Matthew 24:40 Commentary and Bible Study

The two will be working alongside each other. There was no visible difference between them, but the Lord now makes visible what was invisible. One knows the Lord and the other does not. One is ready any time that the Lord chooses to return, the other is carrying on with their life, unprepared for the most important encounter of all – the encounter with the Lord of glory, Jesus Christ. The one that is taken has all that they need with them for the journey. Never mind their possession left at home. Never mind their provision of food and clothing. They will not need any of those things. The one who takes them will provide for all their needs. He will change them in a moment, for this is the rapture of the saints at the coming of Christ. They will have no more need of earthly provisions, for Christ will transform them. All of this is expanded on in the New Testament, particularly in the words of the apostle Paul. ‘Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be changed, ⁵² In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump’ (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). He will call them to meet him in the air. He will come from heaven as he promised so many times, and so long before. The world will not end with some natural disaster, but with the supernatural return of Christ. Those who are taken, are taken into the air to meet the Lord. Their bodies will no longer be subject to earthly restrictions, for they have received resurrection bodies. Along with them will be taken those who have long been dead and have lain in the earth for centuries but who trusted on Christ, in God’s provision of a sacrifice for sin. Nor will those who are still alive have any advantage over those who have died. ‘We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. ¹⁶ 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: ¹⁷ 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 4:15-17).Those who are not taken are lost eternally. In their case the absence of a call from the Lord will mark their eternal doom. Nothing that they say now will persuade him to change his mind, and indeed their hearts condemn them at his coming. They held out against him to the very end. They are not called but remain on the earth, unglorified, untransformed. They see his coming, and they see those who have been chosen by him, and they regret too late that they never responded to the pleas of the gospel.He will come with his saints who have waited patiently for this hour. For those still alive it will be the day of consolation, of reward, and of seeing Christ face to face; but it will also be the day of vengeance and judgment of the wicked. It will be the day when every eye shall see him, whether young or old, rich or poor, great or insignificant. All earthly distinctions will now be as nothing. It will be the day when his enemies cower before him, and his saints rejoice with joy unspeakable. The wicked know what to expect on this day that they hoped would never come. They will hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and say to the mountains and rocks ‘Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: ¹⁷ For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?’ (Revelation 6:16-17). The Lamb! The one who was ready to die for all who come to him. But on that day, if they have never come to him, it will be clear that there was a distinction and that he never died for these.The choice of who is taken and who is left is without possibility of mistake. This is not a choice made in time or as a result of some human decision. It is a choice made from before the foundation of the world. No visible difference can be seen to distinguish one from the other, but the Lord knows his own.