In a Flash of Lightening

“Once when having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21 As we learn to live like Jesus, following his teachings to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves, indeed the kingdom of God will be here now, as we live and breathe – justice and peace, love and healing.

But then Jesus turns to his disciples and begins to teach them. “Men will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightening, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.” Luke 17:23-24 This sounds like I won’t be able to miss it. It also helps me know that I don’t need to worry myself with ‘sightings’ here and there because that is not how his kingdom comes.

The following verses leave a lot of confusion in our church today. There are so many views of how the end times will be and theologians and scholars don’t agree on what different verses mean. While these verses seem to point to a ‘big event’, namely the return of Christ when he will take his followers up to be with him, we can also look at it from the perspective Jesus begins with saying that the “kingdom of God is within us.” Luke 17:21

There is a time in everyone’s life when they are going about their business and Christ comes before them and they need to decide whether or not they will follow him.

People will be going about their business – just like in the days of Noah before the flood and in Sodom before sulfur rained down on them. “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” Luke 17:30-36

And then the disciples ask the question, “Where?” to which Jesus replies, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.” Luke 17:37

What is clear to me here is that Jesus is saying that I need to be ready and not look back. That is made clear in earlier chapters of Luke as well. If I look at this from the perspective of here, today, the focus is more on having my heart so completely operating in God’s kingdom even now that I won’t regret losing the things of this earth as I leave them. As I let go of this life, God will give me so much more life in his kingdom – even now.

I wonder if we can also see that the kingdom of God comes to individuals as they meet God for the first time or meet him in new ways and give their hearts over to him. This happens in the midst of our lives as we go about our business. For that person, Christ comes to them as a flash of lightening. Suddenly they get it! Suddenly they understand he is the Christ and he loves them and they decide they want to be his servant. And he lights up their whole sky as they begin to see how their relationship with Christ permeates and invades everything they say and do.

There is an urgency in these verses. Don’t turn back. Don’t try to bring anything with you. Keep forging ahead as God’s kingdom comes here on earth as it is in heaven.

Even as I draw from these verses encouragement to keep my focus on Christ, I am left dumbfounded by the last verse regarding the vultures gathering around the dead. Where did that come from? What is the dead body? Who are the vultures?

I wonder if I’m making too much of it. Maybe he simply means you won’t have to worry about seeing it when it happens. It will be as obvious as knowing there is a dead body because the vultures have gathered.

Lord, please light up my sky with your presence. Let your kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven. Even now, Lord, I want to see your goodness prevail in times of trouble. And I look forward to eternity when I can leave behind all the troubles of this world and forever be at peace in your presence. Thank you, Lord.