There are prophecies about events at the climax of the present age but are the words of Jesus which we read today in Luke 17 uncertain in our minds, too dramatic to be taken literally? Jesus says, “For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will it be in his day” (verse 24). He adds, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot … but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom … so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed” (verses 26-30).

Our world is in a mess and its uncertainties about the future increase all the time. To some degree we have got used to living with uncertainties about the future, by investing all our energies in the present.

The king of the promised kingdom was “in the midst of you” (verse 21). Jesus told the Pharisees, but they were blind to this challenging fact. Similarly, the words of Jesus, and those written by the Apostles, are available today in every language, but how few are awake to the message they contain about the end of the age!

It is not just a message about today! It is not just a message about the coming climax, but, just as important, it is about the attitude of heart we must develop if we are to have trust in God. We read in Proverbs, “Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you … write them on the tablet of your heart … in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths” (3:3,5,6).