“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven” (1 Thess. 4:16, NKJV)
In order to ease a patient’s anxiety, sometimes a surgeon will not only state what he intends to accomplish by a medical procedure, he will take care to explain the steps by which he will accomplish it.
Evidently, in his pastoral approach to the Thessalonians Paul thought it important not only to assure the believers that Jesus will return but also to explain the unfolding of it in order to provide more substantial comfort to them in their grief.
He begins by reminding them that this is not his informed guess; rather, he dispenses the message of God Himself. “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep” (1 Thess. 4:15).
This is the third time in as many verses that Paul has used the term “sleep.” He refers to those believers who have physically died. In contrast are those who are still physically alive. He uses the pronoun “we” to include himself who writes and those reading his letter.
The “we” are not only alive but also “remain” in the sense of not yet taken from their earthly sojourn. There is a divine ordering to be had.
When our risen, reigning Lord Jesus returns to earth to claim those for whom He died, of which He will lose none, those who are still alive will need to wait their turn because they will in no way (a double emphatic negative) jump the line on those who have died.
Paul spells it out. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:16–17).
The apostle lays out sequential markers, “first” and “then.” First to meet their returning Lord will be those believers over the millennia who have experienced physical death. Joining them in turn will be those believers still alive at His second coming. The them and us become “we” who will “always be with the Lord,” brothers who have a hope as opposed to the others who have no hope.
Those Thessalonians who are confused and whose hearts are weighed down with grief can rest assured. No one missed the train. It’s not like the return of the Lord will be under the radar as though those slated for eternal life could miss it. In fact, the whole world will be aware, those with hope to great joy and those without hope to great dread.
We can grasp the words that Paul is using but they are inadequate to convey the astounding glory of it all. John, in the book of Revelation, resorts to vivid images and scenes to help us get a glimmer of the glory yet to come.
But one thing we can be sure of. Jesus will return to gather those for whom He died, that where He is we may be with Him, for all eternity. That certainty is why Paul closes his explanation by saying, “Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:18).
The comfort Paul is extending to the grieving is to be ministered among the body of believers to one another. “These words” that are the means of comfort are not simply well-wishing. They are not mere empty sentiment like we often hear as people wrestle to find something to say to those who have lost a loved one. They are words full of truth and grace that are sweet to the taste and a delight to the ear of those whose faith is in Christ.
How can believers comfort one another in the face of death?
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
