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Knowing the Danger
(Thief in the Night)

 

Data

(1a) 1Thess 5:2
(1b) 2Pet 3:10
(2a) Thom 21:5
(2b) Thom 103
(3) 2Q: Luke 12:39-40 = Matt 24:43-44
(4a) Rev 3:3;
(4b) Rev 16:15a

 

Texts

(1) Early Christian Instruction

(a) 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5

/1/ Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. /2/ For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. /3/ When they say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! /4/ But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; /5/ for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.

 

(b) 2 Peter 3:10

/8/ But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. /9/ The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. /10/ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.

 

(2) Thomas

(a) Thom 21

/1/ Mary said to Jesus, "What are your disciples like?" /2/ He said,They are like little children living in a field that is not theirs. /3/ When the owners of the field come, they will say, "Give us back our field." /4/ They take off their clothes in front of them in order to give it back to them, and they return their field to them. /5/ For this reason I say, if the owners of a house know that a thief is coming, they will be on guard before the thief arrives, and will not let the thief break into their house (their domain) and steal their possessions. /6/ As for you, then, be on guard against the world. /7/ Prepare yourselves with great strength, so the robbers can't find a way to get to you, for the trouble you expect will come. /8/ Let there be among you a person who understands. /9/ When the crop ripened, he came quickly carrying a sickle and harvested it. /10/ Anyone here with two good ears had better listen! [Complete Gospels]

(b) Thom 103

/1/ Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who know where the rebels are going to attack. [They] can get going, collect their imperial resources, and be prepared before the rebels arrive." [Complete Gospels]

 

(3) Q Gospel

Luke 12:39-40
/39/ "But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. /40/ You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

=Matt 24:43-44
/43/ But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. /44/ Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

(4) Revelation

(a) Rev 3:3

/3/ Remember then what you received and heard; obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.

(b) Rev 16:15

/15/ ("See, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and is clothed, not going about naked and exposed to shame.")

 

Notes

Lectionary

RCL: Year A, Proper 28
ECUSA: & RC: Year
A, 33 Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

John Dominic Crossan

Item: 12
Stratum: I (30-60 CE)
Attestation: Multiple
Historicity: -
Common Sayings Tradition: Yes

Crossan discusses this complex in his 1983 study, In Fragments: The Aphorisms of Jesus (San Francisco, Harper & Row), pages 61-64. In Historical Jesus (page 250f) Crossan notes that the expression "Son of Man" occurs only in the Q version, while the Pauline usage (1 Thess 5:2 and the echo of Paul in 2 Peter 3:10) has "the Lord" as the one who comes like a thief and the remaining occurrences (RevJn 3:3 and 16:5) have Jesus speaking in the first person.

 

Jesus Seminar

The Seminar used "Homeowner and burglar" as the name for this cluster.
Text

Item

 Source

JS Mtg

%Red

%Pink

%Gray

%Black

W Avg

Color
1 Thess 5:2,4b
194
Q, T
89Tor
0
4
11
85
0.06
Black
2 Peter 3:10
194
Q, T
89Tor
0
4
15
81
0.07
Black
Thom 21:5-7
194
Q, T
89Tor
0
16
28
56
0.20
Black
Thom 103
194
Q, T
89Tor
0
37
11
52
0.28
Gray
Luke 12:39
194
Q, T
89Tor
7
22
19
52
0.28
Gray
Matt 24:43
194
Q, T
89Tor
4
19
26
52
0.25
Black
Rev 16:15a
194
Q, T
89Tor
0
4
11
85
0.06
Black

 

Gerd Luedemann

Luedemann [Jesus, 349] suggests that the saying in Luke 12:39 "is probably authentic." He notes that the thief who comes by night, and thus succeeds in his mission, is an example of the immoral hero -- a feature "which is always an indication of authenticity."

 

John P. Meier

Meier does not comment on this tradition.

 

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