Vultures Gathering

 


Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking, and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them —it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away; and likewise anyone in the field must not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it. I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left.” Then they asked him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

One of the questions I am often asked in my classes, especially those on Bible study, is why the God of the Old Testament seems so different from the God of the New Testament. It is almost like they are two different gods. The problem is one of perception. We don’t see clearly. Consequently, our understanding is superficial. If I were to ask the average person to describe Jesus, among the adjectives he would use would be loving, merciful, kind-hearted, and compassionate.

 

While these descriptions are undoubtedly accurate, they paint a very one-dimensional picture of Jesus, because he was very, very tough. However, we either can’t see this side of him, or we choose not to, because if we saw him as being tough then we would have to take him more seriously than we do. No? We make the same mistake in painting the God of the Old Testament, only in reverse. We only see only the tough side of God, and the loving, merciful, kind-hearted and compassionate side of him escapes us completely. 

 

In today’s passage we see the tougher side of Jesus, as he continues to talk about end times. And he mentions two incidents from the Old Testament to describe the suddenness with which it would come. People would be eating, drinking and making merry, ignoring all the warnings they were given about impending disaster, and then suddenly were swept away in a flood, or destroyed in a fire. Why did they ignore the multiple warnings they were given to get their acts together? The simple answer is because they didn’t want to stop having fun! Or, if you want it put bluntly, they didn’t want to stop sinning!

 

Is it any different for us? Covid-19 hit the world at the beginning of the year. There were lock-downs everywhere and people were forced to stay at home wondering how long their provisions would last them. Death seemed to be lurking around every corner. I thought the world would be shocked to its senses and turn toward God in repentance, but I guess the world has a harder heart than I imagined. It reminds me of Pharaoh. Even after ten plagues, his heart never changed.

 

I really hope ours does. 

 

Watch the video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here: https://youtu.be/e6uZhBCZZ_g

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