We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, console one another with these words.
Early Christians expected that Jesus’ return (the Parousia) was imminent and that they would all be taken to heaven (Mt. 24:30-31) while they were still in the flesh. Some of the Thessalonians began to worry about those who had been killed during the persecutions in their city (v. 13) because they died before Christ returned. Paul reminded them of their hope and assured them that those who had fallen asleep in Christ had not perished (1 Cor. 15:16). That sure and certain hope was rooted in Christ’s death on the cross (Mt. 27:52-53). Verse 14 is a simple Christian creed used by early Christian communities which, through its confession, would have made them reflect on the sacrificial death of Jesus and his resurrection by God to which their hope was inextricably and eternally bound. Their brothers who had fallen asleep would be awakened by Christ.
Since some of the Thessalonians died before Christ returned, there was concern about what would happen to them. Paul explained that at the second coming of the Lord (Dan. 7:13-18; Rev. 14:14-18), those who had fallen asleep would be raised before the living (v. 16), and then those who were still alive would be caught up together with them and meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:17) although no one knows when (1 Thess. 5:2). The death and resurrection of those who died believing in Christ is tied to the divine resurrection of Christ and they will be transformed in the air to their ultimate, eternal destination. Salvation is for the living and the dead (Rom. 14:8); “Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do (1 Thess. 5:11).”
Almighty God, our hope and trust are in You and we pray that You will never let us be separated from You as we persevere through trials with our gaze fixed on eternal life with You. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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