Where Do You Stand?

AND HE SAID TO THE DISCIPLES, “THE DAYS SHALL COME WHEN YOU WILL LONG TO SEE ONE OF THE DAYS OF THE SON OF MAN, AND YOU WILL NOT SEE IT. 23 AND THEY WILL SAY TO YOU, ‘LOOK THERE! LOOK HERE!’ DO NOT GO AWAY, AND DO NOT RUN AFTER THEM. 24 FOR JUST AS THE LIGHTNING, WHEN IT FLASHES OUT OF ONE PART OF THE SKY, SHINES TO THE OTHER PART OF THE SKY, SO WILL THE SON OF MAN BE IN HIS DAY. 25 BUT FIRST HE MUST SUFFER MANY THINGS AND BE REJECTED BY THIS GENERATION. 26 AND JUST AS IT HAPPENED TO THE DAYS OF NOAH, SO IT SHALL BE ALSO IN THE DAYS OF THE SON OF MAN. 27 THEY WERE EATING, THEY WERE DRINKING, THEY WERE MARRYING, THEY WERE BEING GIVEN IN MARRIAGE, UNTIL THE DAY THAT NOAH ENTERED THE ARK, AND THE FLOOD CAME AND DESTROYED THEM ALL. 28 IT WAS THE SAME AS HAPPENED IN THE DAYS OF LOT; THEY WERE EATING, THEY WERE DRINKING, THEY WERE BUYING, THEY WERE SELLING, THEY WERE PLANTING, THEY WERE BUILDING; 29 BUT ON THE DAY THAT LOT WENT OUT FROM SODOM IT RAINED FIRE AND BRIMSTONE FROM HEAVEN AND DESTROYED THEM ALL. 30 IT WILL BE JUST THE SAME ON THE DAY THAT THE SON OF MAN IS REVEALED.”

Jesus, Peter, James and John had come down from the Mount of the Transfiguration. No one knows exactly where that was, but it was somewhere in the Northern part of Israel.

On the Mount they had seen Him talk with Moses and Elijah, and they had seen Him transformed physically; they had seen Him in His glory. Now, He had set His face to go to Jerusalem, where He would die on the cross. He knew it, and although they didn’t understand, He told them.

When a man is facing certain death, His priorities change, don’t they? He does the things he thinks most important, and he says things to his loved ones that he won’t have a chance to say later. This is what Jesus did.

He knew that in just a few weeks He would not be with them any more, so as they traveled toward Jerusalem He continued to teach them and prepare them for what was to come (see verse 25).

So it is interesting to note that in His last days on earth, Jesus talked about His second coming. In effect, He was saying, “I’ll be gone soon, but don’t worry, I’ll be back”.

Now carefully read verses 26-30

In those verses Jesus was talking about the days we live in. The condition of our world is just like it was in the days of Noah, and again in the days of Lot. People were doing “their own thing”. The attitude then, was just as it is now; “every man doing what seemed right in his own eyes” (You’ll see that phrase a couple of times in the book of Judges) ...but not necessarily in the eyes of God.

People are living as though all that matters is today. All that matters is what they can get for themselves; hoard for themselves; demanding their own ‘rights’; ignoring the warnings.

Thinking they are being ‘good’, they are focusing so much on the things of this world that they are making gods for themselves out of things that will pass away. “Save the planet!” “Save the whales!” “Be politically correct!” “Don’t rock the boat; don’t say things to people that will upset them, ..no matter how true!” “Live and let live!”

Jesus says, “For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day.” In other words, like the flashing of lightning from one part of the sky to the other, that is how fast and unexpected His coming will be. First time, as a little baby born to lowly poor folks. Second time, as powerful, reigning, King of the universe, to set things right.

Those who belong to Him will rejoice. Those who do not...well...where do YOU stand?