Mat 9:24, 1Th 4:14, 5:10 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 24. The maid is not dead, but sleepeth . It cannot be supposed that our Lord means literally to say that the child was not dead. Every possible evidence of her death had been given, and he acted on that himself, and conveyed to the people the idea that he raised her from the dead . He meant to speak in opposition to their opinions. It is not unlikely that Jarius and the people favoured the opinions of the Sadducees; and that they understood by her being dead that she had ceased to be, and that she would never be raised up again. In opposition to this he used the expression she sleepeth ; affirming mildly both that the body was dead, and implying that her spirit still lived, and that she would be raised up again. A similar mode of speaking is seen in : "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." The sacred writers, who hold the doctrine of the resurrection, often spoke of the dead as sleeping, . The meaning of this passage then is--the maid has not ceased to exist; but though her body is dead, yet her spirit lives, and she sleeps in the hope of the resurrection. Laughed him to scorn . Derided him, ridiculed him. (h) "is not dead"

Matthew 9:24

Verse 24. The maid is not dead, but sleepeth. It cannot be supposed that our Lord means literally to say that the child was not dead. Every possible evidence of her death had been given, and he acted on that himself, and conveyed to the people the idea that he raised her from the dead. He meant to speak in opposition to their opinions. It is not unlikely that Jarius and the people favoured the opinions of the Sadducees; and that they understood by her being dead that she had ceased to be, and that she would never be raised up again. In opposition to this he used the expression she sleepeth; affirming mildly both that the body was dead, and implying that her spirit still lived, and that she would be raised up again. A similar mode of speaking is seen in Jn 11:11: "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." The sacred writers, who hold the doctrine of the resurrection, often spoke of the dead as sleeping, 2Pet 3:4, Acts 7:60, 1Cor 15:6,18 1Thes 4:13-15. The meaning of this passage then is--the maid has not ceased to exist; but though her body is dead, yet her spirit lives, and she sleeps in the hope of the resurrection.

Laughed him to scorn. Derided him, ridiculed him.

(h) "is not dead" Acts 20:10

1 Thessalonians 4:14

Verse 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again. That is, if we believe this, we ought also to believe that those who have died in the faith of Jesus will be raised from the dead. The meaning is not that the fact of the resurrection depends on our believing that Jesus rose, but that the death and resurrection of the Saviour were connected with the resurrection of the saints: that the one followed from the other, and that the one was as certain as the other. The doctrine of the resurrection of the saints so certainly follows from that of the resurrection of Christ, that, if the one is believed, the other ought to be also. 1Cor 15:12-14.

Which sleep in Jesus. A most beautiful expression. It is not merely that they have calm repose--like a gentle slumber--in the hope of awaking again, but that this is "in Jesus"--or "through" (δια) him; that is, his death and resurrection are the cause of their quiet and calm repose. They do not "sleep" in heathenism, or in infidelity, or in the gloom of atheism--but in the blessed hope which Jesus has imparted. They lie, as he did, in the tomb--free from pain and sorrow, and with the certainty of being raised up again.

They sleep in Jesus and are bless'd, How kind their slumbers are; From sufferings and from sin released, And freed from every snare.

When, therefore; we think of the death of saints, let us think of what Jesus was in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Such is the sleep of our pious friends now in the grave; such will be our own when we die.

Will God bring with him. This does not mean that God will bring them with him from heaven when the Saviour comes--though it will be true that their spirits will descend with the Saviour; but it means that he will bring them from their graves, and will conduct them with him to glory, to be with him. Comp. Jn 14:3. The declaration, as it seems to me, is designed to teach the general truth, that the redeemed are so united with Christ, that they shall share the same destiny as he does. As the head was raised, so will all the members be. As God brought Christ from the grave, so will he bring them; that is, his resurrection made it certain that they would rise. It is a great and universal truth that God will bring all from their graves who "sleep in Jesus;" or that they shall all rise. The apostle does not, therefore, refer so much to the time when this would occur--meaning that it would happen when the Lord Jesus should return--as to the fact that there was an established connection between him and his people, which made it certain that if they died united with him by faith, they would be as certainly brought from the grave as he was. If, however, it means, as Prof. Bush (Anastasis, pp. 266, 267) supposes, that they will be brought with him from heaven, or will accompany him down, it does not prove that there must have been a previous resurrection, for the full force of the language would be met by the supposition that their spirits had ascended to heaven. and would be brought with him to be united to their bodies when raised. If this be the correct interpretation, then there is probably an allusion to such passages as the following, representing the coming of the Lord accompanied by his saints. "The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee," Zech 14:6. "And Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh, with ten thousand of his saints," Jude 1:14. "Who," says Pres. Dwight, (Serra. 164,) "are those whom God will bring with him at this time? Certainly not the bodies of his saints .... The only answer is, he will bring with him "the spirits of just men made perfect."

(a) "even so" 1Cor 15:20

1 Thessalonians 5:10

Verse 10. Who died for us. That is, to redeem us. He designed by his death that we should ultimately live with him; and this effect of his death could be secured only as it was an atoning sacrifice.

Whether we wake or sleep. Whether we are found among the living or the dead when he comes. The object here is to show that the cone class would have no advantage over the other. This was designed to calm their minds in their trials, and to correct an error which seems to have prevailed in the belief that those who were found alive when he should return, would have some priority over those who were dead. 1Thes 4:13 and following. The word rendered "together", αμα is not to be regarded as connected with the phrase "with him" -- as meaning that he and they would be "together" but it refers to those who "wake and those who sleep"-- those who are alive and those who are dead--meaning that they would be together, or would be with the Lord at the same time; there would be no priority or precedence. Rosenmuller.

(d) "whether we wake or sleep" Rom 14:8,9, 2Cor 5:15