CTQ 76 (2012): 37-55

Christ7s Coming and the Church's Mission

in 1 Thessalonians
Charles A. Gieschen
For many Christians in mainline denominations of the United States
and a growing number of non-denominational evangelical congregations,
the triumphal coming of Christ on the last day plays a relatively minor role
in their understanding of the church and her mission. Lectionary readings
often set forth this theme for a few Sundays at the beginning and end of
the church year, but even then the end-time trumpets may not be blown
too loudly in preaching. Why is eschatology not more widely understood
as central to the preaching and teaching of the church, especially in light of
the emphasis on eschatology in the teaching and preaching of Jesus and
the apostles? A possible reason is the widespread understanding that the
work of Christ stands functionally complete at his death and resurrection,
or at the very latest, his ascension. Even though few of us would admit it,
we may neither see nor teach the second coming as an integral part of the
work of Christ. "And he will return to judge the living and the dead"
becomes almost a creedal add-on that pales in significance to "was cru-
cified, suffered, died, was buried, and on the third day rose from the
dead." We may even fear that giving stress to eschatology might identify
us with those Christians whose eschatological interests are driven by one
of the abhorrent variations of pre-millennialism, or even with false proph-
ets like Howard Camping whose two date-setting predictions of the return
of Christ in 2011 were the object of ridicule by both the news media and
late night talk shows.1
The ongoing experience of Satan, sin, and death make it all the more
important that we proclaim the second coming of Christ, when everything
that he accomplished in his first coming is brought to its visible consum-
mation. If this is not stressed, many are left wondering what difference the
incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus has made in this world

1 Harold Camping is a Christian radio evangelist who made a very public

prediction that the world would end on May 21,2011. When his prediction did not come
true, he then announced that it would happen on October 21, 2011. After this
"prophecy" was also shown to be false by passing unfulfilled, he apologized for these
two announcements.

Charles A. Gieschen is Academic Dean and Professor of Exegetical Theology at

Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
38 Concordia Theological Quarterly 76 (2012)

where hate, tragedy, war, bloodshed, and death remain all around us. James
Moorhead, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary with expertise in
pre-millennial American Christian churches, made this astute observation:
Evil comes as the monstrous moral alien that cannot be incorporated
into the prevailing culture; and because it cannot be assimilated, hor-
ror returns, it moves in an endless loop, it fails to satisfy intellectually,
because liberal humanitarianism offers no way of articulating or tran‫־‬
scending major acts of human transgression. In its eschatology, main‫־‬
stream Protestantism has suppressed the blood, the chaos, and the
terror of the Apocalypse [i.e., the book of Revelation]; and these have
leapt out like the bogey from under the bed. If the mainstream
churches cannot give a satisfactory account of the end, is it surprising
that many people will choose to go elsewhere where those needs can
be met and addressed?2
Certainly Lutherans should proclaim biblical eschatology in its full-
ness, with all its end-time deceptions and deceivers, resurrection, judg-
ment, hell, and heaven. This study will demonstrate that eschatology,
especially the parousia or triumphal coming of Christ, was central to Paul's
apostolic missionary preaching and remains a vital foundation of the
church's ongoing faith, mission, and daily living in hope. Nowhere in the
Pauline corpus is evidence supporting this thesis more evident than in
Paul's two letters to the church in Thessalonica.3 The term parousia
[παρουσία] alone occurs six times in these brief letters (1 Thess 2:19; 3:13;
4:15; 5:23; 2 Thess 2:1, 8). Not only do both letters contain extensive teach-
ing sections about the end-times (e.g., 1 Thess 4:13-5:11; 2 Thess 1:5-2:12),
but there are also several brief eschatological summary statements in 1
Thessalonians that serve as thematic discourse markers, pointing the hear-
ers of these epistles to their future hope (e.g., 1:10; 2:12, 16, 19; 3:13; and
5:23). Selby notes the prevalence of eschatology throughout the first epistle:
Each major section and sub-section culminates in an eschatological
pronouncement so that a strongly eschatological tone pervades the
entire epistle. By using visionary language in this way Paul evokes a
perspective from which the Thessalonians are invited to see them-
selves and their circumstances. They are living near the end of time
and awaiting the imminent return of Christ, the resurrection of the

2 James Moorhead, "Mainstream Protestants and the End of the World," InSpire
(Winter 2000): 17.
3 See especially David Luckensmeyer, The Eschatology of First Thessalonians, NTOA
71 (Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2009). Unlike many critical scholars who dismiss
2 Thessalonians as pseudo-Pauline and inauthentic, I conclude that both letters are from
the hand of Paul.
 Gieschen: Christ's Coming in 1 Thessalonians 39

dead, the judgment before God, and the final reward and punishment
which will be meted out at that judgment.4
This study will limit its focus to 1 Thessalonians, giving attention to Paul's
teaching in both the longer eschatological pericopes and the short escha-
tological pronouncements. Even though only brief comments will be made
on most of these texts, a substantial discussion of the theological implica-
tions of this evidence will conclude this study.
1.1 Thessalonians 1:9-10
Paul's opening thanksgiving in 1 Thess 1:2-10 introduces several
themes that are fleshed out in the rest of the epistle, including the trium-
phal coming of Christ featured at the conclusion of the thanksgiving:
9For they themselves are reporting concerning us what manner of en-
trance we had to you, namely that you turned to God from idols in
order to serve the living and real God 10and also await his Son from the
heavens [άναμένειν τον υίον αύτοΰ έκ των ούρανών], whom he raised from
the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath that is to come [τον
ρυόμενον ήμας έκ τής οργής τής έρχομένης].
The language of "turning to God" for conversion is also found in Acts
(9:35; 11:21; 15:19; 26:18, 20), especially Paul's preaching at Lystra: "Turn
from these worthless things to the living God" (Acts 14:15). Paul's
description of God as "the living and real/true God" in 1:9 is probably
dependent upon Jer 10:10. His use of this language reflects a well-known
polemic against pagan gods not being "living or true" (e.g., Isa 44:9-20;
Wisdom of Solomon 13-15; and Philo, Decal 52-81, Special Laws 1:13-31).5
In light of Paul's testimony to Jesus' resurrection in 1:10, the adjective
"living" in 1:9 may also indicate the identification of the risen Jesus within
the mystery of the one living God (cf. Rev 1:18). The words "from idols"
(άπό των ειδώλων) in 1:9 indicates that the majority of these Christians were
converted from polytheistic paganism and not from monotheistic Judaism
(cf. 1 Thess 2:14,16).6 Because the social and economic life in Thessalonica
was bound up with the religious and political cultic life, the splash that
Paul made through the baptism of pagans into Christianity did not go
unnoticed. Even though the outward form of idolatry has often become
more refined over the centuries in many cultures, the need to turn to God

4 Gary S. Selby, "'Blameless at His Coming': The Discursive Construction of

Eschatological Reality in 1 Thessalonians/' Rhetorica (1999): 398.
5 Beverly Gaventa, First and Second Thessalonians (Louisville: John Knox Press,
1998), 19.
6 J.B. Lightfoot, Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul (London: MacMillan, 1895), 16.
40 Concordia Theological Quarterly 76 (2012)

from these idols—whatever form they may take—remains in every gen-

eration and locale.
The preaching of the resurrection and return of Jesus in the early
mission at Thessalonica is made clear in the closing words of this thanks-
giving: "And also await his Son from the heavens, whom he raised from
the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come" (1:10). The
gospel that Paul originally proclaimed and continued to echo in both of
these letters had a decidedly eschatological focus: after being converted,
these Christians began to "await his Son from the heavens." Paul already
signaled this focus at Thessalonica when he wrote of remembering their
"endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ " (1 Thess 1:3), and then
blows the end-times trumpet loudly throughout the final two chapters and
much of 2 Thessalonians. The pair of present infinitive verbs, "to serve
continually" (δουλεύειν) in 1:9b and "to await continually" (άναμένειν) in
1:10a indicate the daily tension of a Christian serving in the present
circumstances while simultaneously awaiting the future deliverance. Wait-
ing, in contrast to serving, is often viewed as a passive activity. This con-
tinuous waiting for the Son, however, is not a dull and sedentary existence
as in idly waiting at an airport for the arrival of a long overdue relative
whom you are not even excited about seeing; it is the dynamic activity of
living in minute-to-minute expectation of the arrival of one's most es-
teemed and beloved friend. These Christians appear to have expected the
return of Christ imminently in their own lifetimes (1 Thess 4:15, 17; 5:4).
I.H. Marshall makes this adept observation: "The point is that the present
existence of the Thessalonian Christians was determined by their expec-
tations about the future."7
The designation "his Son," which appears only here in these two
epistles, adds to what Paul proclaimed earlier in this letter about Jesus
with the designations "Lord" and "Christ" as well as complements what
he wrote earlier about God as "Father" (1:1, 3). Within the salutation and
thanksgiving that open this letter, Jesus is confessed to be Lord, Christ, and
Son of God. Paul also states here that the Son will come again "from the
heavens" (εκ των ούρανών). The reference to the resurrection that follows
this phrase implies the ascension and enthronement of Jesus in heaven
(Acts 1:9-11; 7:55-56), a reality Paul writes about in Ephesians: "he raised
him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every
name that is named" (1:20-21). "Son," "heavens," and the context of end-
time judgment in 1:10 indicates that Paul is alluding to the "one like a son

71. Howard Marshall, 1 and 2 Thessalonians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983), 58.
 Gieschen: Christ's Coming in 1 Thessalonians 41

of man" scene in Daniel 7:9-14, an apocalyptic text that prominently

influenced Jesus and early Christian eschatological expectations (e.g., Matt
,Although Paul vacillates between using the singular and plural .)25:31-46
the plurality of heavens here probably reflects the consistent use of the
Hebrew plural form in various Old Testament texts (e.g., ‫ מימשה‬in MT Ps
It also possibly reflects the cosmology visible in Second Temple 8.)19:2
Jewish apocalyptic texts that speak of multiple heavens (e.g., Paul writes
-concerning three heavens in 2 Cor 12:2). Paul's familiarity with first
century Jewish apocalyptic expectations is an important background for
understanding his brief statements about Jesus in these letters.9
This continuous waiting for the Son's return from the heavens on the
last day is grounded in the certainty of the end-time events that have
already taken place in the death and resurrection of the Son: "whom he
raised from the dead" (1 Thess 1:10). This relative clause is set forth by
Paul elsewhere as public confirmation of Jesus' sonship (e.g., Rom 1:4), but
here the resurrection of Jesus functions primarily as an assurance of his
return. Several interpreters note the correspondence between this
statement about resurrection and judgment and the one made at the close
of Paul's speech before the Areopagus: "He has fixed a day on which he
;will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed
"and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead
Acts 17:31)}° The terse confession of Jesus' resurrection in 1:10 clearly(
implies not only his death, but also his incarnation, birth, earthly life, and
true humanity unto eternity. The centrality of Jesus' death and resurrection
in the gospel Paul proclaimed at Thessalonica is clear from confessional
statements about Jesus later in this letter: "For because we believe that
Jesus died and was raised again" (1 Thess 4:14) and "our Lord Jesus Christ
who died for us" (1 Thess 5:9b-10a). This confession of Jesus' resurrection
takes on added significance for the Thessalonians in light of their fears
-about those who died before Jesus' return (1 Thess 4:13-18), the wide
spread disparaging of "flesh" in Greco-Roman philosophy, and various
conceptions of a fearful passage in afterlife present in Greco-Roman religion,

8 George Milligan, St. Paul's Epistles to the Thessalonians (London: Macmillan,

1908), 15.
9 Charles A. Wanamaker, The Epistles to the Thessalonians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1990), 89.
10 For example: Lightfoot, Notes on St. Paul's Epistles, 17; Milligan, St. Paul's Epistles
to the Thessalonians, 14; and F.F. Bruce, 1 and 2 Thessalonians (Waco, TX: Word Books,
1982), 19. All three note that this speech was probably delivered shortly before the
writing of 1 Thessalonians.
42 Concordia Theological Quarterly 76 (2012)

Paul concludes his brief description of the enduring hope among these
Christians by confessing both end-time salvation and judgment: "Jesus,
who delivers us from the wrath that is to come" (1 Thess 1:10c). Rigaux
observes that the use of the personal name "Jesus" (Ίησοΰν) here without
any other titles protects against exalting the Son to a docetic status without
his humanity and disconnecting the historical Jesus from the Christ of
faith.11 Although Paul draws his specific description of Jesus as "the one
who delivers us" (τον ρυόμενον ήμας) from Isa 59:19-20, the "deliverer"
language here and elsewhere would have been reinforced by early Chris-
tian usage of the Lord's Prayer: "Deliver us from the Evil One" (ρΰσαι ήμας
άπο του πονηρού; Matt 6:13b). There are past, present, and future aspects of
salvation: Jesus delivered us in his death; he delivers us daily through the
forgiveness of sins; and he will deliver us when he comes again. Paul speaks
of the future aspect of salvation here.
First and Second Thessalonians give significant attention to the wrath
(οργή) that is to come, which is understood as God's end-time judgment
against unbelief (1 Thess 1:10; 2:16; cf. 2 Thess 1:5-10; 2:8-12). Although
Paul focuses here on the future wrath that will come upon all unbelievers,
there is also a past and present aspect to the revelation of God's wrath: it
came upon Jesus for all sin in his death (Matt 26:39, 42; 27:46) and, to a
certain extent, it comes now upon unbelief in the world (Rom 1:18-32; 1
Thess 2:16). Paul's proclamation of "the wrath that is to come" is grounded
in the preaching of the prophets about "the day of the LORD‫ ״‬being not
only a day of grace but also a "day of wrath" (e.g., Zeph 1:15-18).12
There has been a growing tendency to downplay, dismiss, or ignore
this biblical testimony about the wrath of God. C.H. Dodd downplayed it
by arguing that Paul depersonalized God's wrath by understanding it as
an impersonal process whereby sin causes its own retribution.13 More
recently, Rob Bell, in his widely read Love Wins, has questioned biblical
testimony about afterlife punishment for unbelievers.14 The dismissing or
ignoring of this testimony is seen on the popular level by the periodic
opinion polls wherein a strong majority affirms some type of afterlife in
heaven but only a weak minority affirms the existence of hell. Proc-
lamation of the wrath of God continues to be a vital way to help people see

11 Beda Rigaux, St. Paul: Les épîtres aux Thessaloniciens (Paris: Gabalda, 1956), 395.
12 Gary A. Herion, "Wrath of God (OT)," Anchor Bible Dictionary 6:989-996.
13 C.H. Dodd, The Epistle of Paul to the Romans (New York: Harper and Brothers,
1932), 21-23.
14 Rob Bell, Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who
Ever Lived (New York: HarperOne, 2011).
 Gieschen: Christ's Coming in 1 Thessalonians 43

their need for God's grace in Christ Jesus. It must, however, always be
understood as his alien work in relationship to his love: "For whereas love
and holiness are part of his essential nature, wrath is contingent upon
human sin: if there were no sin there would be no wrath."15 Paul proclaims
that Jesus "delivers us from the wrath to come" and later specifies how
Jesus accomplished this: "who died for us so that whether we are awake or
asleep we live through him" (1 Thess 5:10). In Christ, who suffered God's
w rath for all sin, God is at peace with all sinners. "The wrath that is to
come" will only be experienced by unbelievers who reject this peace. These
concluding words of the thanksgiving prepare the reader for the extensive
focus on eschatology throughout this letter, especially in 4:13—5:11.
II. 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16
1 Thessalonians 2:16 is another brief eschatological summary; the
verses that precede it, however, are necessary for context:
13On account of this we also give thanks to God without ceasing, that
when you received the word which you heard from us, you received it
not as the word of men but—just as it truly is—the word of God, that
is also at work in you who are believing. 14For you became imitators,
brothers, of God's churches, the ones in Judea that are in Christ Jesus,
because you suffered the same things by your own countrymen, just
as they also did by the Jews, 15the ones who killed both the Lord Jesus
and the prophets, also persecuting us, not being pleasing to God, and
opposing all men, 16because they are hindering us from speaking to
the Gentiles in order to save them, w ith the result that they heap up [to
capacity] their sins continually [εις το άναπληρώσαι αύτών τας άμαρτίας
πάντοτε]. B u t w rath came upon them to the u tterm o st [εφθασεν δέ επ’
αύτούςή οργή].

Here Paul alludes to the passion narrative of the arrest of Jesus by

Jewish authorities and their role in his death by crucifixion. He also alludes
to the Jews being responsible for a significant amount of the affliction he
and the Christian congregation faced in Thessalonica, which is confirmed
by Luke's account of Jews from the synagogue inciting legal action against
Jason and other Christians at Thessalonica after some significant conver-
sions from the synagogue and "God-fearing Gentiles, including some
leading women" (Acts 17:4). Paul uses a judgment expression to signal the
result of the rejection of the gospel and persecution by fellow Jews: "they
heap up [to capacity] their sins continually" (my translation), which the
ESV renders, "so as always to fill up the measure of their sins." Jesus used

15 Stephen H. Travis, "Wrath of God (NT)/' Anchor Bible Dictionary , 6:997.

44 Concordia Theological Quarterly 76 (2012)

a similar expression in his critique of the Pharisees: "Do you, then fill up
the measure of your fathers" (Matt 23:32). Then Paul mentions "the wrath
came upon them to the uttermost." "The wrath" here appears to be the
same "wrath that is to come" mentioned in 1:10. What is striking here,
however, is Paul's use of the aorist tense rather than the future. Through
the use of the aorist, Paul is stressing that these unbelieving Jews already
stand under God's judgment as those who will experience his end-time
wrath. The evangelist John conveys a similar idea: "He who does not
believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of
the only Son of God" (John 3:18).
III. 1 Thessalonians 2:17-19
The next text is another brief eschatological summary in the sentences
that immediately follow those just discussed:
17As for us, brothers, after we were separated from you for a short
time—in person, not in thought—we endeavored with much longing
to see your faces. 18On account of this, we desired to come to you—I,
Paul, did many times—but Satan hindered u s .19For what is our hope or
joy or crown of which we boast before our Lord Jesus in his triumphal
coming? It is certainly you, is it not? [τίς γαρ ήμών έλπις ή χαρά ή στέφανος
καυχήσεως ή ούχι καί ύμεΐς έμπροσθεν του κυρίου ήμών Ίησοΰ έν τη αύτοΰ
παρουσία;] 20Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
Although many in Paul's audience probably did not understand his
allusion, he is alluding to how some Jews thought that they would "boast"
(cf. καυχήσεως in 2:19) before the Lord about some of their own accom-
plishments in the afterlife.16 Even before Paul gets to his discussion of
those who have fallen asleep in Christ, he is offering assurance here that
the source of his boasting on the last day will not be his obedience to Torah,
but the Holy Spirit's work through the gospel that has not only brought
the Thessalonian church from idolatry to serving the living God, but also
will present them in risen glory alive before our Lord Jesus at his parousia.
The technical Greco-Roman understanding of parousia, namely the public
ceremonial arrival of a ruling dignitary, is important for how this term
would have been understood by Paul's original audience.17 I have trans-
lated it as "triumphal coming" in order to capture some of this sense of the
word. One of the idolatries that these Christians had turned from is the
veneration of the Roman emperor through the imperial cultic sites and

16 See evidence in Simon Gathercole, Where is the Boasting? Early Jewish Soteriology
and Paul's Response in Romans 1-5 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002).
17 BDAG, 780-781; see especially Abraham Malherbe, The Letters to the Thessalonians
(New York, Doubleday, 2000), 271-272.
 Gieschen: Christ's Coming in 1 Thessalonians 45

ceremonies in Thessalonica. The implication here is that Paul and the

Thessalonians will be present before their true and only Lord and King,
who is none other than the crucified and risen Jesus, at his very public
appearance on the last day.
IV. 1 Thessalonians 3:1113‫״־‬
Another short eschatological summary is found at the end of chapter 3,
which brings to a close Paul's extensive reflection on the time he spent in
Thessalonica, his departure, and his effort to return in person. Paul brings
this section to a close with a blessing:
11Now may God our Father and our Lord Jesus himself straighten out
our path to you and 12may the Lord increase and multiply your love
for one another and all people, just as we have also for you, 13in order
that your hearts be established blameless in holiness before our God and
Father in the triumphal coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones [εις
το στηρίξαι ύμών τας καρδίας άμεμπτους έν άγιωσύνη έμπροσθεν του θεοΰ
και πατρός ήμών έν τη παρουσία του ήμών Ίησοΰ μετά πάντων των άγίων
αύτοΰ].
Paul makes quite a context shift within this blessing: he begins by
asking for the opportunity to visit Thessalonica and for the Lord to
continue to increase their love, but then states that the purpose of this
growth in love is that their hearts be blameless in holiness at the time of
the coming of our Lord Jesus. The imminent return of Christ is clearly in
view here; he does not say, "so that you remain blameless in holiness until
the day you die." In light of their pagan background, it is not surprising
that holiness or sanctification is often brought up in connection with
Christ's parousia. That this sanctification is the result of divine work is
made very explicit by Paul in the final blessing of this letter (1 Thess 5:23-
24). As with the opening salutation of the letter, Paul expresses both
distinction and unity by identifying the Father with the title "God" and
then Jesus with the title "Lord." In the parousia, Jesus will be accompanied
by "all his holy ones." In light of the intertextual echo here (Zech 14:6
LXX), this is most assuredly referencing created angels as is made explicit
in the teaching of Jesus (e.g., Matt 25:31), not "the holy ones" who have
died prior to the parousia and live with Christ.
V. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
This is the first of the two primary eschatological teaching sections of
the letter, a text familiar to pastors because of its frequent use in the
pastoral care of those who are grieving the death of a loved one. Some
interpreters have even theorized that the situation behind this teaching is
46 Concordia Theological Quarterly 76 (2012)

the major impetus for Paul writing this letter. That situation appears to be
that a few members of the church had died since the mission in Thessa-
lonica had begun and some of those remaining were distraught because
they thought that these believers would not share in the benefits of the
parousia of Christ since they had died prior to his return. We have quite the
opposite problem in much of Christendom today whereby some conceive
of their loved ones as already enjoying the fullness of afterlife long before
the last day and the resurrection of the body. What Paul writes here
addresses both of these situations:
13We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning the ones
who are sleeping, in order that you do not mourn even as others who
do not have hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so also
God will lead [bring] with Jesus the ones who sleep through Jesus. 15For we
say this to you as a word of the Lord: we, the ones who live, the ones who
remain, to the triumphal coming of the Lord shall surely not precede the ones
who have fallen asleep [Τοΰτο γαρ ύμϊν λέγομεν έν λόγφ κυρίου, ότι ήμεΐς 01
ζώντες 01 περιλειπόμενοι εις τήν παρουσίαν του κυρίου ου μή φθάσωμεν
τούς κοιμηθέντας*]. 16Because the Lord himself—with a cry; the voice of an
archangel, and the trumpet of God—will descend from heaven and the dead
in Christ will be raised first [ότι αύτος ό κύριος έν κελεύσματι, έν φωνή
άρχαγγέλου και έν σάλπιγγι θεού, καταβήσεται άπ’ ούρανοΰ και 01 νεκροί έν
Χριστώ άναστήσονται πρώτον,]. 17Then we, the ones who are alive and
remaining, will be snatched up at the same time with them into the clouds in
order to meet the Lord in the air [έπειτα ήμεΐς 01 ζώντες oi περιλειπόμενοι
άμα σύν αύτοΐς άρπαγησόμεθα έν νεφέλαις εις άπάντησιν τού κυρίου εις
άέρα ]. Consequently, we will always be with the Lord [καί οΰτως πάντοτε
σύν κυρίφ έσόμεθα]. 18Therefore, continually encourage one another
with these words.
Paul is not the originator of the language that Christians who have
physically died are "asleep" (4:13, 14). He probably used language that
was already part of the oral Gospel tradition with which he was familiar
(e.g., Matt 9:24; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11-13). A similar use of
Gospel tradition is visible in his later discussion of Jesus coming "as a thief
in the night" (1 Thess 5:2, 4; cf. Matt 24:43; Luke 12:39). "Sleep" should
neither be understood as a euphemism that Paul is using to soften or deny
the reality of physical death nor as a technical term indicating so-called
"soul sleep" (i.e., an unawareness of the person to after-death life in Christ
during the intermediate state prior to physical resurrection on the last
day). As with Jesus, Paul uses the language of sleep to communicate the
mystery that those who physically die in Christ continue to live on even
 Gieschen: Christ's Coming in 1 Thessalonians 47

though their heart and brain activity cease.18

Paul explicitly grounds the assurance of the physical resurrection of
those who are "asleep" in Jesus' own death and resurrection: "If we
believe that Jesus died and rose, so also God will lead with Jesus the ones
who sleep through Jesus" (1 Thess 4:14). Next to the confession, "Jesus is
Lord," this phrase captures one of the earliest creeds of the church: "We
believe that Jesus died and rose." Several interpreters have noted that this
is a pre-Pauline formula because it uses the active voice form of άνίστημι
rather than the passive voice form of εγείρω that is more typically used by
Paul to speak of the resurrection (e.g., 1 Cor 15:4). That Paul understands
Jesus' death as substitutionary atonement for sin is clear later in this letter
with his use of the preposition ύπέρ, "the one who died on our behalf'
(1 Thess 5:10), a preposition he employs repeatedly in his later epistles in
order to proclaim the significance of Jesus' death.19 Christ's future work of
returning and raising the dead is grounded in his past work of everyone
dying to sin in his death and all being raised to life in his resurrection (2
Cor 5:14; cf. Rom 6:1-11).20
As Paul begins speaking of how the last day will unfold, he makes a
very bold claim: "We say this to you as a word of the Lord/' In a monograph
devoted to the phrase έν λόγω κυρίου, Michael Pahl presents all the possible
ways of interpreting this phrase and then falls flat by saying it is a
reference back to the death and resurrection of Jesus and not to what
follows.21 His translation of this sentence is: "In accordance with this
message about the Lord, we say this to you." It seems more probable that
Paul is throwing the authoritative weight of Jesus behind what follows. In
light of the fact that κύριος occurs four times in this section and the other
three times the referent is Jesus, it is clear that the referent of κύριος here is
Jesus. This means that it is either from the teaching of the earthly ministry
of Jesus or from the exalted Jesus by special revelation. It is my conclusion
that this reflects teaching from the earthly ministry of Jesus, even though
we do not have a gospel account that gives us such a verbatim teaching.

18 See especially Piotr Malysz, "Paul's Use of the Imagery of Sleep and His
Understanding of the Christian Life: A Study in the Thessalonian Correspondence/'
CTQ 67 (2003): 65-78.
19 This preposition communicates Paul's theology of substitutionary atonement
(e.g. Rom 5:6, 8; 8:32; 1 Cor 11:24; 15:3; 2 Cor 5:14,21; Gal 1:4; 2:20; 3:13; Eph 5:2,25).
20 See the brief discussion in Charles A. Gieschen, "Original Sin in the New
Testament," Concordia Journal 31 (2005): 365-372.
21 Michael W. Pahl, Discerning the 'Word of the Lord': The 'Word of the Lord' in 1
Thessalonians 4:15, Library of New Testament Studies 389 (London and New York: T&T
Clark, 2009).
48 Concordia Theological Quarterly 76 (2012)

The evangelist John said that Jesus did many other signs "that have not
been written in this book" (John 20:31); Jesus also said many other things,
no doubt, which are not recorded in the four gospels but which circulated
in early apostolic preaching.
Against all rapture doctrines that assert a secret coming of Christ that
brings about a secret exit of the church, be they pre-tribulation, mid-
tribulation, or post-tribulation variations of the rapture, Paul writes here of
a very public triumphal coming: "Because the Lord himself—with a cry,
the voice of an archangel, and the trumpet of God—will descend from
heaven and the dead in Christ will be raised first. Then we, the ones who
are alive and remaining, will be snatched up at the same time with them
into the clouds in order to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thess 4:17). For all
who are interested in the verb άρπαγησόμεθα "we will be snatched up"
which the Vulgate renders rapiemur (thus "rapture"), Malherbe's Anchor
Bible commentary cites numerous uses of άρπάζω in epitaphs, Lucian,
Plutarch, Seneca, Ovid, Ciero, Horace, and Pliny where deceased persons
are said to have been "snatched up" by death.22 In what appears to be a
wonderful twist on this common usage, Paul uses this same verb here to
emphasize that we will be snatched up, not by death, but by the living
Jesus unto eternal resurrected life with him!
Obviously there are those who have trouble reconciling the depiction
of the last day events here with the judgment depicted in texts like
Matthew 25:31-46, and thus conclude these are describing different events.
The Scriptures, however, are more interesting than many of us are; they
describe the same event with different language and imagery. Paul does
not even mention judgment of the righteous and unrighteous simply
because his purpose is to console and encourage Christians whose loved
ones died in the faith. If he were emphasizing accountability, he would
mention judgment, as he does in other contexts within these brief epistles.
One topic that is not discussed much in the commentaries on this text
is the various frightening portraits of afterlife in ancient Greco-Roman
literature.23 Most of us are familiar with some of the portraits of afterlife in
Hades that are found in The Odyssey (c. 8th century BC), such as Tantalus
always being tantalized by water and fruit that is habitually swept out of
his reach, or Sisyphus being doomed to rolling a huge stone uphill only to
have it roll back down again (Book 11:563-600). These Homeric depictions

22 Malherbe, The Letters to the Thessalonians, 275-276.

23 See primary text examples in Mark P.O. Morford and Robert J. Lenardon,
Classical Mythology , 2nd ed. (New York and London: Longman, 1977), 238-269.
 Gieschen: Christ's Coming in 1 Thessalonians 49

of afterlife, however, are tame compared with others that followed in later
centuries. Two examples will suffice here to demonstrate that there was
good reason why some of the pagan converts to Christianity in
Thessalonica—who may not have been taught extensively about afterlife,
resurrection, and heaven from the Scriptures or Paul's preaching—would
have been fearful about what would happen to fellow Christians who died
before Christ's parousia.
The first example is from the concluding section of Plato's The Republic
(c. 380 BC) where he recounts Socrates' teaching about afterlife from the
supposed experience of Er who had died and returned to life. There is
extensive testimony here about the so-called "immortality of the soul" and
the soul's 1000-year journey following death. Although there is a heavenly
reward in the sky for the souls of those doing good, especially noteworthy
is the testimony to divine punishment through underground travel of the
soul for the one who did evil:
The first group recounted their experiences, weeping and wailing as
they recalled all the various things they had suffered and seen in their
journey under the earth, which lasted one thousand years; the other
from the sky told in turn of the happiness they had felt and the sights
of indescribable beauty. O Glaucon, it would take a long time to relate
everything. But he [Er] did say that the essential significance was this:
everyone had to suffer an appropriate penalty for each and every sin
ten times over, in retribution for the number of times and number of
persons he had wronged; that is, he must make one full payment once
every hundred years (since that is considered the span of human life)
so that he might pay in full for all his wrongs, tenfold in one thousand
years. For example, if any were responsible for the deaths of many or
betrayed and enslaved cities or armies or were guilty of any other
crime, they would suffer torments ten times over for all of these sins
individually... .24
Another example comes from Vergil's Aeneiá, written in the first
century BC, which further explains the soul as part of the universal spirit,
with the so-called immortal soul seeking escape from the physical body
and then purging corruption through the 1,000-year cycle of punishment:
In the first place a spirit within sustains the sky, the earth, the waters,
and the shining globe of the moon, and the Titan sun and stars; this
spirit moves the whole mass of the universe, a mind, as it were,
infusing its limbs and mingled with its huge body. From this arises all

24 Plato, The Republic, Book 10, section 615. This translation is from Morford and
Lenardon, Classical Mythology, 246.
50 Concordia Theological Quarterly 76 (2012)

of life, the race of men, animals and birds, and the monsters that the
sea bears under its marble surface. The seeds of this mind and spirit
have a fiery power and celestial origin, insofar as the limbs and joints
of the body, which is of earth, harmful, and subject to death, do not
make them full and slow them down. Thus the souls, shut up in the
gloomy darkness of the prison of their bodies, experience fear, desire,
joy, and sorrow, and do not see clearly the essence of their celestial
nature. Moreover, when the last glimmer of life has gone, all the evils
and all the diseases of the body do not yet completely depart from
these poor souls and it is inevitable that many ills, for a long time
encrusted, become deeply engrained in an amazing way. Therefore
they are piled with punishments and they pay the penalties of their
former wickedness. Some spirits are hung suspended to the winds; for
others the infection of crime is washed by a vast whirlpool or burned
out by fire. Each of us suffers his own shade. Then we are sent to
Elysium and we few occupy these happy fields, until a long period of
the circle of time has been completed and has removed the ingrown
corruption and has left a pure ethereal spirit and the fire of the
original essence. When they have completed the cycle of one thousand
years, the god calls all these in a great throng to the river Lethe,
where, of course, they are made to forget so that they might begin to
wish to return to bodied and see again the vault of heaven.25
After reading these two afterlife conceptions that were prominent in
the Greco-Roman world in which Paul preached, one does not have to
wonder long why some confused Christians at Thessalonica would have
been very concerned about what lay ahead for their loved ones who died
before the triumphal coming of Christ. Plato speaks of the journey of the
disembodied soul under the earth in order to pay for every sin over a
period of 100 years, ten times over (i.e., for a total of 1000 years) after
which period the soul makes a choice regarding in what it will be reborn,
whether human or animal. How depressing! Such teaching helps one
understand why Paul's message in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 inspired hope
and was to be used as encouragement. An important aspect of Paul's
preaching in every context is the forgiveness of sins that has already been
won in the death of Jesus and is proclaimed implicitly here in the creedal
statement "if we believe that Jesus died and rose" (1 Thess 4:14). There is,
therefore, refreshing clarity and certainty with which Christian life after
physical death is described by Paul: sleep in Jesus, triumphal coming of

25 Vergil, Aeneid, 700-751. This translation is from Morford and Lenardon, Classical
Mythology, 246.
 Gieschen: Christ's Coming in 1 Thessalonians 51

Jesus, resurrection of the dead, the faithful snatched up, and all Christians
with the Lord always. This is pastoral teaching that truly comforts fears
about death and encourages hope about the life that continues beyond the
grave and climaxes in the resurrection of the body in glory.
VII. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
It is especially in 1 Thessalonians 5 that one can hear the echoes of
Jesus' teachings, such as those in the synoptic Gospels. As stated above,
Paul's teaching that "the Day of the Lord come like a thief in the night" is
probably drawing on Gospel tradition. Here the arrival of the last day and
Christ's coming is linked pointedly with sanctification:
1Concerning the general times and times of fulfillment, brothers, you
have no need to have something written to you. 2For you yourselves
know accurately that the Day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night [αύτοι
γάρ άκριβώς οΐδατε ότι ήμέρα κυρίου ώς κλέπτης έν νυκτί οΰτως έρχεται].
3When people are saying, "Peace and Security, " then suddenly destruction
will come upon them just as birthing pains come upon a pregnant woman,
and they will surely not escape [όταν λέγωσιν, Ειρήνη και άσφάλεια, τότε
αιφνίδιος αύτοΐς έφίσταται δλεθρος ώσπερ ή ώδιν τη έν γαστρι έχούση, και
ού μή έκφύγωσιν]. 4You, however, are not in the darkness, brothers, with the
result that this day surprises you like a thief [ύμεΐς δέ, άδελφοί, ούκ έστέ έν
σκότει, 'ίνα ή ήμέρα ύμάς ώς κλέπτης καταλάβη ]. 5For all of you are
children of light, children of the day. We are neither of the night nor of
the darkness. 6Therefore, then, let us not sleep, as others do, but let us
keep awake and be sober. 7For the ones who sleep, sleep at night, and
the ones who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8Because we, however, are
of the day, let us be sober and put on the breastplate of faith and love,
and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9For God has not destined us for
wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ [ότι ούκ εθετο
ήμας ό θεός εις οργήν άλλα εις περιποίησιν σωτηρίας δια του κυρίου ήμών
Ίησοΰ Χρίστου] 10who died on our behalf [του άποθανόντος ύπέρ ήμών], in
order that whether we are awake or asleep we live together with him.
11Therefore, encourage and build up one another continually, just as
you are doing.
I follow Karl Donfried and others who argue that the background for
this text is the religious and political cultic life of the city.26 The Roman
imperial cult promised "Peace and Security" as part of the pax Romana
propaganda campaign backed up Rome's military might, but pax Romana
will not be able to deliver people from God's judgment on the Day of the

26 See the bibliography and discussion in Charles A. Gieschen, "Christian Identity

in a Pagan Thessalonica: The Imitation of Paul's Cruciform Life/' CTQ 72 (2008): 3-5.
52 Concordia Theological Quarterly 76 (2012)

Lord. The religious cults had drunkenness and sexual revelry under the
cover of darkness, but Christians who await the Day of the Lord live as
"children of light/' sober with faith, love, and hope, separate from such
pagan idolatry and self-indulgence. Notice again how the future deliv-
erance from end-time wrath is grounded in Jesus' past deliverance at his
death for our behalf (1 Thess 5:9-10).
VII. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
The first epistle ends with a blessing that contains a short escha-
tological summary that is very similar to the one at the end of chapter 3:
23Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may
your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ [και ολόκληρον υμών το πνεύμα και ή ψυχή Ίησοΰ Χρίστου
τηρηθείη]. 24The one who calls you is faithful; he will also do it.
What is made very explicit here is that the sanctifying activity that Paul
discusses in the final two chapters of this letter is a divine work: "God
himself sanctifies . . . he will do it." Rome promised peace, but the God of
peace who has reconciled humanity with himself through the death of
Jesus will deliver everlasting peace at the triumphal final coming of Christ
on the last day. Significant here is Paul's emphasis on the body (το σώμα)
also being sanctified; the future state of the body was not of concern in
much Greco-Roman philosophy that viewed the body as a prison for the
immortal soul. Paul uses this closing blessing to stress the value of God's
creation through his assurance that the body also will be raised and live
eternally.
VIII. Eschatology, the Church, and Mission
In light of this brief tour through the eschatological texts of
1 Thessalonians, what is the Holy Spirit teaching here about the church
and her mission? First and foremost, the church is to live with her eyes
fixed on both the past work of Christ, especially his atoning death and
victorious resurrection that is mediated to the present through preaching
and the sacraments, and the future work of Christ when he comes again to
raise and judge the living and dead. Paul's pattern is to begin with Christ's
past work and then proclaim this as the sure basis for Christ's future work
at his coming on the last day. Proclaiming the past and future work of
Christ is not an "either . . . or" situation for the church; it is "both . . . and."
According to 1 Thess 1:10, the basis for our "waiting for the Son from
heaven" "who delivers us from the wrath to come" is the resurrection of
the Son by the Father. Because of the past work of Jesus' resurrection, we
are assured of the future work of his coming and delivering us from evil.
 Gieschen: Christ's Coming in 1 Thessalonians 53

According to 1 Thess 4:13, the basis of our assurance that "God will bring
with Jesus those who have fallen asleep" is "because we believe that Jesus
died and rose again." According to 1 Thess 5:9, "God destined us to obtain
salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us." There are past,
present, and future aspects to salvation in the Scriptures. With the phrase
"to obtain salvation," Paul is writing about the future aspect of salvation.
The past salvific work of Christ's death is the foundation for the certain
hope in Christ's future salvific work of end-time resurrection, deliverance
from wrath against unbelief, and restored glory. This means that the inter-
relationship and balance between Christ's past and future work should be
maintained in the life of the church, especially the teaching and preaching
of pastors. The church is where we hear of Christ's past and future work,
where we receive the benefits of that past work in the present, and where
this past and present work of Christ is the assurance of his future work
that will be consummated at his parousia.
Second, because the reality of sin in and around the church inherently
causes affliction, the church needs to point regularly beyond its past or
present affliction to its future glory. It may be difficult for many in the
current North American context of Christianity to empathize with the
affliction that these first-century Christians and many others in subsequent
generations have endured. The church suffers in every generation but
often more in some locations than others. When I lectured in Lithuania in
2009,1 heard many accounts about Christianity under communism. When
I taught in South Africa in 2010,1 heard of the many and varied challenges
facing Christianity in different western Africa nations. Look at the
challenges that Christians in Haiti face following the earthquake of 2010.
When the present circumstances of the church are severe affliction, it is all
the more important that the apostolic ministry put before the church her
future circumstances of resurrected glory and restored creation. Christ's
coming on the last day means that the church and individual Christians
need never lose hope, no matter how desperate our present circumstances,
because our future is as certain and glorious as the risen and returning
Lord Jesus Christ.
Third, although God's wrath against sin was visited upon Jesus at the
cross and is properly part of our preaching of Christ's past work mediated
to us in the present through the means of grace, God's wrath over unbelief
is a future reality that Paul proclaims in conjunction with Christ's second
coming. Hesitancy among pastors to proclaim the end-time wrath of God
over unbelief that leads to eternal death does not help the church to see the
dire consequences for the world that rejects Jesus. Proclamation of those
54 Concordia Theological Quarterly 76 (2012)

consequences, however, adds urgency to the church's mission of pro-

claiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. To put it very bluntly: God is seeking
to rescue unbelievers not only from the hopelessness of their present
idolatry, but also from an utterly hopeless future in hell.
Fourth, because eschatology involves, by its very nature, mysteries
that will be fully revealed in the future, there is a greater possibility for the
church to be deceived or confused about eschatological events. We see this
in the first-century church and yet again in the 21st century church. This
possibility should not lead us to avoid the subject, however, but rather
move us to engage the subject fully, addressing especially any confusion
about the subject for the well-being of the church, even as Paul does in
these epistles.
Fifth, preaching and teaching focused on the second coming of Christ
should not lead the church or individual members of Christ's body to try
to escape the responsibilities of daily vocation but to embrace these
responsibilities with more fervor because our time on earth is limited and
the day of the Lord is coming soon. Martin Menken has made a significant
contribution to our understanding of these epistles by emphasizing that an
over-realized eschatology led some at Thessalonica to think that the curse
of Genesis 3—working by the sweat of one's brow—no longer applied to
those who were a new creation in Christ Jesus. There are two allusions to
this situation in the first letter.271 Thess 4:11-12 states, "[But we encourage
y o u ...] to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work
with your hands, as we charged your; so that you may command the
respect of outsiders, and be dependent on no one." Among the list of
exhortations at the end of the letter in 1 Thess 5:14 is this phrase:
"admonish the undisciplined." This emphasis on vocational activity is very
explicit, extensive, and blunt in the second letter. Paul writes in 2 Thess
3:6-13,
[6] Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that you keep aloof from every brother who leads an unruly
life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. [7]
For you yourselves know how it is necessary to imitate us [οΐδατε πώς δει
μιμεισθαι ήμας], because we did not act in an undisciplined manner
among you, [8] nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it,
but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that
we not be a burden to any of you; [9] not because we do not have the
right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as an example for you, in order

27 M.J.J. Menken, "Paradise Regained or Still Lost? Eschatology and Disorderly

Behavior in 2 Thesssalonians/‫ ׳‬New Testament Studies 38 (1992): 271-289.
 Gieschen: Christ's Coming in 1 Thessalonians 55

that you imitate us [ϊνα έαυτούς τύπον δωμεν ύμΐν εις το μιμεΐσθαι ημάς].
[10] For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order:
if anyone will not work, neither let him eat. [11] For we hear that some
among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but
acting like busybodies. [12] Now such persons we command and ex-
hort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their
own bread. [13] But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing
good.
Paul's blunt statement, "If anyone will not work, neither let him eat"
(1 Thess 5:10b) is an obvious corrective to the over-realized eschatology
held to by some of the Thessalordan Christians.
This study has argued that eschatology, especially the parousia or
triumphal final coming of Christ, was central to Paul's apostolic
missionary preaching and remains a vital foundation of the church's
ongoing faith, daily living in hope, and mission of proclaiming salvation
from the wrath to come. As with Paul and the Thessalonian church, it is
vital that the integration of Christ's past and future work be heard in our
present preaching and teaching, in order that this message shape the daily
faith, love, and hope of his church in mission with the result that she ever
lives in eager expectation of his coming on the last day.
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