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Pentecost Season · Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time · Year A

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 or 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

The Coming of the Lord

November 8, 2026

The Resurrection of the Flesh, Luca Signorelli
The Resurrection of the Flesh, Luca Signorelli, 1499–1502San Brizio Chapel, Orvieto Cathedral, Orvieto
In the San Brizio chapel at Orvieto. The dead climb out of a flat bare ground, some still skeletons, some already fully fleshed, with two angels sounding trumpets overhead.For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.Luca SignorelliAn Umbrian painter obsessed with the nude figure in violent motion, whose Orvieto frescoes Michelangelo studied closely.San Brizio Chapel, Orvieto Cathedral, OrvietoA chapel in the cathedral of Orvieto, frescoed by Fra Angelico and then, fifty years later, finished by Signorelli.San Brizio Chapel, Orvieto Cathedral, Orvieto
Roman Lectionary
GospelMatt. 25:1-13Mt 25:1-13
Second Reading1 Thess. 4:13-181 Thes 4:13-18 or1 Thess. 4:13-141 Thes 4:13-14
First ReadingWis. 6:12-16Wis 6:12-16
Responsorial PsalmPs. 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 (2b)Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 (2b)

Overview & Insights

“You are all children of the light… so then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.” (1 Thessalonians 5:5–6)

Although the formula, “Now about …” (peri de), which sometimes appears to have marked Paul’s answers to questions (see disc. on 4:9) does not occur, 4:13–18 is probably his answer to a question about the fate of deceased believers. From the teaching the missionaries gave while they were still with them, the Thessalonians would have known the general eschatological scenario that Paul unfolds in these verses, but at least some of them were still unsure where the Christian dead fitted into it. They may have understood that all believers would live to see the Parousia; and, now that some had died, they were anxious for their sake. Would they be disadvantaged? Or worse, would they be disqualified from sharing in the glory of that day? Paul answers that question in verse 17.

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Take it further: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 or 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

Commentary

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (Second Reading)1 Thes 4:13-18 (Second Reading) Working Preacher

Scholarly exegesis of exactly this passage by a named seminary scholar.

1 Thessalonians 4 verse by verse1 Thes 4 verse by verse Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik's evangelical, verse-by-verse commentary on the chapter.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 commentaries1 Thes 4:13 commentaries BibleHub

A stack of classic commentaries gathered at the start of the passage.

1 Thessalonians 4 commentaries1 Thes 4 commentaries StudyLight

A second aggregator carrying a different set of classic commentators.

Thirty-second Sunday readings (Cycle A) Agape Bible Study

A Catholic verse-by-verse study that treats this Second Reading in context.

Background & Word Study

Overview: 1 ThessaloniansOverview: 1 Thes BibleProject

An animated overview of the letter's flow and themes.

1 Thessalonians 4 interlinear1 Thes 4 interlinear BibleHub

The Greek text word by word with Strong's numbers.

The Church Fathers

1 Thessalonians 4 in the Fathers1 Thes 4 in the Fathers Catena

What the Church Fathers wrote on these verses, gathered in one place.

Questions preachers ask

What is the day of the Lord here?

Paul says the day of the Lord comes “like a thief in the night,” so believers, children of light, should stay awake and sober, encouraging one another (1 Thessalonians 5:1–11).

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