Moment of Meditation: Lightning (Matthew 24:27)

''For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:27).''

For those who are waiting for a secret rapture of Christians to take them away from the troubles of the Great Tribulation, I have to say that Jesus says otherwise. "For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west." Everyone will be able to see Jesus when He returns. There is nothing secret about this appearance. When Jesus returns, there will be no mistaking it.

As lightning lights up the darkened skies of a storm, so Jesus also lights up the world through His appearing. As we go through this Epiphany season in the Church Year, Jesus lights up the world again and again. Showing us by His ministry that we are children of a most merciful God. Jesus appears as a man, but He is God in the flesh. Again and again, He jolts His disciples by proving His divinity by His great miracles and teachings.

But the lightning isn't the only thing that happens when Jesus returns. St. Paul tells us, "For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to mee the Lord in the air" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

When Jesus returns, everything will change. And there will be no mistaking His appearing. Amen.