Luke 17: 22 – 37 Day of the Son of Man

Luke 17: 22 – 37 Day of the Son of Man

Then he said to his disciples, "The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be those who will say to you, 'Look, there he is,' (or) 'Look, here he is.' Do not go off, do not run in pursuit. For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be (in his day). But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember the wife of Lot. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left." They said to him in reply, "Where, Lord?" He said to them, "Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather."

The day of the Son of Man is the day that Christ will be vindicated. But first he must suffer much and be rejected by the present age. The inability of many from the present age to recognize Jesus as the Son of God is tragic but not a first. People down through the ages have found reasons not to believe. The refused to believe during the time of Noah, they found reasons not to repent and reform their lives in the time of Sodom. Eventually Jesus says, there will be no more time to change. The Son of Man will return and the hearts of all men and women will be revealed. All that we are and all that we have done will be laid open before God. Our actions and words will speak for us - no room for negotiation or prevarication. We will be judged on the facts of our lives. Not all will fare well that day. Some refuse repeated invitations to believe.