1 Thessalonians part 5
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 | Christ’s Triumphant Return
This Sunday is Palm Sunday in which we celebrate Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Today, we will continue 1 Thessalonians 4, however it is fitting to examine our passage in light of Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is about Christ’s first coming as King, and 1 Thessalonians 4 speaks to Christ’s Return as King of Kings. So, let’s first read Luke 19:28-44 and see what lessons we can glean. Then, we will fast forward to 1 Thessalonians 4 in which we will read about Christ’s Return. In so doing, we will find what God has in store for us.
Christ’s Triumphant Entry | Luke 19:35-44
And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a colt with the multitude of disciples rejoicing saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” The symbolism may be lost to our 21st century ears, so let’s look a bit closer. First, why a colt or donkey? There are two reasons. One, when Zechariah prophesied the Messiah’s entrance into the city, it was on a donkey.
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Zechariah 9:9
Second, and why Zechariah prophesied as he did, is that kings had two options for riding into a city in the ancient world—a horse or a donkey. If he rode on a horse, it symbolized war and conquering the city. If it was on a donkey, it was a symbol of peace.
Christ came to bring peace to Jerusalem (and by extension the rest of the world).
But as Christ enters Jerusalem, He does not find peace. He finds rejection, and ultimately, He will go to the cross being crucified as a criminal. Notice what he says in verse 41: Had Jerusalem recognized Him as King and Messiah, they would have had peace in their land. Many times we quit reading the passage on Palm Sunday at verse 40, but it is important to note Luke’s next lines because it tells us something very important:
For those who recognize Jesus as Messiah and King, they will find peace, but those who reject Him will only find destruction.
Jesus weeps over Jerusalem because of their obstinance. He wants to bring peace. His mission is for peace. Heaven invaded earth in order to establish peace in the land. But the people would not have it. It is as John writes in John 1:
He was in the world, and the world was made through him yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not received him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children’s of God.
And thus we see the mission of the first coming of Christ. He rides into the city on a donkey to bring peace, and all his disciples rejoice and praise him.
Now, let us fast forward to 1 Thessalonians 4 in which Paul wants to encourage the Thessalonians with a message regarding Christ’s second coming. Before we read, I do want to note that I have purposefully ended this week with the end of chapter 4. I have done so, not just for the sake of time, but also because Paul’s purpose in 4:13-18 is slightly different than in chapter 5, though the content is certainly connected. More on that later.
We do not grieve as those with no hope | 4:13-15
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 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.
The purpose for this section is clear in verse 13: Paul does not want the Thessalonians to grieve for the dead as those who “have no hope.” The Christian hope transcends life and death. Even the grave cannot separate God’s people from their Lord—in fact, Paul says, death for the Christian is reunion with Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:8
Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
And what is the source of such hope? It is in Christ’s Resurrection. If we believe Jesus died and rose again, then we can believe that those who have died will resurrect on the day of Jesus’ Return. The dead are not left out of the blessings of eternal life—in fact, they are already partaking in its first fruits!
The hope of eternal life rests on the Resurrection of Christ.
We do not grieve as those without hope. The first century world was very similar to our own in that a plethora of religious beliefs regarding life after death existed. In fact, even in those religions with many gods and goddesses still held that death was the end for humans. It was the immortality of the gods that separated them from us. Some held to an abode of the dead, such as Hades, that was a desolate place. It is not the same as hell, but it certainly was not heaven. Some eastern religions had some form of salvation for those who appeased their god in some fashion. The Egyptians, and many surrounding sects, held to the belief people’s actions were weighed at death. If the good outweighed the bad, then they would be rewarded. The Far East had many versions of reincarnation, but interestingly, so did the Greeks. There is a form of Platonism which taught a form of reincarnation as well.
I share the many options, not just because it was similar to today, but also because all of these other ideas about death share a common factor: no one really knew what their destination would be. Whether the common person was undecided, or even if they had religious conviction, every other religious system held to an unknowable future after death. What separates Christians from the rest of religious humanity is the conviction that we have an assured hope.
In later decades, Christianity will be plagued by false teachings from groups who shared similar traits called gnosticism. One of the trademarks of these gnostic teachers is that Christ’s resurrection was a spiritual resurrection. Each group would argue a bit differently from each other, but their common denominator is they denied the bodily resurrection of Christ. Today, there are still those who deny the resurrection, and even those who claim to be Christian. Those groups of the first few centuries were called heretics because they denied the resurrection, and today, we call them by the same name. It is only because of Jesus’ resurrection that we have hope for eternity.
To deny the Resurrection of Christ is to deny the very reason for our faith.
Let’s continue on.
The Lord Himself will descend from heaven | 4:16-17
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise 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.
Paul does not allow for Christians to guess whether Christ has returned. I’m always fascinated how people can be swayed by cult leaders who claim to be Christ returned. Very quickly let’s compare this passage with some others:
Mark 13:32
But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Matthew 24:5
And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.
Matthew 24:31
And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Matthew 24:27
For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
2 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Acts 1:11
And said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Colossians 3:4
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
What do we notice is the common theme?
When Jesus returns, everyone will see it, but no one will expect it.
Paul says Christ will return with the voice of an archangel and the sound of a trumpet of God. Archangels are not the fat little cherubs you see on Valentines cards. These are the highest in the ranks of angelic creatures. Likewise God’s trumpet is not some petty little party horn. It is a blast that is heard by all of Creation. We will return to this topic next week, but for now, Paul wants us to understand two things:
First, our hope for reunion with Christ rests on His resurrection.
Second, we do not need to grieve for our lost loved ones who are in Christ, because they are not truly lost. We will see them again when Christ returns or if we die beforehand.
We are not like the rest of the world. There is hope because Jesus lives!
Encourage one another with this hope | 4:18
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Last, Paul tells the Thessalonians to encourage one another with these words. Consider the ramifications for what Paul has said.
The promise of Christ’s Return is encouragement for times of loss.
Death is not the end; it is the beginning.
Christ has risen from the dead, and because He lives, we too can have eternal life.
When our Christian loved ones shed this mortal body, they are united with Christ, and when we die, we will be united with Christ and them as well.
The first coming of Christ brought the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. We have access to an eternal hope, because of the work of Christ. We now await his Second Coming in which the final phase of our redemption will occur. This world will be remade, and all the world will know that Christ has come, because all the world will hear the trumpet and Christ’s call to the dead in Christ to rise up.
We will consider the times and seasons later, but for today, let these words be encouragement. We serve the Risen Savior who brings eternal life to all who trust in Him.