The Second Coming

One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”

Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs.  You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’  For the Kingdom of God is already among you.”

Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, but you won’t see it.  People will tell you, ‘Look, there is the Son of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’ but don’t go out and follow them.  For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of Man comes.  But first the Son of Man must suffer terribly and be rejected by this generation.

“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day.  In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all.

“And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot.  People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building—until the morning Lot left Sodom.  Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.  Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.  On that day a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack.  A person out in the field must not return home.  Remember what happened to Lot’s wife!  If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.  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.”

“Where will this happen, Lord?” the disciples asked.

Jesus replied, “Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.” [Luke 17.20-37]

Here is Jesus' version of the Second Coming.

One thing He says that really got my attention is that He stated that a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack and a person out in the field must not return home.  This instruction should give us some insight as to what the "event" will be like!  It would seem there is not an unconscious "catching away" as some have stated, but that it will be an event that unfolds in some way where each person will have a final decision at least whether to stay on the roof or out in the field.  And, having said that, their potential decision not to stay put, would render them in the same condition as Lot's wife-a condition to be avoided at all cost.  But read on...

In the same breath, Jesus also indicated that in this time of the Second Coming, there will be the opportunity to either cling to life or let it go.  This is where I would think most Christians should have a wake-up call as most will say they "want to go to heaven - just not right now!"  Jesus, to the contrary, indicated that one must literally have a 'death wish' in order to save his own life at the Second Coming.  Christians need to think this through!!

I realize that people may wish to quote the Apostle Paul or others on Jesus' Second Coming...  But should that be done in disregard to what the Son of God Himself stated and even warned?

I, for one, say, let's understand what Paul and others stated in light of what Jesus originally stated and not the other way around.

Father, I want to be ready.  I want to be ready for whatever last-minute decisions may determine my fate at Jesus' return!