It was a normal, mid-autumn day, just like every other one. People were going about their daily activities. Women were shopping, men at their jobs. Children were at their studies or playing. This day seemed just like every other one. Most giving no thought to their future. And then it happened. Mt. Vesuvius, immediately to the north of the city, exploded in a terrible volcano, covering the city and its inhabitants in burning ash and lava. Thousands died, forever captured in their last motions. This was the scene on that autumn day in 79 AD in the city of Pompeii. Similar events have happened throughout history, where life was going on just like normal, and then, Bam! Suddenly a disaster hits. Everything was going on like it had done before at 5:12 am on April 18, 1906 in San Francisco, when a deadly earthquake hit, killing thousands. Were any of these folks ready to face eternity? Suddenly it happened. No one paying attention to possible warning tremors or smoke coming from the mountain. No one prepared. This is the type of scenario that Jesus gives us in our Scripture passage today from the Gospel of Matthew.
As we look into the Scripture, Jesus was talking to His disciples while in the city of Jerusalem, just days before His crucifixion, and He was describing how it will be like when He, the Son of Man, the Messiah, will return. The message Jesus gave was that it will be sudden. It will be unexpected. No one will know exactly when it will happen.
Jesus describes the time of His return as being “as in the days of Noah”. What was happening right before Noah boarded the ark? Life was going on just as usual. Just like it was going on in Pompeii. Just like it was going on in San Francisco, and numerous other places throughout history before a cataclysmic event happened. We know that God destroyed the world and its inhabitants at the time of Noah because of terrible wickedness. Literally no one outside of Noah and his family cared one bit about God or worshiped Him. Not only was there great wickedness in Noah’s day, but everyone was also preoccupied with everyday life, and not with the things of God and salvation (vs. 37-39). Then judgment came suddenly.
There is one difference between the people in Noah’s day, and that of many events like earthquakes, volcanos, fires, and other things, which is that the people at the time of Noah had plenty of clear warning that the rains and flood would come, but they were not concerned. The people had absolute lack of concern for Noah’s message of the coming flood. They watched him build the ark, and heard him preach of righteousness for many years, but they took no heed. It was a pleasure-oriented, self-gratifying time. No one cared. All that mattered was their present-day life, their plans, and their desires.
That is how it will be when Jesus returns. His Second Coming will be swift and sudden, just like Pompeii and San Francisco, and just like when the rain did start to fall at the time of Noah (vs. 40-42). There will be no opportunity for last minute repentance or bargaining. The choice we have already made will determine our eternal destiny.
No one knows what time the thief is coming when he breaks into your house. If we did, we would be prepared. Jesus compares that with when He will return (vs. 43-44). If we did know, we would be prepared. Jesus wants us to be prepared now, so that we are ready for Him. It is good that we don’t know exactly when He will return. If we did know an exact time, we might grow lazy in our work for Him, knowing that there was plenty of time still before that date came. We might plan to keep sinning, and then turn to God right at the end. However, we don’t know when it will happen. We will be living our lives like normal, and then, Bam! It has happened. At the time of Noah, no one escaped. Neither the rich nor poor, the educated or illiterate, the famous or common folk. They all died in the flood because they did not heed the warnings.
Just as God provided one solitary way of escape for Noah and his family, He has provided one solitary way for any to escape the judgment when He returns, and that is through His Son, Jesus Christ. There is no other way of salvation (Acts 4:12). Jesus is warning us to be prepared. Will you be ready? Those bodies that still lie in the ruins of Pompeii to this day wish they had been ready and taken the route of escape. The only safe choice is to call upon Jesus Christ as your Savior, and be saved today.
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