For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them who are asleep.
All Commentaries on 1 Thessalonians 4:15 Go To 1 Thessalonians 4
John Chrysostom
AD 407
The Prophets indeed, wishing to show the credibility of the things said by them, before all other things say this, The vision which Isaiah saw Isaiah 1:1; and again, The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah Jeremiah 1:1, Septuagint; and again, Thus says the Lord; with many such expressions. And many of them even saw God sitting, as far as it was possible for them to see Him. But Paul not having seen Him sitting, but having Christ speaking in himself, instead of Thus says the Lord, said, Do ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me? 2 Corinthians 13:3 And again, Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ. For the Apostle speaks the things of Him who sent him; showing that nothing is of himself. And again, I think that I also have the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 7:40 All those things therefore he spoke by the Spirit, but this, which he now says, he heard even expressly from God. As also that which he had said discoursing to the Elders of Ephesus, It is more blessed to give than to receive, he heard among things not recorded. Acts 20:35
Let us then see what he now also says. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in nowise precede them that are fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the last trump. For then, he says, The powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Matthew 24:29 But wherefore with the trumpet? For we see this on Mount Sinai too, and Angels there also. But what means the voice of the Archangel? As he said in the parable of the Virgins, Arise! The Bridegroom comes. From Matthew 25:6 Either it means this, or that as in the case of a king, so also shall it then be, Angels ministering at the Resurrection. For He says, let the dead rise, and the work is done, the Angels not having power to do this, but His word. As if upon a king's commanding and saying it, those who were shut up should go forth, and the servants should lead them out, yet they do this not from their own power, but from that Voice. This also Christ says in another place: He shall send forth his Angels with a great trumpet, and they shall gather together his Elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24:31 And everywhere you see the Angels running to and fro. The Archangel therefore I think is he, who is set over those who are sent forth, and who shouts thus: Make all men ready, for the Judge is at hand. And what is at the last trumpet? Here he implies that there are many trumpets, and that at the last the Judge descends. And the dead, he says, in Christ shall rise first. Then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
