1 Thessalonians 5:1-3

"Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape."

Paul himself knows the dangers of setting dates and times for the coming of the Lord. This passage occurs after the famous 1 Th 4:13-18 passage used as evidence by many proponents of the rapture. This is not our concern. The point isn't what Christ's coming will look like, but that He is coming back. Just as no one knows when a thief will come[1], no one knows the dates and times the Father has set.

The day of the Lord is directly from the Hebrew yom Yahweh, which describes both a time of God's judgment but also a time of deliverance.[2] We are not called to worry about when Jesus will come back, but to eagerly await his return. Only the unprepared are worried.

Again to belabor the point, just as a pregnant woman knows not the hour she will go into labor, it will fall suddenly on those who do not expect it. We persevere in our preparations because we know the Bridegroom can come at any minute. We do not simply wait and watch and worry, we live. Come, Lord Jesus, come! Let’s celebrate!


[1] Matthew 24:43 "But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into." (Jesus's words)
[2] Am 5:18-20; Ob 15; Joel 1:15; 2:1f; Zp 1:14-16; Joel 2:31-32; Zc 14:1-21

Mark 15:33-34

"At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.  And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"  which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'"


We all die with Christ today.


Jesus's last words were words already written by him centuries ago through King David.  It is the very beginning of Psalm 22, David's song of lament written as if through the eyes of Christ.  If you read Psalms 22, you will understand the prophecy being fulfilled as Jesus breathes his last as it is an exact description of what happened to him.  He wanted those around him to have Psalms 22 in mind as he died upon that cross.

But the good news is that Psalms 22, though it starts out somber ends with a hopeful note:

"They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn-- for he has done it." (Psalms 22:31)

We are those who have heard the message and we are those who believe and proclaim that He has done it.  It is his righteousness, not ours, which sets us free.

These are the last words of our Christ, a final prayer for God to deliver him from his enemies.  Though darkness might last a few hours or days, even in death our Christ awaits God's deliverance from sin and death.  And it is our hope and expectation that He who is mighty to save will deliver us all.