Press the play button to watch the video above or press 'more' to read the transcript of the daily devotion below. Please read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (use your own Bible or use the link above to access the in-App Bible).

‘Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.’

1 Thessalonians 4:17

I still remember the first time I turned to this passage during a pastoral visit. I was a young curate at Lancaster Priory and the widow I was visiting was aching with grief. I read this passage because it explains how the grief of a Christian is so different from the grief of someone who has no faith. Grief is still real and painful, but as Christians we have a sure hope of life after death because of the resurrection of Jesus. ‘Together with them’ in verse 17 is one of the clearest promises in the New Testament that we shall be reunited with those who have died in faith when Christ returns.

The second part of this verse can sometimes be misunderstood. Some have suggested that when Paul writes of being ‘caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air’, he means that when Jesus returns He won’t actually come to earth but simply hover in the sky and gather the believers away from the earth.

This odd idea completely missed the point. Paul is referring to the Roman way in which the leading citizens of a city would come out of the city with trumpets to meet an approaching emperor on a state visit and then escort him on the last part of his journey into the city. Paul is saying that when Jesus returns to earth as King it will be like that, living and departed believers will gather together in the clouds (which in Scripture signify the presence of God) and escort King Jesus back to earth to claim His kingdom. Then God’s kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven.

What an encouraging Advent hope! However violent and worrying the news may be, we know for certain that God will not abandon the world. Jesus will come again to rule on earth as King, all evil will be banished from this beautiful world, and we shall be reunited with those whom we love and see no longer.

Therefore let our prayer today be, ‘Maranatha! Even so, come Lord Jesus!’

The Venerable Mark Ireland, Archdeacon of Blackburn.