Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Matthew 24:42-44
Jesus frequently spoke to His disciples about the fact that He would be returning to Heaven, but then at some point in the future would return to earth again. In the early church there was frequently confusion as to exactly what that meant. There was still an expectation of a political earthly kingdom that Jesus would establish. When that failed to appear, some began teaching that those who died before Jesus came back would miss out on the resurrection.
Paul addressed this false teaching in his first letter to the church at Thessalonica. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). God keeps all of His children and none of them will be left out.
This imagery would have been familiar to those living in the Roman Empire. The legions of Rome were carefully drilled and trained so that they would be prepared to go into battle. It was common for a herald who was positioned beside the unit commander to have a trumpet blown. Then he would shout the question to ask the soldiers if they were ready for war. They would reply, “We are ready!” Since we do not know when Jesus will come back—after all Paul included himself in those who would be alive at His return—the only proper response is to be ready on a daily basis.
