Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, but you won’t see it. People will tell you, ‘Look, there is the Son of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’ but don’t go out and follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of Man comes. But first the Son of Man must suffer terribly and be rejected by this generation. Luke 17:22-25
We began these Lenten meditations with the theme of preparation and looked at ways in which various people of the Bible were called upon to be prepared in some way. The text for this meditation is actually the ultimate preparation text in the Bible. Jesus says this in response to the Pharisee’s question, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”
Jesus warned the Pharisees that the coming of the Kingdom of God defies normal human expectations. And he uses two examples that are familiar to Bible readers. The first example was of thje world at thje time of Noah. Life went on as usual: parties, weddings, work, etc. Meanwhile, Noah quietly built his boat and warned those who listened. They were shocked and unprepared when the flood came.
The second example was of Sodom at the time of Lot. One day fire fell from the sky and destroyed it all. Again, no one had prepared for such catastrophe, and no one ever is. We think that our lives will go on in predictable ways.
The coming of the Day of the Lord is like that. Jesus said it’s like lightening that you can’t predict. Powerful, frightening in its display and force. Capable of destruction. Flashing across the sky. The only preparation you can make for lightening is to put a lightning rod on your house, stay off of mountain tops in a storm, and never carry metal objects in a storm.
The Kingdom was on everyone’s mind. In the case of this text, it was the Pharisees. In Acts 1 it is the disciples asking about the kingdom. Jesus’ point to them and us is that the Kingdom is like lightening. You can only prepare for it, but you can’t predict it.
Prayer: O God, we urgently desire your kingdom. But it is hard to stay in that frame of mind because time seems to plod on, and life seems to go in ever-spinning circles. So we pray for you to get our hearts alert and prepared. Ready for whenever you come. In Jesus’ name. Amen.