Pentecost Week Twenty-Two- Day Five – One Taken, One Left

Day Five – One Taken, One Left

Luke 17:34–37

Jesus ends this conversation with a moment that feels mysterious — maybe even unsettling.

He says, “On that night, there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding together; one will be taken and the other left.”

And just when we want Jesus to explain what He means, He drops one of the strangest lines in the Gospels:
“Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

So… what do we do with that? Creepy - no?

We listen closely. Because Jesus, even in mystery, is always speaking truth.

Historical Context
In first-century Jewish apocalyptic writing, it was common to describe sudden and final acts of divine judgment with shocking imagery. The unexpected nature of God’s inbreaking — especially in times of judgment or rescue — was a key theme.

This language of “one taken, one left” is not primarily about a rapture — that’s a much later theological framework.

In Luke’s context, Jesus is continuing the theme of sudden judgment (as with Noah and Lot).

 The emphasis is not on where people go, but on the fact that two people can be side-by-side — in the same bed, the same workplace, the same community — and experience radically different outcomes.

One is ready. One is not. It’s not about geography. It’s about the condition of the heart.
 
And that final line — “Where the corpse is, the vultures will gather” — would have been a familiar proverbial phrase in His day.

It meant: you’ll know when the time has come because the signs will be unmistakable. Like vultures circling death, judgment brings its own evidence.

In other words: Don’t wait until the sky is falling to take the Kingdom seriously.

Modern Reflection
We live every day surrounded by people. At work. In marriage. In ministry. In community.
And we assume we’re all on the same page spiritually.

But Jesus reminds us — proximity isn’t the same as intimacy.

You can share a life with someone and still be spiritually headed in very different directions.
This isn’t about fear. It’s about awareness.

The Kingdom doesn’t just come for crowds. It comes for individual hearts:

• Are you awake?
• Are you listening?
• Have you surrendered?

You can’t ride someone else’s response. You can’t borrow someone else’s faith.  Read that again and use it sometime.

When the moment comes — when God calls, when truth confronts, when the Kingdom breaks in — only one question will matter:

Am I ready?

Prayer
Lord,
Wake me up again.
I don’t want to sleep through the things that matter.
Keep me alert — in faith, in love, in obedience.
I don’t want to drift. I want to walk with You.
Let my life reflect a heart that’s already Yours.
And when You come, let me be found ready —
not because I was perfect,
but because I was present.
Amen.


Closing Reflection
Some lines in Scripture are meant to stir us. This is one of them.
“One will be taken, one left.”
Not to scare. But to clarify.
Not to confuse. But to call us awake.
Because when the Kingdom is revealed — it won’t be time to get ready.
There will be no looking back!
Let’s live like it matters.