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From: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11

The Second Coming of the Lord (Continuation)

[1] But as to the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need to have
anything written to you. For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord
will come like a thief in the night. [3] When people say, “There is peace and se-
curity,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as travail comes upon a
woman with child, and there will be no escape. [4] But you are not in darkness,
brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief. [5] For you are all sons of light
and sons of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. [6] So then let us
not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. [9] For God has
not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
[10] who died for us so that whether we wake or sleep we might live with him.
[11] Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are
doing.

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Commentary:

1-3. “The day of the Lord” is an expression used a number of times in Sacred
Scripture to refer to that point at which God will intervene decisively and irrever-
sibly. The prophets speak of the “day of Yahweh” sometimes fearfully (cf. Amos
5:18-20), sometimes hopefully (cf. Is 6:13). In his eschatological sermon (cf. Mt
24; Mk 13; Lk 21), Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem in a style very
reminiscent of that used by the prophets (cf. Amos 8:9ff) when speaking of the
“day of Yahweh”. The destruction of the city brings to an end the Jewish era in
the history of salvation and prefigures the second coming of Christ as Judge of
all. In St Paul’s letters, as in other New Testament writings, the “day of the Lord”
is the day of the general judgment when Christ will appear in the fullness of glory
as Judge (cf. 1 Cor 1:8; 2 Cor 1:14). The Apostle brings in some examples used
by our Lord in his preaching about the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the world
(the “thief in the night”: cf. Mt 24:43; the pains of childbirth: cf. Mt 24:19) to warn
people that that day will come unexpectedly, and to exhort them to be always
ready.

The Christian, therefore, should always be on the watch, for he never knows for
sure when the last day of his life will be. The second coming of the Lord will take
people by surprise; it will catch them doing good or doing evil. So, it would be
rash to postpone repentance to some time in the future.

4-6. A thief works by night because he thinks that darkness will find the house-
holder unprepared. Our Lord also used this metaphor when he said that if the fa-
ther of the family had known when the thief would come, he would have kept a
look-out (cf. Mt 24:43)—in other words, we need to be always alert, in the state
of grace, surrounded by light. So, “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,
we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses
us from all sin” (1 Jn 1:7).

On the same subject the Church teaches that our souls are “illumined by the
light of faith” (”St Pius V Catechism”, II, 2, 4).

We should therefore live a transparent life, with the divine light shining clearly
through it; if we do, the “day of the Lord” (which can also be applied to the day
each person dies) will not find us unprepared, even if it comes suddenly. “A true
Christian is always ready to appear before God. Because, if he is fighting to live
as a man of Christ, he is ready at every moment to fulfill his duty” (St. J. Escri-
va, “Furrow”, 875).

9-10. “Wrath” refers to the condemnation earned by those who die in sin; and
“salvation”, in the New Testament, means being protected from danger and able
to live free from anxiety. Being saved from wrath means obtaining eternal salva-
tion.

Salvation comes to us “through our Lord Jesus Christ”. The name Jesus (”God
saves”) conveys this mission which Christ attributed to himself (cf. Mt 1:21):
“The Son of man came to seek and to save the lost” (Lk 19:10). Christ is the
Savior: “there is no salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under
heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). He will give
us forgiveness of sins (cf. Acts 5:31); that was why he “died for us”. “Through
suffering” (Heb 2:10) he fulfilled the mission entrusted to him. By dying in obedi-
ence to the Father “he became the source of eternal salvation” (Heb 5:9). “There
fore he had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might be-
come a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation
for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered and been temp-
ted, he is able to help those who are tempted (Heb 2:17-18). So it is that Jesus
intercedes for all believers until the end of time (cf. Heb 7:25).

When he receives the sacrament of Baptism, the Christian becomes identified
with Christ, the eternal high priest, in a special way: the “character” or mark
conferred by the sacrament indicates that he is destined to live with Christ. As
he makes his pilgrim way through this life he is able to enjoy, through grace, a
foretaste of that divine life which he will enjoy permanently and much more fully
in heaven.

Verse 10 contains another of St Paul’s plays on words. The word “sleep” here
(unlike vv. 6-7) means “die”, and “being awake” means “being alive”. For a
Christian, death is a step which enables him to “live with Christ” forever, in eter-
nal beatitude.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.