Then we which are alive and remain shall be {i} caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

(i) Suddenly and in the twinkling of an eye.

People's New Testament

4:17 Then we... together with them. All the church, the saints of past ages, and the saints of the last age, shall ascend together to meet the Lord.

So shall we ever be with the Lord. That glorious meeting shall never end.

Wesley's Notes

4:17 Together - In the same moment. In the air - The wicked will remain beneath, while the righteous, being absolved, shall be assessors with their Lord in the judgment. With the Lord - In heaven.

Scofield Reference Notes

[1] caught up

Not church saints only, but all bodies of the saved, of whatever dispensation, are included in the first resurrection. See Scofield Note: "1Cor 15:52" as here described, but it is peculiarly the "blessed hope" of the Church (cf) Mt 24:42 25:13 Lk 12:36-48 Acts 1:11 Phil 3:20,21 Ti 2:11-13.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

17. we which are alive . shall be caught up-after having been "changed in a moment" (1Co 15:51, 52). Again he says, "we," recommending thus the expression to Christians of all ages, each generation bequeathing to the succeeding one a continually increasing obligation to look for the coming of the Lord. [Edmunds].

together with them-all together: the raised dead, and changed living, forming one joint body.

in the clouds-Greek, "in clouds." The same honor is conferred on them as on their Lord. As He was taken in a cloud at His ascension (Ac 1:9), so at His return with clouds (Re 1:7), they shall be caught up in clouds. The clouds are His and their triumphal chariot (Ps 104:3; Da 7:13). Ellicott explains the Greek, "robed round by upbearing clouds" [Aids to Faith].

in the air-rather, "into the air"; caught up into the region just above the earth, where the meeting (compare Mt 25:1, 6) shall take place between them ascending, and their Lord descending towards the earth. Not that the air is to be the place of their lasting abode with Him.

and so shall we ever be with the Lord-no more parting, and no more going out (Re 3:12). His point being established, that the dead in Christ shall be on terms of equal advantage with those found alive at Christ's coming, he leaves undefined here the other events foretold elsewhere (as not being necessary to his discussion), Christ's reign on earth with His saints (1Co 6:2, 3), the final judgment and glorification of His saints in the new heaven and earth.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

4:13-18 Here is comfort for the relations and friends of those who die in the Lord. Grief for the death of friends is lawful; we may weep for our own loss, though it may be their gain. Christianity does not forbid, and grace does not do away, our natural affections. Yet we must not be excessive in our sorrows; this is too much like those who have no hope of a better life. Death is an unknown thing, and we know little about the state after death; yet the doctrines of the resurrection and the second coming of Christ, are a remedy against the fear of death, and undue sorrow for the death of our Christian friends; and of these doctrines we have full assurance. It will be some happiness that all the saints shall meet, and remain together for ever; but the principal happiness of heaven is to be with the Lord, to see him, live with him, and enjoy him for ever. We should support one another in times sorrow; not deaden one another's spirits, or weaken one another's hands. And this may be done by the many lessons to be learned from the resurrection of the dead, and the second coming of Christ. What! comfort a man by telling him he is going to appear before the judgment-seat of God! Who can feel comfort from those words? That man alone with whose spirit the Spirit of God bears witness that his sins are blotted out, and the thoughts of whose heart are purified by the Holy Spirit, so that he can love God, and worthily magnify his name. We are not in a safe state unless it is thus with us, or we are desiring to be so.