Guess Who?

This week at Liberty we continued our study of 1 Thessalonians by looking at the last 3 verses of chapter 3. In the final verse, 3:13 we encounter an unusual phrase in which Paul writes of, “the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” It is the “with all his saints” bit that gave us pause. What exactly does this refer to? How are we to understand it? And what does it tell us about Jesus? What I would like to do here is recap our discussion of this phrase, make a declarative statement about how the New Testament talks about Jesus, and then try an analogy on for size.

To begin this discussion I need to first remind us that the word “saints” (hagion) literally means “holy ones.” From there, we recognize that throughout interpretive history there have been those who have used this verse and others like it to argue for a rapture. The argument runs something along the lines that Jesus will return, rapture some believers up to Heaven, and then disappear for awhile until he returns a second time (a second, second coming?) bringing with him the holy ones he had previously raptured. I have trouble with the idea that Jesus is returning multiple times, that the climatic final event of human history won’t be quite so climactic, but further still I have a problem with any New Testament interpretation that ignores the Old Testament.

With that in mind I direct your attention to Zechariah 14:5 in which the prophet Zechariah is discussing a day in which Yahweh is going to rescue his people and bring judgment on the nations. Zechariah writes, “Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.” It is quite clear here that Zechariah is referencing the angelic host and not some contingent of human God-followers. Yahweh will come arrayed in the fullness of his splendor; that is the picture we are to receive. So then we return to 1 Thessalonians and we read that Jesus will come with all his saints. What could this mean? Well, who is the one who comes with all his holy ones but Yahweh; so if Jesus is coming with all his holy ones and Yahweh is the one who comes with his holy ones, it stands to reason that what Paul is saying is that Jesus is Yahweh. If A=B and B=C, then A=C. And this is I believe what the New Testament writers do over and over again. Rather than simply say Jesus is Yahweh, the second person of the Trinity, they use Old Testament language which talks about Yahweh and apply it to Jesus. Confusing perhaps for us today, but for 1st century Jews it could not have been more clear. So let me try out an analogy and suggest this is what Paul and his fellow writers were doing.

I’m thinking of a man. See if you can guess who he is. It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s… Clark Kent. The Man of Steel. Any guesses??? Really? You know who it is? How? I never said his name! Well if you have a guess, and I’m going to assume it’s the correct one, it’s because you and I share a common vocabulary. And incidentally if you don’t know who I am thinking of here, you in this analogy are the 21st century American who doesn’t know the Old Testament. You don’t share that vocabulary. But for those of you who do know, this illustrates how the New Testament writers and readers share (or can share) the common vocabulary of the Old Testament. So the New Testament writers don’t need to say “Jesus is Yahweh” they simply use the Old Testament language about Yahweh and apply it to Jesus. So, when we sing “at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,” we need not stop at simply thinking this is a nifty phrase, rather we should say, “I know what Isaiah 45:23 says and therefore I understand what Philippians 2:10 is saying about Jesus!” When is Jesus coming back and what will it look like? I’m not quite sure. But who is Jesus? This I know, for the Bible tells me so.