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God's Kingdom
(Matthew 24.23-28,37-41)
20Some Pharisees asked Jesus when God's kingdom would come. He answered, “God's kingdom isn't something you can see. 21There is no use saying, ‘Look! Here it is’ or ‘Look! There it is.’ God's kingdom is here with you.”
22Jesus said to his disciples:
The time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not. 23When people say to you, “Look there,” or “Look here,” don't go looking for him. 24The day of the Son of Man will be like lightning flashing across the sky. 25But first he must suffer terribly and be rejected by the people of today. 26 When the Son of Man comes, things will be just as they were when Noah lived. 27 People were eating, drinking, and getting married right up to the day when Noah went into the big boat. Then the flood came and drowned everyone on earth.
28 When Lot lived, people were also eating and drinking. They were buying, selling, planting, and building. 29But on the very day Lot left Sodom, fiery flames poured down from the sky and killed everyone. 30The same will happen on the day when the Son of Man appears.
31 At that time no one on a rooftop should go down into the house to get anything. No one in a field should go back to the house for anything. 32 Remember what happened to Lot's wife.
33 People who try to save their lives will lose them, and those who lose their lives will save them. 34On that night two people will be sleeping in the same bed, but only one will be taken. The other will be left. 35-36Two women will be together grinding wheat, but only one will be taken. The other will be left.
37Then Jesus' disciples spoke up, “But where will this happen, Lord?”
Jesus said, “Where there is a corpse, there will always be vultures.”
Reflect
Jesus said that a time is coming when we will long to see him, on this earth, in his glory. While theologians have debated over how best to interpret this passage, and how it relates to both Christ’s crucifixion and what will happen when Christ comes again, one thing is clear – right here, right now, we long to see Jesus.
We long for the comfort and security of having him on this broken earth in human form, with a face we can look into and a voice we can clearly hear. We long for that future day when he will return – to repair our broken humanity, set the wrong things to right, and draw us to be with him. We do not know when or how, we’re each going to get to see Jesus face to face, whether it be at the end of our lives or the end of the world.
But here’s what we do know: when Jesus acts, you’re not going to be able to miss it. Like a flash of lightning from one end of the sky to the other, Jesus is going to be seen. Whether you are longing for Jesus or wanting to shove him away to be forgotten in a corner, the very same Jesus who heals the broken and cares for the poor is going to appear, in this world, in his way, according to his schedule, to enact his mission in the lives of his people. And when that happens, we’re not to turn back for anything.
Respond
Dear Jesus, Thank you for all the ways you’ve given us to connect with you, through prayer, the scriptures, your people and your Spirit moving in our lives. We long for the day when you will return to enact your perfect will in our lives. Help us be ready for your coming. Amen.
Mags Storey
Mags Storey is an award-winning novelist and journalist, who has lived in Canada, the United States, the Middle East and Europe. She has written for a number of not-for-profit and faith-based publications, and has been Senior Editor of ChristianWeek. Her debut romantic suspense novel, If Only You Knew (Kregel) came out in 2009, and she is publishing a thriller with Harlequin in 2013. She is drawn to a non-institutionalized Jesus and attends an Anglican church.