Words of life which pierce the darkness of death

The name Justus Jonas (1493-1555) may be obscure to all but the most diligent students of the Reformation, but this gifted scholar, polemicist, and translator was a close enough friend of Martin Luther to have had the privilege of preaching at the Great Reformer's funeral. Pop culture evangelicals might appreciate the fact that the text Jonas chose for the occasion was one of their favorites, 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18. They might not appreciate, however, his treatment of the passage.

This sermon deals with the resurrection of the dead, that we will see our dear father, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther, who has left this world, again on the Last Day. For St. Paul clearly says to the Thessalonians that Christ will lead wit him those who have died in him. A Christian can find comfort in these words; whoever does not find comfort in these words should not think that he is a Christian. For this is such a rich comforting text for which man cannot pay with gold. A Christian relies on it, finds comfort in these words of Paul, and believes firmly he will rise again on the Last Day with all Christians. A godless person and Epicurean does not rest his comfort on the words of Paul but on money and possessions, on greed, avarice, etc. For he neither knows nor believes that he will rise again on the Last Day and will see again those who have lived with him and after him. But Paul says: the Lord will come with a cry of command, etc. The Lord is great, this his triumph and glory also must be great. But an Epicurean does not care for these words as was said; he also is not concerned about them. But for a Christian heart they are pure pearls and precious gems. Thus Paul also considers these words a particular and high mystery which he is telling the Christians here (the world knows nothing of it) concerning the resurrection of the dead; and says: encourage one another with these words. As if he wanted to say: Behold, I will reveal a heavenly mystery to you, namely: that the world and all people whom you see here, young and old, rich and poor, will have to go down into the earth, i.e., will die and be buried, both Christians and non-Christians, and finally again will rise on the Last Day with their bodies, flesh and blood, in great glory, in spite of being eaten by worms in the earth, rotting and decaying, as Paul attests in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15: What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.

Consistent with the commonly accepted interpretation of the time, Jonas reads the passage as referring to the resurrection of the dead. Moreover, he applies it in a manner consistent with Paul's original intent, namely, as a pastoral word of comfort to persons bereaved by the loss of loved ones. It is, indeed, an ideal text for a funeral because it includes both the acknowledgment of grief over the loss of the dearly departed and the proclamation of the glorious Good News that the dead, now resting in Jesus, will rise again on the Last Day. There is great comfort in Paul's words, for they are words of life which pierce the darkness of death.

There is nothing in Jonas's sermon to suggest that he understood this passage to refer to anything other than the final resurrection of the dead and the coming of Christ in glory on the Last Day. The idea of a "secret rapture" prior to a seven-year "tribulation" is nowhere to be found in Jonas or any of the other Reformers. Such a novel interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18 was unheard of prior to the early-to-mid-nineteenth century.