Homilies on First Thessalonians

There are many things that cause us sorrow simply because we do not understand them. So when we come to understand them well, we drive away our grief. Paul shows this also when he says, "I do not want you to be ignorant, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope." Is this why he does not want them to be ignorant? But why does he not speak about the punishment that is stored up? "Ignorant," he says, of the teaching of the Resurrection. But why? This is clear from the other point, and is accepted. But at the same time, along with that, there will also be this gain, which is not small. For since they did not disbelieve the Resurrection, but still mourned deeply, he speaks for this reason. He speaks in one way with those who do not believe the Resurrection, and in another way with these people. For it is clear that they knew, since they were asking about the times and seasons. 1 Thessalonians 5:1

Verse 14. For if we believe, he says, that Jesus died and rose again and lived, then in the same way God will also bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

Where are those who deny the Flesh? For if He did not take on Flesh, then He did not die either. If He did not die, then He did not rise again either. How then does he urge us to faith from these things? According to them, was he not then a trifler and a deceiver? For if dying comes from sin, and Christ did not sin, how does he now encourage us? And now, about whom does he say, "O men, for whom do you mourn? For whom do you grieve? Is it for sinners, or simply for those who die?" And why does he say, "Even as the rest, who have no hope"? For whom do the rest mourn? So, to them, all these things are empty. He says, "the firstborn from the dead," in Colossians 1:18, and "the first-fruits." Therefore, there must be others still to come. And see how here he brings in nothing from human reasoning, because they were teachable. But when writing to the Corinthians, he also began many points from reasoning, and then added, "You fool, what you sow is not made alive." 1 Corinthians 15:36 For this kind of statement has more authority, but it is so when he is speaking with a believer. But with one who is outside the faith, what authority would this have? So also, he says, "them also that have fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." Again, he says, "fallen asleep"; he nowhere says, "the dead." But about Christ, his words are, "He died," because the Resurrection is mentioned next. But here he says, "them that have fallen asleep." What does "through Jesus" mean? Either that they fell asleep through Jesus, or that through Jesus He will bring them. The phrase "those who fell asleep through Jesus" means the faithful. Here the heretics say that he is speaking of the baptized. What place, then, is there for "even so"? For Jesus did not fall asleep through Baptism. But why does he say, "them that have fallen asleep"? It is so that he is speaking not of a general resurrection, but of a partial one. "Them that have fallen asleep through Jesus," he says, and he speaks this way in many places.

Verse 15. For this is what we tell you by the word of the Lord: we who are alive, who remain until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep.

He is speaking about the faithful, and about those who have fallen asleep in Christ, as in 1 Corinthians 15:18; and again, "the dead shall rise in Christ." His discussion is not only about the Resurrection, but about both the Resurrection and the honor of glory. So, he says, all will share in a resurrection, but not all will share in glory. Only those in Christ will. Therefore, since he wants to comfort them, he comforts them not only with this, but also with the great honor and with how soon it will come, since they knew that. For as proof that he wants to comfort them by speaking of the honor, he goes on to say, "And we shall always be with the Lord," and, "we shall be caught up in the clouds."

But how do the faithful fall asleep in Jesus? It means that they have Christ within themselves. But the words, "He shall bring with Him," show that they are brought from many places. This was something strange that he was about to tell them. For this reason, he also adds what makes it believable. "From the word of the Lord," he says. That is, we are not speaking from ourselves, but saying what we have learned from Christ: "We who are alive, who remain until the coming of the Lord, shall in no way go before those who have fallen asleep." He also says this in his Epistle to the Corinthians: "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," 1 Corinthians 15:52. Here he also makes the Resurrection believable by the way in which it will happen.

Because the matter seems difficult, he says that just as it is easy for the living to be taken up, so it is also easy for those who have died. But when he says, "we," he is not speaking about himself, because he was not going to remain alive until the Resurrection. He is speaking about the faithful. For this reason he adds, "We who are left until the coming of the Lord shall certainly not go before those who have fallen asleep." It is as if he had said, "Do not think there is any difficulty. It is God who does it." Those who are alive at that time will not go ahead of those who have died, who have decayed, who have been dead for ten thousand years. For just as it is easy to bring those who are still whole, so it is also easy to bring those who have dissolved.

But there are some who do not believe this, because they do not know God. Tell me, which is easier: to bring someone into being out of nothing, or to raise up again someone who has been dissolved? But what do they say? A certain man suffered shipwreck and was drowned in the sea. After he fell in, many fish caught him, and each fish ate some part of his body. Then those same fish were caught, one in this gulf and another in that. This one was eaten by one man, and that one by another, while each still had in it the pieces of flesh it had eaten. Then again, those who ate the fish that had eaten the man died in different places, and were themselves perhaps eaten by wild beasts. So, when there has been such great confusion and scattering, how will the man rise again? Who will gather up the dust? But why do you say this, O man, and weave together strings of trifles, making it into a puzzle? Tell me, if the man had not fallen into the sea, if the fish had not eaten him, and if the fish in turn had not been eaten by countless men, but he had been carefully kept in a coffin, and neither worms nor anything else had disturbed him, how will what has been dissolved rise again? How will the dust and ashes be joined together again? From where will the body have its bloom again? Is not this also a difficulty?

If the people who raise these doubts are Greeks, we would have countless things to say to them. Why? Because among them are some who say that souls pass into plants, shrubs, and dogs. Tell me, which is easier: for someone to receive back his own body, or to receive the body of another? Others say that bodies are burned up by fire, and that there is a resurrection of garments and shoes, and they are not ridiculed. Others speak of atoms. But with such people, we have no argument at all. Yet to the faithful, if we should still call them faithful when they raise such questions, we will say what the Apostle has said: all life comes from corruption, all plants and all seeds. Do you not see the fig tree? Think of what a trunk it has, what stems, how many leaves and branches, stalks and roots, taking up so much ground and enclosed in it. Yet this tree, as large and impressive as it is, grows from the seed that was thrown into the ground and first decayed there. And if it does not rot and break down, none of these things will come to be. Tell me, where does this come from? And the vine too, so beautiful both to look at and to enjoy, grows from something ugly in appearance. And tell me this too: is not the water that comes down from above one single thing? How then is it changed into so many things? This is more wonderful than the Resurrection. For there, the same seed and the same plant are involved, and there is a close connection between them. But here, tell me how one thing, with one quality and one nature, turns into so many different things. In the vine it becomes wine, and not only wine, but also leaves and sap. For not only the cluster of grapes, but the rest of the vine too is nourished by it. Again, in the olive tree, it becomes oil, along with many other things. And what is amazing is this: here it is moist, there dry; here sweet, there sour; here sharp to the taste, elsewhere bitter. Tell me how it turns into so many things. Show me the reason. But you cannot.

And in your own case, tell me, since this comes nearer: this seed that is deposited, how is it shaped and formed into so many things? How into eyes? How into ears? How into hands? How into a heart? Are there not in the body countless differences of shapes, sizes, qualities, positions, powers, and proportions? There are nerves and veins and flesh and bones and membranes, and arteries and joints and cartilages, and as many more things besides these as the sons of the physicians describe exactly, which make up our nature. And these come from that one seed. Does this not seem to you much more difficult than those things? How is what is moist and soft hardened into what is dry and cold, that is, bone? How into what is warm and moist, which are joined together in the blood? How into what is cold and soft, the nerve? How into what is cold and moist, the artery? Tell me, from where are these things? Are you not completely at a loss about these things? Do you not see every day a resurrection and a death taking place in the seasons of our life? Where has our youth gone? From where has our old age come? How is it that he who has grown old cannot indeed make himself young again, but begets another, a very young child, and what he cannot give to himself, that he gives to another?

We can see this also in trees and in animals. And yet, what gives something to another should first give it to itself. But that is what human reasoning demands. When God creates, however, let all such arguments give way. If these things are so difficult, no, so extremely difficult, I am reminded of those mad people who are curious about the incorporeal generation of the Son. No one has yet been able to discover things that happen every day, things within our reach, and things that have been examined ten thousand times. Tell me, then, how is it that they are curious about that secret and ineffable generation? Is not the mind of such people worn out by walking in that emptiness? Has it not been whirled into ten thousand dizzy spells? Is it not stunned? And yet, not even in this way are they taught. When they are able to say nothing about grapes and figs, they are curious about God! Tell me, how is that grape seed changed into leaves and stems? How was it that before this, they were not in it and could not be seen in it? But it is not the grape seed, you say. Everything is from the earth. Then how is it that without this, the earth bears nothing by itself? But let us not be without understanding. What happens is neither from the earth nor from the grape seed, but from Him who is Lord both of the earth and of its seeds. For this reason, He has caused the same thing to be made both without them and with them. First, He showed His own power when He said, “Let the earth bring forth the herb of grass,” Genesis 1:11. Second, besides showing His power, He was also teaching us to be hardworking and diligent.

Why, then, have we said these things? Not for no reason, but so that we may also believe in the Resurrection. And so that, when we again want to understand something by our own reasoning but cannot find it out, we may not become angry or take offense. Instead, by wisely stepping back and restraining our reasoning, we may take refuge in the power and wisdom of God. Knowing these things, therefore, let us put a curb on our reasoning. Let us not go beyond our limits, or beyond the measure assigned to our knowledge. For, as he says, "If any man thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know." 1 Corinthians 8:2

I am not speaking about God, he says, but about everything. Why? Do you want to learn about the earth? What do you know about it? Tell me. How great is its measure? What is its size? How is it positioned? What is its essence? What is its place? Where does it stand, and on what? Can you tell none of these things? But you can say that it is cold, dry, and black, and nothing more. Again, what about the sea? There too you will be left with the same uncertainty. You do not know where it begins, where it ends, what carries it, what supports its bottom, what kind of place there is for it, or whether beyond it there is a continent, or whether it ends in water and air. And what do you know about the things in it? But let me pass over the elements. Would you have us choose the smallest of plants? Take unfruitful grass, something we all know. Tell me how it is produced. Is not its material water, earth, and dung? What is it that makes it appear so beautiful and gives it such a wonderful color? From where does that beauty fade away? This is not the work of water or earth. Do you see that faith is needed everywhere? How does the earth bring forth? How does it labor? Tell me. But you cannot tell me any of these things.

Be taught, O man, about the things here below, and do not be curious or meddle too much about heaven. And I wish it were only heaven, and not the Lord of heaven Himself. Do you not know the earth from which you were brought, in which you were nourished, which you live on, and on which you walk, without which you cannot even breathe? And yet you are curious about things so far away? Truly, man is vanity. Psalm 39:5 and 144:5. If someone told you to go down into the deep and search out the things at the bottom of the sea, you would not accept that command. But when no one forces you, are you willing on your own to explore the unsearchable abyss? Please, do not do this. Instead, let us sail upward, not by drifting, because we will soon grow tired and sink. Rather, let us use the divine Scriptures as a ship, and let us raise the sails of faith. If we sail in them, then the Word of God will be with us as our Pilot. But if we drift on human reasoning, it will not be so. For which of those who drift has a Pilot with him? So the danger is twofold: there is no ship, and the Pilot is absent. For if even a boat without a pilot is unsafe, when both are missing, what hope of safety is there? Let us not throw ourselves into obvious danger. Instead, let us go on a safe ship, after fastening ourselves with the sacred anchor. For in this way we will sail into the calm harbor with much cargo, and at the same time with great safety. And we will obtain the blessings stored up for those who love Him, in Christ Jesus our Lord. With whom, to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, and honor, now and always and forever. Amen.