MAY 20, 2014
Once
Upon A Time
Read: Matthew
24:32-44
The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in
the belly of the fish three days and three nights. —Jonah 1:17
Some people say that
the Bible is just a collection of fairy tales. A boy slaying a giant. A man
swallowed by a big fish. Noah’s boat-building experience. Even some religious
people think that these events are just nice stories with a good moral.
Jesus Himself,
however, spoke of Jonah and the giant fish, and Noah and the flood, as actual
events: “As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man
be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and
did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the
coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt. 24:37-39). His return will happen when
we’re not expecting it.
Jesus compared Jonah’s
3 days inside the big fish to the 3 days He would experience in the grave
before His resurrection (Matt. 12:40). And Peter talked about Noah and the
flood when he equated it to a future day when Jesus comes back (2 Peter 2:4-9).
God gave us His Word;
it’s a book that is filled with truth—not fairy tales. And one day, we will
live happily ever after with Him when Jesus comes again and receives His
children to Himself.
We’re waiting for You,
Lord, to come
And take us home to be
with You;
Your promise to return
for us
Gives hope because we
know it’s true. —Sper
We have reason for
optimism if we’re looking for Christ’s return.
Insight
In His teaching,
Christ often used examples from nature, as He did here with the fig tree (Matt.
24:32). He communicated to His listeners with word-pictures that would be
familiar to them. They were part of an agricultural society that mostly lived
outdoors, so nature became the perfect vehicle for His presentation of
spiritual truths.
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
