Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

First Thessalonians 5:1–11 is best read as an extension and application of 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18. Paul’s instruction regarding “the times and seasons” is not a new topic per se; rather, it considers Christ’s coming from the vantage point of the Christian living instead of the Christian dead. 

It is possible that the Thessalonians had asked Paul, either through a letter or via a messenger (perhaps Timothy?), regarding the timing of Christ’s coming. If they stood in need of teaching with respect to the place and priority of the dead in Christ at the parousia, Paul thought, as we will see, that the Thessalonians were well catechized regarding the timing of Jesus’s return. Even as the previous passage emphasizes the surety of Christ’s parousia, this passage underscores the suddenness of his return and calls for preparedness for the same.     

Interpretation: The text in focus

Paul is unable and unwilling to sate the Thessalonians’ (and our) curiosity, and even obsession, over the precise circumstances and events that will presage Christ’s return (the “times and seasons”). Indeed, he regards the congregation as fully instructed and apprised so that they have no need to have anything written to them (5:1).

Yet, Paul does not forgo the opportunity to reinforce that which they already know full well: namely, that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (5:2). This metaphor was also employed by Jesus (in Matthew 24:43) and other New Testament writers (2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 3:3; 16:15). It conveys suddenness and surprise for the unexpecting and unprepared. While outsiders (“they”) say all is well (“peace and security”; Latin pax et securitas), Paul instructs that the day of reckoning will arrive (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

Changing metaphors, the apostle maintains that the day of the Lord, which Paul perceived and presented as a day of judgment for unbelievers, will come like labor pains or birth pangs upon a pregnant woman. To be sure, a woman with child knows that acute discomfort is coming as she prepares to give birth; nonetheless, she, too, is taken aback when contractions begin. Furthermore, even as labor pains presage birth, so also the day of the Lord signals a sure and certain judgment for those who are not in Christ (5:3).

In contrast (note the “but” with which 5:4 begins), believers ought not be surprised. Given that they are not in darkness or left to wander around in the dark, the day of the Lord should not catch them off-guard, like an unexpected, unwanted thief. 

In 5:5–10, Paul will further develop the light/night, day/darkness imagery that he has introduced in the opening verses of chapter 5. In verse 5, he assures and asserts that Thessalonian Jesus-followers are children of light and day, not of night or darkness. Nocturnal activities, such as sleeping and drinking, are not becoming of those who “belong to the day” (see verses 7–8a). Simultaneously, Paul will incorporate the contrasting pairings of sleep/wakefulness, sobriety/ drunkenness, and dying/living.

On the one hand, the apostle aligns believers with day/light/wakefulness/sobriety; on the other hand, he associates unbelievers with night/darkness/sleep/drunkenness. Paul reasons that since believers “are not of the night or of darkness” (verse 5) but “belong to the day” (verse 8), they should “keep awake and be sober” (verse 6). Moreover, he maintains that they should don faith and love like a breastplate and hope like a helmet (5:8). Here, Paul not only employs the Pauline pillars of “faith, love, and hope” (see also 1:3), which he will later rework in 1 Corinthians 13 (see also Romans 5:1–5; Galatians 5:5–6), but he also anticipates the “full armor of God,” famously expressed in Ephesians 6:10–17. 

Christians are to be such people and are to take/not take such actions, Paul maintains, “For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (5:9). Regarding Christ, the apostle adds that he “died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep [that is, live or die] we may live with him” (5:10). 

Perennially and perpetually the pastor, Paul concludes his instruction regarding “the ones who are sleeping” (4:13–18) and the “times and seasons” (5:1–11) with an admonition for the Thessalonians to keep on encouraging one another and building each other up in the Lord and the faith (see also 4:1, 18; 5:14).

Reflections: The text proclaimed

There is no shortage of possibilities for the interpreter and preacher of this passage. One may care to/feel led to explore and proclaim one or more of the following three themes. 

Divine judgment: While not a topic that most of us race toward, it is a recurring theme not only in 1 Thessalonians but also throughout sacred Scripture. For the preacher to neglect to speak with clarity and care of one’s ultimate accountability to and before a holy, loving God is to engage, if unwittingly, in ministerial malpractice. 

Faith, love, and hope: Were one looking for an opportunity to expound upon the “theological virtues,” this text, particularly 5:8, provides one with an occasion to do so. Although eclipsed by the more expansive and beloved 1 Corinthians 13, the ordering of the theological virtues here makes eminently good theological and pastoral sense. To an assailed and grieving fellowship, Paul says: Be of good courage, for the Christian life commences in faith, continues in love, and culminates in hope. 

Christian preparedness and holiness: Although predictions regarding the parousia are to be discounted and avoided, a readiness for it, marked by a life of devotion and dedication to Christ, is to be warmly and readily embraced. In preparation for the proclamation of this pivotal Pauline passage, allow me to commend to you an essay by C. S. Lewis, which has shaped my imagination and appreciation for this text and other passages of its ilk in Paul and elsewhere in Christian Scripture. The essay is titled “The World’s Last Night” and may be found in its entirety here: https://singjupost.com/c-s-lewis-the-worlds-last-night-transcript/.