-13)?

The wise virgins are rather among those of whom it is said, "He who endures to the end will be saved" (Mt 10:22). Therefore it says "all slept" because not only the foolish die, who do good before men for their praise (cf. Mt 6:1-2), but also the wise.

You must by no means be ignorant concerning those who are dying, those who rest, lest you sorrow like the rest of the Gentiles, who have neither resurrection nor hope in the promised blessedness.

You ask how the words of the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, chapter 4, verse 15 and following, should be understood: "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord. We who are alive, who remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself, with a command, with the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven. The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall always be with the Lord."

Although the discussion of Acacius set forth above has explained the meaning of this passage very fully, one must also state what seems right to others, namely Theodore, Apollinarius, and Diodore. They all hold one opinion. Among them Diodore wrote as follows.

"The Apostle Paul says, 'those who are alive and remain,' not as though he and others would remain in their bodies on the day of resurrection. Rather, he says 'we' instead of saying 'the righteous,' among whom I also am. Only the righteous will be caught up to meet Christ, not sinners together with them. By 'the living' we do not understand, in a tropological sense, the saints who have not died in sin. We understand all whom the coming of Christ will find in the body.

"The following words, 'we shall not precede those who have fallen asleep,' must in no way be applied to sinners. Sinners will not be caught up together with the righteous to meet Christ. Only the righteous who have been loosed from the bonds of death will be caught up.

"But why do I explain this, as though distrusting the Apostle's words, when he himself speaks quite clearly: 'We who remain until the coming of the Lord'? Who these remaining ones are, we learn from the words of the Savior: 'As it was in the days of Noah, they were marrying and being given in marriage; and the flood came and destroyed them all. So it will be in the days of the Son of Man' (Mt 24; Lk 17). These words affirm that at the end of the world many will remain alive and in their bodies.

"Further: 'With a command, with the voice of an archangel, the dead will rise first.' The Savior also says this in the Gospel: 'At midnight a cry was heard: Behold, the bridegroom is coming' (Mt 25:6). The bridegroom will certainly find people living in the body, since 'two will be in one bed; one will be taken, and the other left. Two will be grinding together; one will be taken, and the other left' (Lk 17). From these words it is clear that the end of the world will come at midnight, amid universal heedlessness."

Origen, in the third book of his exegetical writings on the First Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians, added the following to many varied and wise explanations. Acacius, without doubt, also made much use of it.

"What is the meaning of the words of Peter, Silvanus, and Timothy, written by them to the Thessalonians: 'We who are alive, who remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep'? Who are these living ones who say this? Undoubtedly Paul, an Apostle not from men nor through men (Gal 1), Timothy his beloved son in the faith, and Silvanus, united with them in both love and virtue.

"Not only they can say these words, 'we who are alive,' but all who are like Paul in thought and action. Their body is dead because of sin, while the spirit lives because of righteousness, and their members on earth have been put to death. If they have been put to death, they never lust against the spirit, since through their mortification they have lost such desires.

"Thus those who have departed from the present life and passed to a better one then live most of all, when they are freed from the mortal body and all other desires. So also those who bear in their body the dying of Jesus do not live according to the flesh. Christ lives in them, of whom it is said, 'The word of God is living and active' (Heb 4:12). He is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

"For those are alive who have put off every human weakness, in whom the power of God lives, in whom the wisdom hidden in God lives, and in whom righteousness lives and acts. For Christ became for us not only righteousness from God, but wisdom and everything that belongs to power (1 Cor 1:30).

"Since in the present passage those who wrote this epistle separated themselves from those who had fallen asleep and died in Christ, this explanation might seem superfluous, and testimony based on one passage would lack force. But now the same thing, and in the same spirit, is said in the First Epistle to the Corinthians: 'We shall not all die, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we shall be changed' (1 Cor 15:51, 55).

"Compare what is said in the passage we are explaining, 'He will descend from heaven with the trumpet of God,' with what is said in the Epistle to the Corinthians: 'At the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound' (1 Cor 15:52). And compare the words in the Epistle to the Thessalonians, 'The dead in Christ will rise first,' with what is written in the Epistle to the Corinthians: 'And the dead will rise incorruptible.' The following words, 'Then we who are alive and remain,' correspond to the words, 'And we shall be changed.'

"Both passages can be understood thus: We, the living, who remain until the coming of the Lord, shall be changed. We do not belong to the number of those called dead, but we are living. Therefore we await the coming of the Lord not in death, but in life, because we are of the race of Israel. From us has been chosen the remnant of which the Lord once said, 'I have left among the Israelites seven thousand men; all these knees have not bowed to Baal' (3 Kingdoms 19:18).

"In the Gospel of John also, two classes are portrayed, the living and the nonliving: 'He who believes in Me, though he die, shall live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die' (Jn 11:25-26).

"If we understand the living in the sense that we have stated, then under those who have fallen asleep and died in Christ we must recognize those who, though they wished to live in Christ, died through sin. But if by the living is meant the remnant of Israel and those chosen according to grace, then those who have fallen asleep and died in Christ must be recognized as those who do not believe rightly and do not come from the chosen Israelite tribe.

"There are others who explain this passage in the following way. Those are called living who have never died through sin. But those who sinned and died because they sinned, and then turned to repentance and blotted out their former transgressions, are called dead because they sinned. Yet they are dead in Christ, since they have turned wholly to God.

"Further, those who are living and have the testimony of faith, but have not yet received the promise of the Lord, who foresaw something better concerning them so that they should not reach perfection apart from the righteous (Heb 11:40), find blessedness in having a good conscience. They live and are left until the coming of the Lord and Savior.

"But since God is merciful and wishes to save even those who have fallen asleep and died in Christ, the living will not precede these dead. They alone will not be caught up in the clouds. Rather, according to the word of the Gospel parable, those who worked in the vineyard only from the eleventh hour and those who worked from the first will receive one denarius, the same reward of salvation (Mt 20).

"This should not seem unjust to anyone, that unequal labor is rewarded equally. There is a great difference between those who were healed after wounds and those who never saw the fear of death. Of these latter, I think, it is said: 'What man is he who lived and did not see death, who delivered his soul from the hand of Hades?' (Ps 88:49). Here 'who' is not said in the sense of 'no one,' but rather as, 'who, do you think?' In the same sense it is said: 'Who is wise, that he may understand this?' (Hos 14:10). And elsewhere: 'Lord, who may dwell in Your habitation?' (Ps 14:1). And again: 'For who has known the mind of the Lord?' (Rom 11:34).

"Therefore few of the faithful who remain will see the coming of the Lord. They will see Him not in the humiliation of the flesh of the incarnate God the Word, but in the glory of the victor.

"One must also pay attention to why the Apostle first called those whom the living cannot precede 'those who have fallen asleep,' and afterward 'the dead in Christ.' Whoever does not keep what is written, 'Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids; save yourself like a gazelle from the hand, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler' (Prov 6:4-5), will fall asleep and grow numb in the sleep of sin. When he has fallen asleep, he will pass into death. As one who is awake is in motion, so the sleeper lies motionless and without sensation, like a dead man.

"That death truly follows sleep is clear from the First Epistle to the Corinthians, where it is said: 'But Christ has risen from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, through a man also came the resurrection of the dead' (1 Cor 15:20-21). A little later: 'We shall not all die, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we shall be changed' (1 Cor 15:51-52).

"Therefore, when sleep and death are spoken of in this way, and we read in the Apostle, 'Awake, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light' (Eph 5:14), let us swear to the Lord. Let each of us vow in his heart to the God of Jacob: 'I will not go up to my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord.' This means, undoubtedly, a dwelling in his own soul, 'for the Mighty One of Jacob' (Ps 131). In this habitation God may make for Himself an eternal throne.

"Next follows: 'For the Lord Himself, with a command,' and so forth. For He who was sent by the Father will descend from heaven: the Word of God, Wisdom, Truth, and Righteousness. He will descend not with the power of various miracles, but with the authority of a judge. He will descend to those who are in the earth. Though those counted worthy of His descent have died, nevertheless they are not alien to Him, because they are called dead in Christ.

"The living have this advantage, that they form the chosen portion among very many. Nevertheless both groups, the dead in Christ and the living, will be caught up equally in the clouds to meet Christ. They will not wait for Him while He descends into earthly valleys. Rather, they will enjoy the sight of His face and communion with Him in the dwellings above.

"How merciful Christ is, that for our salvation He not only became flesh, but also descended even to the dead and planted the banner of life in death itself. For from His side there flowed water and blood (Jn 19:34).

"Therefore the Word of God descends, preceded by the voice of an archangel, who prepares His way among those who can bear His presence. To bring this nearer to our understanding, let us consider the mystery of the first coming. Concerning John, who was the Forerunner of the Lord, it is written that he spoke in the wilderness: 'I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness,' and so forth. What does this voice proclaim in the wilderness? 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight' (Mt 3:3; Lk 3:4; Mk 1:3; Jn 1:23).

"For what recompense and what reward? 'Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God' (Isa 40:4-5). This is because 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us' (Jn 1:14).

After this he sets forth the teaching on the resurrection and comforts those grieving for the departed. “But I do not want you, brethren, to be ignorant concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.” The Apostle does not forbid grief altogether, but rejects immoderate grief and comforts them by the hope of the resurrection. For those who do not have this hope are excusable if they give themselves to immoderate sorrow. Therefore he did not say “concerning the dead,” but “concerning those who have fallen asleep,” placing consolation in the very name. Then he presents proof of the resurrection from the teaching they received concerning the Master Christ.

“I do not want you, brethren, to be ignorant concerning the dead,” properly, concerning those who have fallen asleep. The Apostle intentionally uses here the expression “those who have fallen asleep,” so that by the very name he may show that death for a Christian is no more than sleep, after which awakening must follow. “Lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.” These words do not forbid every sorrow, but the sorrow of despair, the sorrow that comes from the view of death as the end of everything for man. Such sorrow belonged to the Gentiles, who knew nothing of the resurrection of the dead.

"For this we say to you by the word of the Lord," that is, by a special revelation from the Lord, "that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have died" (1 Thess 4:15).

The Apostle's expression about those who are alive and remain must be understood in a general sense. Speaking this way, "he does not speak of his own person, but of the people who would live to that time" (Theodoret).

"By using the expression 'we,' he had in view not himself, but meant the faithful" (Chrysostom). But in what respect will those who remain alive until the Lord's coming not precede the dead?

Presenting the image of the second coming of the Lord on the basis of what has been revealed about it in the word of God, the Apostle first speaks of what most interested the Thessalonians. He says that, in the honor of meeting the Lord the Judge, the living will have no advantage over the dead. For when, by the command of God, the thunderous archangelic and angelic hymn concerning the Lord's descent resounds, then those who have died in Christ will rise. After this Christ will descend from heaven, and all will appear to meet Him.

“I do not want you to be ignorant” is an expression customary to Saint Paul when he wishes to draw his readers’ special attention to some subject. He uses it whether he is discussing it anew or merely reminding them of it.

“I do not want you to be ignorant,” therefore, means: I want you to know. I want to give you an exact understanding of the state of the departed, for your consolation.

When he was with them, he had not had time to teach them everything about this subject. Now he supplies what was lacking and what had troubled the Thessalonians.