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1 Thessalonians 4:1. For this reason, brethren, we ask and plead with you by Christ Jesus, that you, having received from us how you ought to act and please God, may be more successful in doing so, After I have told you that it is proper to listen, then listen to what is always necessary to listen. “For this” is what it means, that is, always and incessantly. Look, what humility: he does not consider himself worthy of faith, even in matters of exhortation, but he offers a word from Christ, saying: Christ exhorts you through me. The word “having received” refers not only to words, but also to deeds: for he taught by deeds. What are we asking for? “So that you may prosper more,” that is, so that you try to do more than the commandments require and rise above the regulations. Just as the earth produces not only what is thrown into it, so the soul should not stop at the decrees, but rise higher. 1 Thessalonians 4:2. for you know what commandments we gave you from the Lord Jesus. 4 The commandment concerns things that must be avoided, the commission of which entails punishment, and the non-commitment of which does not deserve any praise. Meanwhile, there are some things that should not be commanded; that is, not to impose with a threat, but to leave them to the will of the listeners, such as, for example, the distribution of property and virginity. “Whoever can accommodate,” says the Lord, “let him accommodate” (Matthew 19:12). Possibly, Paul gave them a more threatening command about some matters. Therefore, he does not state this here, but only reminds them. And again in the name of Christ. Not my commands, he says, but Christ’s; so you will obey Him, or you will reject Him. 1 Thessalonians 4:3. For this is the will of God, your sanctification, That is, chastity. Everywhere he commands about this virtue, both in the Epistle to Timothy (1 Tim. 5:22), and to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 6:6), and to the Hebrews (Heb. 12:14). For passion is especially strong and therefore requires many and constant medications. that you abstain from fornication; 5 There are many different types of this passion, which are unbearable to talk about, and therefore he simply said: “from all fornication.” 1 Thessalonians 4:4. so that each of you knows how to keep his vessel in holiness and honor, Calls the body a vessel. When we are abstinent, the body is clean and we have control over it; when it is unclean, sin controls it. For whatever he commands, the body does like a slave. Actually, then it is in honor when it is chaste. Thus sin is dishonor. Pay attention to the word “observe”. It shows that chastity requires training and achievement. Where are the Manichaeans and Marcionites who complain about nature? 1 Thessalonians 4:5. and not in the passion of lust, That is, not in desire, which contains passion. For there is also a dispassionate desire, such as the desire for divine things. Or that everything that excites lust, he calls the passion of lust, such as: luxury, wealth, idleness and negligence - each of them can be called the passion of lust. Thus, if we wish to be chaste, then we should not allow ourselves any passion that excites lust. like the pagans who do not know God; Those who do not know God have no hope of reward. Therefore, they do everything for their own pleasure. 1 Thessalonians 4:6. so that you do not do anything unlawful or selfish to your brother: Above, the apostle speaks of fornication in general; now he speaks of adultery, which he rightly calls extortion and crime. For God gave each one a wife and set limits to nature, meaning cohabitation with this one wife. That is why greed relates to this matter, that is, criminal cohabitation; namely against his brother. because the Lord is the avenger of all this, as we told you and testified before. Don’t think, he says that I am saying this only in relation to the brothers; no, one should not have wives of other people, either simply unmarried people or common wives. For the Lord punishes for all this: we do not do this with impunity; we will suffer a much greater punishment, in comparison with the pleasure that we now receive from it. Look: first the apostle begged, then he shamed, saying: “like the pagans,” then through arguments he showed the vileness of this vice, calling it covetousness; finally, he intimidates and reminds them that they have often heard this from him. 1 Thessalonians 4:7. For God has not called us to uncleanness, but to holiness. 1 Thessalonians 4:8. So he who is disobedient is not subject to man, but to God, who gave us His Holy Spirit. After saying that you are offending your brother and pointing out that God will take revenge, he now spreads his thoughts, showing that even if the infidel suffered this, the guilty one will still be punished. For God will not punish you for avenging him, but for Himself, He called you so that you would be pure, and you offended with your uncleanness the One who gave you the Holy Spirit. Therefore, whether you defile your married slave or your queen, the guilt is the same: for you offend God alone. Even if you committed fornication (and did not commit adultery), God will still take revenge, because you have defiled His Spirit. Or another way: God, seeing that in such matters we show more contempt for Him than for people, will avenge Himself. In front of people, we try to prevent them from seeing us with their own eyes, but we show contempt to God, despite what He sees. 1 Thessalonians 4:9. There is no need to write to you about brotherly love: (έχετε) 6; The Apostle no longer speaks of love for everyone, but of love for the brethren. By the omission itself, he exhorts, achieving two goals: firstly, this matter is so necessary that he has nothing to learn, for everyone knows that it is of particular importance for everyone. Secondly, by this he admonishes them more, urging them not to fall below the concept that he had of them, considering them to have already corrected themselves. for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, See how he praises them, saying that God Himself teaches them this virtue. The prophet also said this: “all will be taught by God” (Is. 54:13; Jer. 31:34). 1 Thessalonians 4:10. for this is what you do to all the brothers throughout all Macedonia. He doesn’t just say: you have been taught by God, but: I know this from your deeds. I mentioned Macedonia because Thessalonica is the main city of Macedonia. We beseech you, brothers, to prosper more 1 Thessalonians 4:11. and strive diligently to live quietly, do your own thing and work with your own hands, as we commanded :( παρηγγείλαμεν 7 ) you, I know that you are brotherly loving; This is what we pray for, that you may be more successful in brotherly love and be more generous. There may be a stop here (pause in reading the text), and then read from a new beginning: “to live quietly.” Or: “and try hard to live quietly, do your job.” These words show that they are lazy, do things they shouldn't, and are restless. Having said: “and work with your own hands,” the apostle shames those who abandon bodily labors and seek spiritual ones. Tell me, foolish ones: does anyone fast with their hands? or reclining on the bare ground? No. Meanwhile, he talks about bodily labor, which is rather spiritual, about giving to others from one’s labors, namely the poor. And since poverty resulted from the plunder of estates, he teaches them to work so that they can give alms. If he commands those whose property was plundered for Christ's sake, then how much more to others. 1 Thessalonians 4:12. so that you may act decently towards outsiders and not lack for anything. That is, so that you do not behave indecently by asking for alms from infidels. It was good that the apostle did this so as not to upset them. For, he says, if the faithful are tempted when they see a healthy person asking for alms (for which such people are called sellers of Christ), then even more so are the infidels tempted. 1 Thessalonians 4:13. I don’t want to leave you, brothers, in the dark about the dead (περί των κεκοιμημένων - deceased). Here the apostle is talking about the resurrection. If they had been told about this before, he still thought now to reveal some secret. Or, they knew everything about the resurrection, but they cried, which is why he is now treating. But since ignorance of many things saddens us, and knowledge, on the contrary, eases sadness, he says: “I don’t want to leave you in the dark.” He did not say: αποθανόντων - about the dead, but: κεκοιμημένων - about the deceased, showing by the very expression that there will be a resurrection. lest you grieve like others who have no hope. What hope? Hopes for resurrection. For those who have no hope of resurrection must mourn. Let's listen and be horrified. Why? Because you don’t want to leave them in the dark so that they don’t grieve? After all, you do not say: lest you be punished, but lest you grieve. He says this because this sorrow entails punishment. 1 Thessalonians 4:14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. Just as, he says, He raised the Lord, who suffered physically and died, so He will also resurrect us. Look, since the resurrection of the Lord has already taken place, how he boldly speaks of Him: “died” - απέθανε; meanwhile, about us, since our resurrection still has to happen, “those who have fallen asleep” speaks - τους κοιμηθέντας, thereby indicating the possibility of awakening. For, he says, does he who goes to sleep really not hope that he will get up? The words “dead” (κοιμηθέντας – deceased) “in” (δια) “Jesus will bring” can be understood in two ways: either he will bring through Jesus, that is, the Son will be the mediator of the resurrection for them and will present them before the Father; or: “those who have died in Jesus,” that is, the faithful. For those who have Christ in themselves die (κοιμώνται) in Jesus. So, the apostle speaks here of a private resurrection, that is, a glorious one, which belongs to the faithful and which will be with the Lord. “He will bring them with Him,” that is, with the Lord he will catch them from everywhere on the clouds. Although the Thessalonians knew about the general resurrection, the apostle now wants to console them by pointing out that the resurrection of the faithful will be in glory and honor, so that they will not grieve. Everyone will be resurrected, but not everyone in glory, but only the faithful, that is, those who combine deeds with doctrine. Pay attention to all of the following. 1 Thessalonians 4:15. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, Intending to say something extraordinary, he confirms this with the word of God: for I do not speak from myself, but what I learned from Christ. This, like the following: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35), he clearly heard from his Teacher. The rest he spoke according to the inspiration of the Spirit. that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not warn the dead, (κοιμηθέντας) What he said in the Epistle to the Corinthians: “suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52), he says this now. Since it seemed difficult for those who had decayed to be resurrected, he says that “those who live” will not precede them; but it is easy for God to bring both those who remain whole and those who have decayed. Saying: “we who live” does not point to oneself; for he did not have to remain alive until the general resurrection, but on the faithful: that is why he added: “those remaining until the coming of the Lord.” For, saying “we”, indicates everyone who has to live to see that time. But Saint Methodius by “living” means souls, teaching that souls will not appear before bodies; because first the bodies will awaken so that the souls can be united with them, about which the apostle said that they will remain alive, for souls are immortal. 1 Thessalonians 4:16. because the Lord Himself, with a proclamation, with the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, You, he says, do not doubt what I say: and the Lord Himself will command it. How will he command? In the voice of the Archangel, who commands other angels and calls: prepare everyone, for the Judge is coming. There will be many trumpets, but the Judge will descend at the sound of the last one. Just as the Father on Mount Sinai had trumpets and angels serving Him, so the Son will have this as a King. Or: the command of God will cause the earth to return bodies that have changed into incorruption; and the voice of the Archangel, in the concelebration of the angels, will bring about the fact that those scattered everywhere will be gathered into one. and the dead in Christ shall rise first; “Dead in Christ”, that is, the faithful. Since they are to be caught up in the clouds, they will be resurrected first. The rest are last, since they have neither to be admired nor to be met. 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Then we who are left alive 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. Although the dead will rise first, we who live, of course, worthy like them, will be caught up in the clouds, just as the Lord was caught up in the clouds. If the Lord is to come, then why will the believers be raptured? For honor's sake. For, just as when a king enters a city, honorable citizens come out to meet him, and criminals inside await the judge, so it will be then. Sinners, even if they are Christians, wait below, and the righteous admire, and thus receive benefits in all abundance, always being with Christ. 1 Thessalonians 4:18. So comfort one another with these words. So as not to grieve like others who have no hope of resurrection. Blzh. Theophylact reads: “from our Lord Jesus Christ.” In the text of the bl. Theophylact is read not just “from fornication,” but from “all fornication.” Blzh. Theophylact reads: εχομεν instead of έχετε. Blzh. Theophylact reads: παρ᾿γγειλα instead of: παρηγγείλαμεν. You might be interested in: