1 Thessalonians 4:13

Text (1 Thessalonians 4:13)

13 But we would not have you ignorant, brethren concerning them that fall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope.

Translation and Paraphrase

13.

But we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those (of our Christian brethren) who are sleeping (in death), so that you may not be burdened with sorrow as indeed the rest (of mankind) who have no hope (so often are).

Notes (1 Thessalonians 4:13)

1.

A Christian missionary to American Indians wrote in Dec. 1962: Tonight there is heard the sorrowing of our poor Indian people as they chant their sacred funeral songs, beat the seven sacred tom-toms, mingled with the weeping and wailing of those who have no hope. Oh, how the FEAR of DEATH seems to GRIP those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. (John Runyan, McKinley Indian Mission)

2.

The sorrow of the brethren at the time of death is aggravated by their ignorance of the future destiny. Upon the walls of the catacombs beneath Rome are found epitaphs for the dead who were buried there long ago. Some of the pagan epitaphs say things like these:

Live for the present hour, since we are sure of nothing else.
I lift my hands against the gods who took me away at the age of twenty though I had done no harm.
Traveller, curse me not as you pass, for I am in darkness and cannot answer.

But on the tombs of the early Christians in the catacombs are found epitaphs that sing with the bright cheer of immortality:

Here lies Marcia, put to rest in a dream of peace.
Lawrence, to his sweetest son, borne away of angels. (From Fox's Book of Martyrs)

3.

This verse (1 Thessalonians 4:13) opens a new section, having the topic The Dead in Christ, and the Lord's Coming. The section covers 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Paul opens this section by saying, We would not have you to be ignorant, Paul used similar expressions in numerous places in his writings to introduce new topics. See Romans 1:13; Romans 11:25; 1 Corinthians 10:1; 1 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Corinthians 12:1; 2 Corinthians 1:8; Philippians 1:12; Colossians 2:1.

Christians have no excuse for being ignorant about their faith, and there certainly is no honor in being ignorant.

4.

Sleep is a common metaphor for death in the Scriptures, being used fifteen times in the N.T. See 1 Corinthians 15:6; 1 Corinthians 15:20. Sleep implies the possibility of an awakening. The grave become the couch in which the body rests until the awakening at the resurrection.

But those who say that the spirits of the dead also sleep, greatly pervert the meaning of sleeping in death. For the Scriptural descriptions of souls after death, see Revelation 6:9-11 and Luke 16:22-24. See also Special Study VI page 253, Questions About Spirit and Soul.

5.

Does this verse teach that it is wrong to weep at the death of our loved ones? Of course not. Jesus himself wept at the tomb of Lazarus, John 11:35, Devout men carried Stephen to his burial weeping. Acts 8:2. See also Acts 9:39.

The thing which we are not to do is to weep as those who have no hope weep, They often wail and carry on in uncontrollable sorrow. We who have a hope of reunion at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ should not weep as if death ended everything eternally.

6.

Aeschylus, the Greek tragic dramatist (525-456 B.C.), said, Once dead, there is no resurrection more. The apostle Paul said, The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. The pagans had no hope in death. Ephesians 2:12. Christians have great hope in death.

7.

This paragraph about sorrowing over the Christians who had died, indicates that the Thessalonians had a misunderstanding about the subject. What we know about the difficulty is only what we can infer from this paragraph (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). But it appears that the Thessalonians, expecting a speedy return of the Lord, feared that in some way the Christians who had died would not share the glories and benefits of the Lord's return.

8.

It has been well suggested that Christians should mourn for those who are living in sin, and not for the dead who are in the Lord.