From my Kingdom of Heaven Study
Luke 17:20-37
I believe that the Bible is the infallible, inerrant Word of God. And I believe that because of faith. But I’m human, and it doesn’t hurt to see something a little more concrete than that sometimes.
In reading about the Kingdom of God, I came across this passage. Jesus was telling the disciples about when He would come back to earth to gather his people. There is much in this passage I don’t understand, but what struck me is so simple but yet so amazing!
Consider verse 24a: “For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.”
What characterizes lightning? I thought. Well, it occurs in an instant. It isn’t long and drawn out. It’s here and gone.
Then, look at the rest of the passage, focusing on verses 34 and 35:
“That night two people will be asleep in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour together at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. ” Luke 17:34-35 (NLT)
Verse 34 describes what it will be like at night. Verse 35 describes what it will be like during the day.
So, it is supposed to happen in an instant, and it will happen where it will be day one place and night another.
Of course, no big deal, right? We don’t think anything of that because we know that is possible. But back in Jesus’ time, they thought the world was flat, which means day and night couldn’t happen simultaneously in their worldview.
Do you see how awe-inspiring this is? It shows that Jesus WAS divine. How, otherwise, could he have said this? If he thought the world was flat (thus being merely human), he wouldn’t have said what he did. It wouldn’t have been possible by mere human thinking.
Of course, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God by faith. But isn’t it neat when the Bible gives us just a little bit of “extra?”
Praise God with me that the Jesus, the author of our salvation, is indeed the Son of God. And that he took on human form to live and die and conquer death – for us.