“How different today would be if our first thought in the morning would be, ‘Perhaps today. Maranatha’. Or when we go to sleep at night, before our eyelids close, we anticipate the night and said, ‘Maranatha. Perhaps before sunrise.”
There is a lot of debate surrounding the exact interpretation of the phrase. Many have translated it as “Our Lord, come!” or “Come, Lord!”. This interpretation appeals as a prayer or cry for the return of Jesus to this earth. However, some believe it means, “Our Lord has come!” In this case, the term exists as a reminder that Jesus indeed has come, and we have hope because of Him. Christianity.com contributor Jessica Udell writes, “Regardless of how we choose to interpret it, it is a reference to some of the most important truths of our faith: Christ has come, and Christ will come again!”
In the early church, believers would greet one another with “maranatha.”
Where Does Paul Use Maranatha in His New Testament Letters?
We find the word maranatha at the end of Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth. In 1 Corinthians 16:22, he writes, “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! (ESV).” In the KJV, this verse reads, “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.”
Anathema is a Greek word meaning “accursed or excommunicated.” As the Enduring Word Commentary describes it, anathema was the third of three levels of discipline among the ancient Jews. Anathema indicated that all hope of reconciliation and repentance was lost. In fact, the man was no longer considered a Jew at all. John Gill’s Exposition of the Bibleargues that within the 1 Corinthians 16passage, maranatha is best understood as a reminder or a wake-up call to the coming of Christ, “when all the wicked of the earth shall be accursed by him, and all such that love him not will be bid to depart from him.”
Many scholars and teachers believe these two words should be rightly interpreted together,not separately. In this context, maranatha points to the second coming of Christ, and Paul refers to the great and terrible day when He comes back to judge the living and the dead. On this day, those who do not love him will be accursed. Charles Spurgeon speaks to the severity of this when he says,
“It were better for you that you had never been born than that you should live and die without love to Christ. Remember that startling sentence of the Apostle Paul which is so solemn that I can scarcely quote it without tears, ‘If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let Him be Anathema Maranatha,’ that is, ‘let Him be accursed at the coming of the Lord.’”
What Can We Learn from the Word of Maranatha Today?
There is no greater hope to live for than the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In light of his return, we are challenged to lead lives of holiness and purity before him. 1 John 3:2-3says, “We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (ESV).
Similarly, 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (ESV). Sanctification and purification are directly linked to His coming as we prepare to see Him face to face and present ourselves blameless before him.
We must always be ready because the Bible makes clear that we do not know the hour when He is coming. The Bible repeatedly uses language such as “stay awake” (Matthew 24:42) and “watch yourselves” (Luke 21:34) when referring to His coming. Matthew 24:44says, “be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (ESV). Properly understanding and living in light of his imminent return produces righteousness and should, therefore, be a significant part of the life of the Christian.
How would we live differently if he was coming—today?
