Sunday: Ordinary 32A, Proper 27A. Epistle

The Lord's coming. 4:13-18

Introduction
This section of Paul's letter to the Thessalonians deals with the parousia, i.e., Christ's coming again.

The passage
v13. On the issue of the second coming and the place of those who have already died, Paul does not want his readers caught up in the hopelessness of the pagan world. Some pagan philosophers touched on the idea of immortality, but most taught that there was no life beyond the grave. Yet, this is not the perspective of the Christian. In fact, it is best to speak of the dead as if they are but asleep, waiting to be awakened at the last day.
v14. For Paul, this resurrection of the dead is no vain hope. Jesus died and rose again and so those who have believed in him, but have died, will also come alive. Their immortality is dependent on a fact of history - the resurrection of Jesus.
v15. What is it about the second coming of Christ that concerns the Thessalonians? Are they worried that those who are alive at the time of Christ's return will have precedence over those who are raised from the grave? Whatever the issue, Paul counters with a direct word from Jesus: the living and the dead will equally share in the parousia.
v16. Paul now goes on to describe the parousia. There is very little in the New Testament describing the coming of Christ and this particular verse gives us the fullest description of the event. Paul says four things of the "coming":
i] The one who comes is Jesus - "the Lord himself".
ii] He comes in descent - he comes down. This is a coming in the same manner as he left, Acts 1:11. So, it is a coming in a cloud, which coming images the coming of God onto Mount Sinai.
iii] The coming is with great majesty. There are three shouts:
The "Loud command". This is most likely the shout of Jesus. At his coming he will awaken the sleeping with a shout, John 5:28.
The "voice of the archangel". Possibly the shout of Michael, but then it could be any archangel, or a shout even like an archangel.
The "trumpet call of God", 1Cor.15:52.
iv] Instead of those alive preceding those who are asleep, the dead will be first to greet the coming Lord.
v17. After the dead rise, those who are alive will be "caught up" and join with the resurrected believers to greet the Lord.
v18. Having described the parousia and the privileged place of those who have already died, Paul directs his readers to encourage each other with this truth. There can be no sadness for those who have died in Christ for their share in eternity is assured.

A passing shadow
The second coming of Christ is one of those truths which seems to cause us great confusion. Hard to understand really, especially when the Bible presents it with such simplicity. Still, confusion does seem to reign. We have dispensations of Christ's thousand-year reign, a number of comings, resurrections, dates and signs of the times, and in particular, we have departed believers flapping around in heaven waiting for us to join them. Confusion reigns.
Paul wrote this little section in his letter so that his readers would not be ignorant of the state of those who have died. He particularly didn't what his readers to loose hope for the "dead in Christ." Our ignorance is different to theirs, that is, our misunderstanding of the subject is different. None-the-less, our need for the truth is just as pressing.

What then does this passage tell us of the great day of Christ's return, his parousia, his coming?
i] The dead in Christ are asleep ("in" = through Christ) rather than just dead. This guarantees their part in the great day, v13.
ii] The security of the dead in Christ rests on the death and resurrection of Christ on our behalf, v14.
iii] The dead in Christ will be included in the parousia, v14 (their resurrection is assumed here. "Bring" = bring from the grave).
iv] Those who are alive at the coming of Christ do not have precedence over those who are dead, v15. We all share in the parousia.
v] The parousia, or coming (visitation of an important person) of God to his people in the last day, will be that of Jesus, the ruling Lord, v16.
vi] The coming of Jesus will be like the coming of God to Mount Sinai, v16 (He comes down in the clouds and we go up). It will be a noisy coming. There will be the shout of the Lord, the shout of the archangel and the shout of the trumpet.
vii] At the Parousia the dead in Christ will rise first, v17.
viii] The dead in Christ and those who are alive at his coming, will all meet together with Christ in the heavenly glory, and so be with him forever, v17 (Raptured = "caught up").

Discussion
1. Discuss the different views on the state of the dead between the time of their death and the second coming of Jesus.
2. It is generally believed that the spirit of a dead believer goes to be with Jesus after their death. How can this view fit in with a resurrection of the dead at the time of Jesus return? To what degree can v14 support that position?
3. If Paul's argument is that both dead and living believers share in the parousia and that the dead in Christ are "asleep" awaiting that day, what is the state of believers who have died?
4. Discuss the 8 elements of parousia given above.

Textual notes Abbreviations, Bibliography

In this first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul the apostle speaks of his founding ministry and his continuing relationship with the church. In Chapter 4 he gives a number of exhortations on Christian living, particularly sexual purity, brotherly love and industriousness. He then, in v13-18, deals with the parousia, i.e., Christ's coming.
It is most likely that the subject of the second coming is the reason why Paul wrote this letter in the first place. The Thessalonians are obviously concerned about the parousia. They want to know what happens to those who die before Christ returns. Obviously, some of their number have died. Do they miss out in some way? Of course, they expected Christ's return in their own lifetime, but sadly some of the brothers have already died. There may even be some who feel that sin is behind their death. Was their death a punishment, a judgement of God? So Paul explains how those who have already died will participate in the day of Christ's coming.
The subject then, of this section, is the parousia, v15. This is a Greek word used for the visit of an important person. The "coming" of such a person is heralded with shouts and trumpets. Jesus' coming will be like this. In fact, his coming will be like the coming of God to Mount Sinai. When he comes, those who are his, both alive and dead, will be caught up in the clouds to meet him. This will happen in much the same way as Moses was caught up in the cloud of God's divine appearing on Mount Sinai.
Yet, what happens to a believer when they die? It is commonly held that believers who have died are already alive with Christ in heaven and will come with him in the last day. So, from our point of view, there is no way that deceased believers will miss out on the day. Mind you, we do have to be honest about this way of seeing the present state of the dead. We Westerners are greatly affected by Platonic thinking, which is the source of our idea that the spirit leaves the body after death and goes to be with God. This is certainly not a Biblical view and has little to do with what Paul has to say in this passage.
Bible believing Jews knew only too well that from dust they came and to dust they go. From the grave it is not possible to praise the living God. Yet, unlike the Sadducees, the Pharisees believed in a resurrection of the dead in the last day. Jesus too taught this resurrection and even better, he performed it - "The firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep", 1Cor.15:20. Lazarus is a shining example of the truth that Jesus is "the resurrection and the life." Dead for three days, Jesus calls him out of the tomb. Here was a person subject to decay, already becoming dust, and yet he lives. The resurrection of Jesus himself proclaims the truth that because he lives, we may live also. So, for Paul and the Jewish believers, the dead are dust, but if they believe in Jesus they won't stay that way; they will rise to life in the day of Christ's second coming.
The preacher must remember that the majority Christians believe that the spirit of their departed friends and family has left the body, now a shell, and is in heaven celebrating. The strength of this Platonic idea is not easy to shake, and for some people, unwise to shake. A phrase like "asleep in the arms of Jesus" is Biblically sound and does not undermine a person's confidence in the security of the departed.
The notion of sleeping in Jesus presented above is not the same as the doctrine of "soul sleep" taught in the Adventist church.

v14
dia + gen. "in" - [having fallen asleep] through [Jesus]. Here the "in" is literally "through". Probably what Paul is driving at is that through what Jesus has done for us in his death and resurrection, a dead believer is not spoken of as dead but as sleeping. "Those who await their awakening."
axei (agw) fut. "will bring" - This may mean that when Jesus returns he will bring from heaven those who have already died. Yet, such an idea does not fit with a resurrection of the dead in the last day. It probably means Jesus will take the dead into glory along with the living. At any rate, those who sleep will not miss out.

v15
en logw/ kuriou "according to the Lord's own word" - by a word of Lord. Regarding Paul's statement that he is relaying a direct "word from the Lord", there is no record in the gospels of such a word from Jesus, but then not everything Jesus said was recorded, cf. John 21:25. The word is clear; those who are alive at Jesus' coming will not precede those who are "asleep".
thn parousian (a) "the coming" - When the New Testament speaks of Jesus' "coming", we have to be careful that we understand the actual direction of the coming. For example, the Daniel "coming" of the Son of man is a coming to the Ancient of Days. This is a coming from earth to heaven to take up messianic rule. This was the "coming" seen by Stephen, Acts 7:56. The "coming" to earth is usually a "coming" in judgement, a possible sense of v16.

v17
arpaghsomeqa (arpazw) fut. pas. "will be caught up together" - will be caught up, snatched away. The phrase "caught up" means seized and carried off by force. This is often called "the rapture", but we do need to understand that there is nothing in this passage about a secret taking away of believers from the world. Shouts etc. deal with that. What is important is that all believers, both living and dead, will be part of the parousia.
en nefelaiV (h) "in the clouds" - in clouds. The place of meeting is "in the clouds", "in the air". This, as noted above, is Mount Sinai imagery - clouds and up high. The imagery doesn't have to be taken literally other than to say that together we meet the Lord. The word used by Paul to denote the meeting is a strong one. Moffatt translates it as the "welcome of a great person on his arrival."

Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons

1 Thessalonians

Notes