Psalm 103:1-13; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
LSB 882 O Christ Who Art the Light and Day
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
People loved by God, a different sort of homily for you this evening. A “Bible study” of sorts. The Reformers called it “expository preaching” and deemed it necessary for the dear saints to hear from time to time concerning especially those precarious and difficult passages of Holy Scripture. These verses from the Epistle last Sunday, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, are nothing if not difficult. Made all the more so in these “evil days,” as St Paul writes to the Ephesians (5:15), with wars and rumors of wars (Mt 24:6) and no shortage of false christs and false prophets (Mt 24:24). Fear not, dear Christians. The times and seasons are determined by the Father (Acts 1:7). And as the Psalmist sings, He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision (Ps 2:4). He hears your prayer and does not hide His face from your distress (Ps 102:1).
But we do not want you to uniformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. “St Paul writes out of a special love and apostolic solicitude” (Luther). He praises the Christians in Thessalonica for having received the Gospel in earnestness and remaining steadfast under persecution and suffering, even at the hands of their own kinsmen at times. Their steadfastness and zeal is a beautiful example of faith to congregations everywhere.
Having received a report, however, from Timothy of some concerns within the congregation, Paul now sends this letter back to them, along with Timothy and Silvanus. They are the “we” who do not want their Christian brethren to be ignorant concerning the death and resurrection of their fellow believers in Christ. For they were infants in the faith. New catechumens. Who though confessed the truth of the resurrection, misunderstood the application. These Christians in Thessalonica were gravely concerned that their fellow Christians who had died before Christ’s second coming were lost. Thus they grieved as others do who have no hope. That is, as the pagans, who whatever they may think of dying and death, do not have the one and only hope of the resurrection to eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Those who are asleep. Hear how St Paul describes the death Christian’s death: sleep. This is not a euphemism. The Father’s called these the mortis dulcia nomina the “sweet names of death.” Sleep. Gathered to one’s people (Gen 25:8). Departure in peace (Lk 2:29). Depart and be with Christ (Phil 1:23). Taken from evil (Is 57:1). Rest (Rev 14:13; Heb 4:11). Gain (Phil 1:21). Behind all these names is the Christian knowledge and joyful hope the resurrection unto eternal life.
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. Now “we” is not just Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. Not just the catechists. But the catechumens. We all believe in “Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was crucified, died, and was buried. The third day He rose again from the dead. He will come to judge the living and the dead” (Apostles’ Creed). Christ Jesus is the only One who stepped into death and then stepped out again. He alone had the power to lay down His life and the power to take it up again (Jn 10:17). He died for our advantage and blessing and rose to make this advantage and blessing our own when we believe.
Thus through faith in Jesus, God the Father will bring with Him all those who have fallen asleep. Jesus is the One Mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5). His mediation did not stop when these believers fell asleep, it continues now and will continue until the Parousia, His Second Coming. He will raise them up on the Last Day (Jn 6:39-40).
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. Paul and all Christian preachers proclaim the reality of the Parousia of Christ and the resurrection of the dead in accordance with the Lord’s Word. No one knows the day nor the hour (Mt 24:36). We now know that nearly two thousand years have passed since Paul wrote. Our expectation of the Last Day has been greatly dulled. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness (2 Pt 3:9), St Peter writes. In Paul’s day this expectation was keener. The Christians in Thessalonica and elsewhere lived in anticipation of Christ’s imminent return. We would do well to regain some of that urgency.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voce of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Here the Thessalonians have an exact description of what shall happen. This removes all cause for grief regarding their beloved dead. For not only is there hope, there is the greatest possible hope - equal to those who are alive - when the Lord Himself descends, calling with His quickening Word, raising the dead in Christ first.
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, and so we will always be with the Lord. Secondly, the living Christians, will be snatched up together with them to meet Christ in the air. Once the devil’s domain, the fallen prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2) must yield to God’s own Son to whom all authority in heaven and on earth belongs (Mt 28:18).
Beloved, much damage has been done to this text through the knowledge of a little Latin. “Caught up,” harpazo in the Greek, carries a connotation of sudden and violent action. Translated raptus in the Vulgate, the modern innovation of the heresy of the rapture was conceived. With fatherly love Paul is teaching his Christian children about the resurrection, not some secret return of Christ. “The air” does not mean heaven. The Lord will descend to earth where the judgment will occur. He will not return to heaven after the Parousia, for heaven and earth will be one. United as the new heaven and the new earth with the Holy City.
Therefore comfort one another with these words. We who wait in patient expectation of this coming continue with the Thessalonians to pray “Behold, O God, our shield and quell, the crafts and subtleties of hell; direct Thy servants in all good, whom Thou hast purchased with Thy blood” (LSB 882:5). This is the hope the Thessalonians have in regard to their dead in Christ. They have the same hope for themselves. This is the same hope which you have in the same Lord Jesus Christ who died and rose again. This is the answer that alone removes all grief. The only confession that silences the doubts and questions.
Beloved, this brief paragraph from St Paul is of inestimable value not only to the Church in Thessalonica, but to all Christians as they stand beside their dead. As they lay their loved ones into God’s acre, awaiting in joyful expectation a happy reunion with those who have departed this life in faith. This is genuine comfort offered to them and to us. This is the comfort which we offer to one another. Unlike the comfortless false doctrines of so many worldly religions, the Christian faith alone is the only one which has the true facts that overflow with real hope and real comfort.
“O Lord, remember us who bear the burden of the flesh we wear; Thou who dost e’er our souls defend, be with us even to the end.”
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
LSB 882 O Christ Who Art the Light and Day
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
People loved by God, a different sort of homily for you this evening. A “Bible study” of sorts. The Reformers called it “expository preaching” and deemed it necessary for the dear saints to hear from time to time concerning especially those precarious and difficult passages of Holy Scripture. These verses from the Epistle last Sunday, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, are nothing if not difficult. Made all the more so in these “evil days,” as St Paul writes to the Ephesians (5:15), with wars and rumors of wars (Mt 24:6) and no shortage of false christs and false prophets (Mt 24:24). Fear not, dear Christians. The times and seasons are determined by the Father (Acts 1:7). And as the Psalmist sings, He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision (Ps 2:4). He hears your prayer and does not hide His face from your distress (Ps 102:1).
But we do not want you to uniformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. “St Paul writes out of a special love and apostolic solicitude” (Luther). He praises the Christians in Thessalonica for having received the Gospel in earnestness and remaining steadfast under persecution and suffering, even at the hands of their own kinsmen at times. Their steadfastness and zeal is a beautiful example of faith to congregations everywhere.
Having received a report, however, from Timothy of some concerns within the congregation, Paul now sends this letter back to them, along with Timothy and Silvanus. They are the “we” who do not want their Christian brethren to be ignorant concerning the death and resurrection of their fellow believers in Christ. For they were infants in the faith. New catechumens. Who though confessed the truth of the resurrection, misunderstood the application. These Christians in Thessalonica were gravely concerned that their fellow Christians who had died before Christ’s second coming were lost. Thus they grieved as others do who have no hope. That is, as the pagans, who whatever they may think of dying and death, do not have the one and only hope of the resurrection to eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Those who are asleep. Hear how St Paul describes the death Christian’s death: sleep. This is not a euphemism. The Father’s called these the mortis dulcia nomina the “sweet names of death.” Sleep. Gathered to one’s people (Gen 25:8). Departure in peace (Lk 2:29). Depart and be with Christ (Phil 1:23). Taken from evil (Is 57:1). Rest (Rev 14:13; Heb 4:11). Gain (Phil 1:21). Behind all these names is the Christian knowledge and joyful hope the resurrection unto eternal life.
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. Now “we” is not just Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. Not just the catechists. But the catechumens. We all believe in “Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was crucified, died, and was buried. The third day He rose again from the dead. He will come to judge the living and the dead” (Apostles’ Creed). Christ Jesus is the only One who stepped into death and then stepped out again. He alone had the power to lay down His life and the power to take it up again (Jn 10:17). He died for our advantage and blessing and rose to make this advantage and blessing our own when we believe.
Thus through faith in Jesus, God the Father will bring with Him all those who have fallen asleep. Jesus is the One Mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5). His mediation did not stop when these believers fell asleep, it continues now and will continue until the Parousia, His Second Coming. He will raise them up on the Last Day (Jn 6:39-40).
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. Paul and all Christian preachers proclaim the reality of the Parousia of Christ and the resurrection of the dead in accordance with the Lord’s Word. No one knows the day nor the hour (Mt 24:36). We now know that nearly two thousand years have passed since Paul wrote. Our expectation of the Last Day has been greatly dulled. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness (2 Pt 3:9), St Peter writes. In Paul’s day this expectation was keener. The Christians in Thessalonica and elsewhere lived in anticipation of Christ’s imminent return. We would do well to regain some of that urgency.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voce of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Here the Thessalonians have an exact description of what shall happen. This removes all cause for grief regarding their beloved dead. For not only is there hope, there is the greatest possible hope - equal to those who are alive - when the Lord Himself descends, calling with His quickening Word, raising the dead in Christ first.
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, and so we will always be with the Lord. Secondly, the living Christians, will be snatched up together with them to meet Christ in the air. Once the devil’s domain, the fallen prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2) must yield to God’s own Son to whom all authority in heaven and on earth belongs (Mt 28:18).
Beloved, much damage has been done to this text through the knowledge of a little Latin. “Caught up,” harpazo in the Greek, carries a connotation of sudden and violent action. Translated raptus in the Vulgate, the modern innovation of the heresy of the rapture was conceived. With fatherly love Paul is teaching his Christian children about the resurrection, not some secret return of Christ. “The air” does not mean heaven. The Lord will descend to earth where the judgment will occur. He will not return to heaven after the Parousia, for heaven and earth will be one. United as the new heaven and the new earth with the Holy City.
Therefore comfort one another with these words. We who wait in patient expectation of this coming continue with the Thessalonians to pray “Behold, O God, our shield and quell, the crafts and subtleties of hell; direct Thy servants in all good, whom Thou hast purchased with Thy blood” (LSB 882:5). This is the hope the Thessalonians have in regard to their dead in Christ. They have the same hope for themselves. This is the same hope which you have in the same Lord Jesus Christ who died and rose again. This is the answer that alone removes all grief. The only confession that silences the doubts and questions.
Beloved, this brief paragraph from St Paul is of inestimable value not only to the Church in Thessalonica, but to all Christians as they stand beside their dead. As they lay their loved ones into God’s acre, awaiting in joyful expectation a happy reunion with those who have departed this life in faith. This is genuine comfort offered to them and to us. This is the comfort which we offer to one another. Unlike the comfortless false doctrines of so many worldly religions, the Christian faith alone is the only one which has the true facts that overflow with real hope and real comfort.
“O Lord, remember us who bear the burden of the flesh we wear; Thou who dost e’er our souls defend, be with us even to the end.”
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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