20 Once the Pharisees asked Jesus when God’s kingdom would come. He replied, “The coming of God’s kingdom is not something you can see just by watching for it carefully. 21 People will not say, ‘Here it is.’ Or, ‘There it is.’ God’s kingdom is among you.”
22 Then Jesus spoke to his disciples. “The time is coming,” he said, “when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man. But you won’t see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ Or, ‘Here he is!’ Don’t go running off after them.
24 “When the Son of Man comes, he will be like the lightning. It flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first the Son of Man must suffer many things. He will not be accepted by the people of today.
26 “Remember how it was in the days of Noah. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. 27 People were eating and drinking. They were getting married. They were giving their daughters to be married. They did all those things right up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking. They were buying and selling. They were planting and building. 29 But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven. And all the people were destroyed.
30 “It will be just like that on the day the Son of Man is shown to the world. 31 Suppose someone is on the roof of his house on that day. And suppose his goods are inside the house. He should not go down to get them. No one in the field should go back for anything either. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Anyone who tries to keep his life will lose it. Anyone who loses his life will keep it.
34 “I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed. One person will be taken and the other left. 35-36 Two women will be grinding grain together. One will be taken and the other left.”
37 “Where, Lord?” his disciples asked.
He replied, “The vultures will gather where there is a dead body.”
Read Luke 17:20-37 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
While our passage for this journal entry has many things we could focus in on, today, I want to focus our attention on an idea that is clearly stated, but often discounted or entirely skipped over.
“When the Son of Man comes, he will be like the lightning. It flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.” (v. 24)
This verse comes right after Jesus tells His disciples (also very clearly) that if someone claims that He returned and is off somewhere else, that we should not believe them.
The really clear piece of this verse I want to point out is the word “he”: “When the Son of Man comes, He will be like the lightning”.
What is really clear in this verse is not just that there will be a lightning storm, but that Jesus will appear like lightning appears: Both clear to everyone, and visible with our naked eye.
In a storm, everyone who is looking outside can see the lightning. It is visible from all vantage points. In the same way, Jesus will be visible from all vantage points.
The idea that He is going to come secretly and steal away His righteous followers runs completely against this one verse. A few verses later (v. 34-36), when describing how one person is taken while another is left behind does not describe a secret act, but a very public act, and an act where Jesus is visible to all.
Jesus’ return is described as lightening, and there will be nothing secret about it! He warned His followers to avoid falling for any rumors of a secret return.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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