‘But this I say brothers, the time is shortened that from now on both those who have wives be as those who have none, and those who weep as those who do not weep, and those who rejoice as those who do not rejoice, and those who buy as though they owned nothing, and those who use the world as not abusing it, for the fashion of this world passes away.'
The passage is vivid and descriptive. If it is referring to a ‘present distress' its point is that, because of it, time is short and that in the ‘distress' things will be such that natural things must take second place. Normal marital relations will not be a first priority, there will be no time or place for mourning or for laughter, if they buy something there will be no opportunity for them to use it. They will be staid and sober in their behaviour because they will see that the fashion of this world, or the world as they know it, is passing away. All this would point to something great in its severity, such as an all out war, or great persecution, or the possibility of the second coming itself following a period of expected distress.
But many see ‘the time is shortened' as referring to the shortness of life, or of time before the Parousia, the time having been ‘shortened' by the crowning of the Messiah, and the need to live in the light of this fact. They think in terms of the divine necessity and compulsion that results.
The others counter-argue that it is difficult to ignore the meaning ‘the present (or impending) distress', and that what follows describes an emergency situation and is surely not describing life as it would be lived in normal times. It certainly does not seem to tie in with 1 Corinthians 7:4-5.
To that a reply might be made that either some cause of distress was used in 1 Corinthians 7:26 as a reason for that injunction but not applicable here, or that the distress refers to the anticipated troubles prior to Christ's coming, or that, in view of the non-mention elsewhere of the ‘distress', the alternative idea of ‘necessity' and divine compulsion should rather be applied there and that here the idea has been expanded to include the greatest compulsions of all to Christians, the brevity of life and the imminence of the Lord's return.
Then what follows would be seen as not to be taken strictly literally but as an indication of what our attitude of mind should be in view of the shortness of our lives (and they were much shorter then) and of the time. Marriage, sorrows and joys, and possessions would all be subjected to the greater fact of making the most of the time we have, and being taken up with worldly things would need to be avoided in view of the fact that the illusory fashion of the world is certainly passing away at His coming. In the New Testament the second coming of Christ is ever used as a spur to Christian behaviour.
‘Those who have wives may be as though they had none.' He is not suggesting abstinence from sexual relations except as provided for in 1 Corinthians 7:5, but that the people of God should not allow their marriages to take prime place. They must always take second place to the service of Christ. We should consider here the words of Jesus, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not love his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, less than Me, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26).
‘Those who weep as those who wept not.' This has in mind the sorrows wayward children can bring, or bereavement, or any other earthly sorrow. In the end the people of God must not allow such things to be an undue hindrance to their responsibilities under the Gospel.
‘Those who rejoice as though they rejoiced not.' In contrast earth's blessings also should not interfere with such responsibilities. We must always remember that they are temporary, while the people of God should be seeking what is eternal.
‘Those who buy as though they possessed not.' Earthly wealth and possessions must not act as a drag on obedience to God's demands. They must be held on to lightly.
Jesus was very clear about the need to use possessions wisely. Jesus told His disciples that they must sell their possessions and give to the poor (Luke 12:33), and He told the story of the rich fool, who thought he could cling on to all his possessions (Luke 12:16-21). He taught His disciples to lay up treasures in heaven and not on earth (Matthew 6:19-20), and He said that they should be used to ‘make friends' of God's people ‘that they may received you into eternal habitations' (Luke 16:9). In other words His emphasis was that they should be used for the furtherance of the Gospel and the relief of those in need.
‘Those who use the world as not abusing it (or ‘as not using it to the full'), for the fashion of this world (or ‘the world in its present form') is passing away.' The idea is that in their use of things of the world they will be moderate, neither abusing them nor using them ‘to the full'. In other words they must be kept in their proper place. They must not try to extract the maximum from them at the cost of other things. Or we might translate ‘using the world as not using it.' The point is that things are or will be such that moderation must be the rule. This could have in mind something like a siege situation or something that will produce a great change in the society as they know it (such as anticipated widespread persecution). Or it could simply mean recognising that in view of the shortness of life and the imminence of Christ's return the things that the world offers should be mainly rejected or kept in their proper place (Hebrews 11:24-26; 2 Peter 3:10-13).