What is the significance that the dead in Christ shall rise first (1 Thessalonians 4:16)?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians to a church that was apparently concerned that dead believers missed Jesus’ return (1 Thessalonians 4:13), perhaps being deceived by others like the Corinthians (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:12). Briefly grounding the hope of a resurrection for believers, Paul explained that believers believe in a resurrected Jesus, and that if He resurrected so He can also raise others (1 Thessalonians 4:14). In fact, the dead will not miss anything of Jesus’ return, saying those who were alive would not precede the dead (1 Thessalonians 4:15). Instead, the Lord’s arrival will be loud (1 Thessalonians 4:16a) and the dead will rise first (1 Thessalonians 4:16b), then the living will join them on the way up into the clouds (1 Thessalonians 4:17). The word translated “then” to say that after the dead rise the living will rise is a simple sequence of events, not an indicator that any time will elapse. Indeed, everything in 1 Thessalonians 4:16b–17 may all happen nearly at once. The importance of the dead rising first, then, is not so much about the order of the rapture, but the fact that dead believers will miss nothing. As believers, we should be comforted by this passage, not grieving as others do, because we understand that believers who sleep today will live again!

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• The dead in Christ rising first is not found in the Old Testament.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• First Thessalonians 4:13–18 is a passage intended to encourage the believers. As with every generation, they expected Christ to return soon and were worried that believers who died before that would miss the rapture, or even miss out entirely on the future with Christ. He said, “we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). They may have been hearing, or been affected by, similar errors that plagued the Corinthians church where some were teaching that there was no resurrection from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:12).
• In 1 Corinthians, Paul addressed the theological issues that such a belief raised (1 Corinthians 15:12–23). However, Paul notes the key reason not to worry: “since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:14). “Fallen asleep” is a euphemism for “dead.” He said that Jesus also died, but that He also resurrected. Therefore, they could know that God would also raise His believers.
• Paul then said, “For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:15). He was saying that the living won’t go to Jesus ahead of the dead.
• Instead, when Jesus returns, it will be with a loud shout and a trumpet, signifying Jesus won’t come quietly, a way of saying that even the dead will hear His arrival and thus “the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
• Paul added that, rather than the dead being behind, the living will follow after them, saying, “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Note, however, that Paul is not saying that there will be a literal gap of time between the dead and living raptures. Rather, he’s emphasizing the reality that the dead won’t miss a thing. The entire sequence of 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 may thus very well happen virtually simultaneously.
• Paul ends the section saying, “Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:18). He was not giving them a theological discourse on the end times, but was comforting them that their deceased loved ones hadn’t missed Jesus or been left behind. Death is sad, but they could be comforted that they would be reunited when Jesus came.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

Death is so incredibly sad and hard because it’s unnatural. It’s the result of our sin (Romans 5:12). Because everyone sins (Romans 3:23), everyone will die eventually (Romans 6:23). Because God created us “very good” (Genesis 1:31), we were not supposed to die. Thus, every death reminds us that things are not right. We mourn the loss because we intuitively feel like they should have lived forever (cf. Ecclesiastes 3:11).

However, though death is always sad, to believers it’s not a hopeless sadness. It’s the real sadness of losing someone combined with the sure knowledge that when Jesus returns, the one who has died will be raised to life. The believer also understands that even now, the dead are with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8) and in a time of rest from life’s difficulties (Luke 16:22; Revelation 14:13). This is why Scripture often refers to believers as “asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:13–14). That’s a theological realization that being dead does not mean being gone forever.

Therefore, believers express hope and joy even as they express sadness. They know that their believing friend or family member truly is in a better place and that he or she will rise again. At that time, they will be united and, together, worship their King.

UNDERSTAND

• Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 to comfort believers who feared that those who had already died would miss Jesus' return or be otherwise at a disadvantage when He came.
• The resurrection of Jesus is the theological ground for the hope: because Jesus died and rose, they could be sure that God will also bring with Him those who have died in Christ.
• The passage says that the dead in Christ rise first, and the living are then caught up together with them, but no specific lapse of time is indicated, because the point is that the dead believers miss nothing—the entire sequence of events may happen virtually simultaneously.

REFLECT

• How does the reality that believers who will have died will miss nothing of Jesus' return affect the way you think about the deaths of those you love who died in Christ?
• In what ways does grounding the hope of resurrection in Jesus' own resurrection comfort you when you face grief or the fear of death?
• How does Paul's closing instruction to encourage one another with these words challenge you to use the doctrine of resurrection when you comfort others who are grieving?

ENGAGE

• How does the pastoral occasion of 1 Thessalonians 4 to correct a misunderstanding, as opposed to providing an end-times framework, change how we read and understand this passage?
• What does Paul's grounding of resurrection hope in "we believe that Jesus died and rose again" reveal about the relationship between the historical resurrection of Christ and the future resurrection of believers?
• How does the word harpazō (translated as "caught up" and sometimes rendered as "raptured") function in the passage, and what does its meaning contribute to the picture Paul is painting of believers meeting the Lord?