Eat, But Understand

Eat, but Understand

Read: Matthew 24:36-44

“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”

Matthew 24:37

“Realize what is true: This world is in haste and the end approaches.”

—Gregory the Great

IN WORD What was it like in the days of Noah? To the people who lived then, it was all probably pretty normal. People ate and drank as usual, and they made long-term arrangements like getting married. They worked, played, and laughed, just like we do. They grieved and worried, just like we do. From their frame of reference, it was probably a normal life. There was certainly no disaster on their horizon.

Surely Jesus is not implying that there is something inherently ungodly in eating and drinking and marrying, is He? Didn’t He ordain all these things? Yes, but in their proper order. Life was never to consist of these things alone. They were all to be done in the context of a relationship with the living God.

That’s what is so subtle about the coming of the Son of Man. Though it will be a dramatic event that all will recognize, the days leading up to it will not. People will eat and drink and marry, and most will not think anything about it. The difference between those who are ready and those who are not will not necessarily be the activities of their lives. We will all eat and drink, and many will marry. But those who are ready will see them as shadows of things to come. They will do them with a longing for the final redemption, with a holy hunger for a more permanent fulfillment. They will know that life—real life—has not yet been fully realized.

IN DEED Many think that being well fed and well connected is what a fully realized life is like. For them, there is no higher goal, nothing else on the horizon to be looking for. They will be stunned when He comes. The idea of a physically fulfilled life on earth as an ultimate goal will appear ridiculously foolish. As for those in the days of Noah, final judgment will burst upon the scene without warning. Like Noah himself, believers will know that the judgment has been amply foretold. More than that, we will have prepared well for the eternal banquet, longing for its better eating, better drinking, and the ultimate marriage.