Daily Bread

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, ‘There is peace and security’, then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then, let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

Today, we're going to be Bible detectives, so hold on to your deerstalker and pipe!

Paul continued to write about the coming of Jesus and wrote, "...the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." where the 'day of the Lord' is yet another expression for the coming of Christ, but interestingly (and I don't know why Bible translators do this), the phrase "will come like a thief in the night" is, in the Greek, actually written in the present tense — i.e. a more literal translation would be, "is coming like a thief in the night." In fact, all the future references in the passage seem to be in the present tense in the original Greek. Now, I'm not saying there is not a 'future' element to Paul's writing, but it also seems to be grounded in the present.

Something else that seems to ground Paul's writing in the present is this specific phrase, "When they say (or are saying) 'Peace and security' sudden destruction will come upon them..." This phrase 'Peace and security' (written like this in the Greek) it is clearly some kind of well-known saying. So what could it mean?

Now, Thessalonica was in the province of Macedonia in northern Greece, and at the time Paul wrote this letter to the church, the the Roman Emperor was Claudius. Macedonia was governed by overseers who had a direct line to the Emperor, but Claudius restored the province to oversight by the senate, something that locally may well have been accompanied by the slogan, 'Peace and security'. It seems a bit of a coincidence, and bear in mind that Paul was, by birth, a Roman citizen and very well versed in the politics of the day.

Paul was responding to the situation faced by those Christians in Thessalonica who were saying, "We have yet another Roman emperor and this new emperor is promising peace and security, but we are still an oppressed minority. When will Jesus come?"

Paul wanted to encourage them that their Saviour was in the process of coming — i.e. that it was both now and not yet. The use of the present tense (pointing to 'now') encouraged them not to give up but be ready in the here and now. They needed to be expectant that God was coming to them and that it would be no surprise and wouldn't sneak up on them.

We might look at the world around us and lament the situation that we face. We might ask, "We have yet another dictatorial government, global humanitarian crises, and environmental collapse. When will Jesus come?" And the answer will be the same. Despite what you see around you, do not give up but be ready to work with God — to meet with God in the present, and expect God to come in the future. Jesus Christ didn't die for nothing, and your life is secure in Christ, both now and in the future.

Holy God
Through your Son,
my Saviour, Jesus Christ,
I am a child of the light
and secure in my salvation.
Through the power of the Spirit
may I be always ready
to work with you
to bring your love
to a broken world
until that day when
Jesus Christ fully returns.