Do they come with Christ from heaven, or do they rise from graves on earth? Paul sketches a simple sequence: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” There will be a loud sound, and the dead will rise. The living ones will not rise to greet Christ while the dead ones are still struggling to get out of their graves! Paul’s point is that people who live until Christ returns will not have any advantage over Christians who die.
If Paul had used the third-person “those,” he could have implied that he would not live until the return, and since he did not know one way or another, he used the more pastorally optimistic “we.” 1 Paul knew that believers could die before Christ returned, and simple logic would tell him that he might be one of them. He quotes a saying of Jesus - one that is not in the Gospels: “According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.” By using the word “we,” does Paul imply that he expects to live until Christ returns? Many scholars think so, and they suspect the Thessalonians had a similar belief, thus causing their worries about those who die in this age. Just what they are doing in the meantime, Paul does not say. Paul begins by stating the doctrine: “We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.” Because Jesus has been raised from the dead, we will be, too, if we are spiritually united with him. Death is still an enemy, so we may grieve, but our sorrow is mixed with hope because we know that we will all live again in far better circumstances. Paul replies that we do not grieve in the way that unbelievers do. “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.” It seems that the Thessalonians had asked about what happens to believers who die before Christ returns.
They will have places of honor as the saints rise to meet the returning King. Paul assures them that people who die will not miss out on the great event. It sounds like someone in the Thessalonian church had died - although it’s possible that the people were asking a hypothetical question. He begins by discussing the resurrection of believers who die before Jesus returns. We’d like to know more, today, too, because some of the things Paul says are puzzling. The Thessalonian believers wanted to know more about this topic. Paul’s next topic is the return of Christ - the only place in his letters where he gives details about what will happen.
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