By T. W. Parker

“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. 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. 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. 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. Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:13-18, NIV).

The Thessalonian Church was grieving over fellow believers who died before Christ’s return, fearing these deceased members would miss out or be disadvantaged at Jesus’ second coming compared to believers who were still alive on that day. After introducing the problem (vs. 13), Paul responds by appealing first to Jesus’ resurrection (vs. 14) and then to Jesus’ words (vs. 15-17) before concluding with an encouraging exhortation (vs. 18). Moreover, this euphemism for death is common in biblical texts and antiquity, so it does not support the notion of “soul sleep,” the idea that the soul exists in a nonconscious state of “sleeping” between death and the resurrection.

The first reason the Thessalonian Church can have hope for their fellow believers who have died is grounded in Jesus’ “resurrection,” which in Paul’s theology guarantees that God will resurrect believers (Rom. 8:11, 1 Cor. 6:14, 15:12-23, 1 Cor. 4:14, Col. 1:18) so that they will be alive and participate fully in Christ’s glorious return. The second reason for hope is grounded in Jesus’ words, which may refer to a general summary of Jesus’ teachings. Paul is not merely giving his opinion but an authoritative teaching of the Lord Jesus Himself. All believers, the deceased but now resurrected ones (1 Thess. 4:14,16) and the living but now transformed ones (1 Cor. 15:51-52), will share equally in the glorious “coming of the Lord.”

The three phrases “with a loud command,” “with the voice of the archangel,” and “with the trumpet call of God ” suggest that Christ’s return will be a public event heard and witnessed by all people, not just believers. The word “caught up” is the only explicit reference in the Bible to the “rapture” (from the Latin translation of the Greek verb used here). Paul envisions the Church being “raptured” and joined to Christ at His return. As a result, Paul’s primary purpose in discussing Christ’s return in (vs. 13-18) is not to predict the future but to comfort grieving believers in Christ. Pray for my family and any other families that you may know who have lost a loved one, as my wife just lost her Father on Friday. Keep us in your prayers, and we will do the same for all of you until we meet on that glorious day of Christ’s return. Hallelujah!