Did Jesus Teach the Rapture in the Gospels?

[Theophilus]

Did Jesus teach the rapture in the Gospels? The rapture could be an oral teaching not recorded in the Gospels but known or revealed to Paul.

Paul teaches a rapture here:

1 Thes 4:17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

1 Cor 15:51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

Do the following Gospel verses relate to the rapture?

This verse may only be applicable to the judgment on Israel in 70AD:
Matt 24:31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

I'm not sure if the following 2 verses refer to the rapture or maybe the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

John 17:24 "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

[psychohmike]

I'd say no...But that's just me. I'm 99.9% Preterist.

John 14:3 speaks nothing of a rapture. It needs to be understood in the light of John 14 as a WHOLE. The word "mansion" in verse 3 is the same word in the Greek found in verse 23 which the NKJV translates "house."

The wooden literal translation of this word is "dwelling place."

This word is only used two times in the Bible and both times are in this chapter.

So let's look at these two verses together, along with verses 15-18.

Vss. 1-3

"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions(Dwelling places); if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

and vss. 15-18

If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper(<-----Holy Spirit), that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

and vs. 23

"If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home(Dwelling place) with him."

I personally think we need to chalk this verse up to "The Trinity."

And nothing to do with the rapture...PERIOD!!!

What say you???

[Allyn]

What say you???

To me this has always been what the rapture is. It is Jesus coming to take His to be with Him whether living at the time of His coming or whether having died and are now aslep in Him awaiting the resurrection.

[Michelle]

What say you???

To me this has always been what the rapture is. It is Jesus coming to take His to be with Him whether living at the time of His coming or whether having died and are now asleep in Him awaiting the resurrection.

Wait. You believe the dead are asleep, awaiting the resurrection?

[Allyn]

What say you???

To me this has always been what the rapture is. It is Jesus coming to take His to be with Him whether living at the time of His coming or whether having died and are now asleep in Him awaiting the resurrection.

Wait. You believe the dead are asleep, awaiting the resurrection?

No, not now, Michelle (btw nice to see you), but instead now they are in heaven with Jesus. The term asleep as I used it was to say that they had not yet been resurrected but since I believe that all the saints who died prior to Christ's Parousia were resurrected at the coming then now they are no longer "asleep" but in their new bodies as per described by Paul in 1 Cor. 15

My response, which you questioned me on, was not to say what I believe concerning the timing of Christ's coming but rather was in answer to the statement concerning the rapture. It was a generic type of response with no attempt to show that I believe Christ has already come.

[Michelle]

My response, which you questioned me on, was not to say what I believe concerning the timing of Christ's coming but rather was in answer to the statement concerning the rapture. It was a generic type of response with no attempt to show that I believe Christ has already come.

Ah, OK. So the now in what you said is the present when Jesus was speaking? Or Paul was writing? I can't remember which passage we're talking about.

You probably answered this already, if so, I apologize because I haven't been following along as diligently as I should, but what do you understand happens to believers today when they die? Do we get our new bodies right away, even though our old bodies are still in the ground, or wherever they end up? (Holy mackerel, I just imagined all kinds of creepy places a dead body could end up. *shudder* Good moment for this emoticon: )

[Allyn]

My response, which you questioned me on, was not to say what I believe concerning the timing of Christ's coming but rather was in answer to the statement concerning the rapture. It was a generic type of response with no attempt to show that I believe Christ has already come.

Ah, OK. So the now in what you said is the present when Jesus was speaking? Or Paul was writing? I can't remember which passage we're talking about.

I know how confusing it can get when thread after thread is written, but I'll try to clarify what it was I was responding to. You asked:

You believe the dead are asleep, awaiting the resurrection?

I replied saying not now they aren't but they were prior to Christ's coming.

You probably answered this already, if so, I apologize because I haven't been following along as diligently as I should, but what do you understand happens to believers today when they die? Do we get our new bodies right away, even though our old bodies are still in the ground, or wherever they end up? (Holy mackerel, I just imagined all kinds of creepy places a dead body could end up. *shudder* Good moment for this emoticon: )

The Apostle Paul tells us we die as one thing and raised as another. He gave the seed as a demonstration of this and he goes on to say that what we become is not what we were and in fact it is spiritual and not of the kind of flesh we have now. Jesus said flesh and blood cannot inherit heaven. We become as He became in that His body was not what it was. God allowed Jesus to appear here and there and in fact He was not recognized at times.

Your shuddering is well founded when speaking of what can become of our physical body. There is a true story of a man a few centuries ago who had died in Christ and was buried. His body was in the grave long enough that an apple tree had time to grow above him. People had even harvested the apples from that tree. In time the gravesite needed to be moved to another place and all the known graves were dug up and relocated. This mans body had the roots of that apple tree in and around his remains. The apple tree had gained growth from the nutrients this mans body provided and the molecules produced in the fruit of the tree were consumed by the harvestors and thus became a part of those people who ate of the fruit. My point then would be what part of that body would be raised from the grave if it is a grave emptying action that takes place at the resurrection. Paul says it is a spiritual body not the same body.

Yes, I believe we get new bodies immediately at death if you are in Christ.

[Michelle]

Thank you Allyn for your comprehensive reply. I am going to scratch apples off my shopping list until I can forget that image.

[Allyn]

Thank you Allyn for your comprehensive reply. I am going to scratch apples off my shopping list until I can forget that image.

lol

[Theophilus]

Thanks for everyone's comments. It sounds like there is no clear teaching of the rapture in the Gospels.

Lately, I've wondered if what we refer to as the rapture or being caught up with the Lord in the air is metaphorical language (I don't hold that position, I was just wondering about it). The OT has plenty of passages referring to the LORD and clouds that are metaphorical. The concept of the parousia and meeting a dignitary as he approaches a town could just be symbolic of when Jesus returns we will go to meet Him and will be with Him forever. Looking forward to that!

I also think that the second coming of Jesus, Acts 1:11, has not happened yet.