1 Thessalonians 5:1-6,9-11
Chapter 5
Christians Waiting
You don’t need anyone to write to you about the delay and the scheduled time for these events.You know that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
When people feel safe and at peace, disaster will suddenly strike them like a woman’s labor pains, and they will not escape.
But you, beloved, are not in darkness, so that day will not catch you unprepared like a thief.
All of you are citizens of the light and day; we do not belong to night and darkness.
Let us therefore stay awake instead of sleeping like others do, but stay alert and sober.
For God has not willed us to be condemned, but to attain salvation through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
He died for us so that we could enter into life with him, whether we are still awake or are already asleep.
Therefore, continue to encourage and build each other up, just as you are doing now.
Commentaries
Christians Waiting.
Paul continues to speak of the “day of the Lord,” but now, rather than emphasizing its ‘imminence,’ he stresses the element of ‘surprise” through images drawn from the Gospel tradition, such as the thief who comes in the night (cf. Mt 24:43ff; Lk 12:39f; Rev 3:3), or like the pains of childbirth that come suddenly, without warning (cf. Jn 16:21). The surprise of his coming will affect people in very different ways, depending on whether they are prepared or not. Paul concludes with a word of encouragement: what matters is not whether we are alive or dead when the Lord comes, but that we “always live with him” (10).