Jesus has just corrected the Pharisees perception about the Kingdom of God, saying it is already here but they cannot see it with their senses, that it already dwells among them, Jesus most likely referring to himself as the Kingdom as he has elsewhere said he is the Temple also. He then turned to his disciples and prophesied of the coming days of the Son of Man, the divine Messianic figure spoken of by the prophet Daniel. These days will be divinely orchestrated, obvious to the senses and sudden. It is following this that Jesus begins in verse 26.
26 As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of man.
Jesus compares the future he is speaking about to past events. The days of Noah referencing Genesis 5:28 – 9:29 which tells the story of Noah, a prophet whom God makes a covenant, instructs to build an ark to protect his family from a divinely orchestrated flood. This flood was to cleanse the earth of it’s sin which had be made manifest by the free will of creatures. We can see the elements of both purifying and saving but also destruction and judgement in the days of Noah.
27 They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Here Jesus illustrates how it will be like the days of Noah. People will go on about their lives ignoring the warnings of prophets continuing to eat, drink and marry, essentially living like a future of the land they are in will exist and not be destroyed. So will the people of Israel until 70 AD when God uses the Roman empire to destroy the Temple scatter his people throughout the world.
28 Likewise as it was in the days of Lot—they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built,
Jesus compares the event in his prophecy to another well known divine orchestrated destruction event, in the days of Lot, Abraham’s Nephew, once again people living for a future that will not exist and if they paid attention to the warnings they would leave these lives of theirs in order to save them.
29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom fire and sulphur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—
The moment Lot leaves, because he listened to the warnings,the condemned city of Sodom received divine judgement from the skies as fire and sulphur destroy it. It is also important once again to note the events being initiated by God are acts of judgement of an unclean people rife with sin.
30 so will it be on the day when the Son of man is revealed.
When the son of man is revealed, the word of revealed is “apokalyptō” this is the root of our word apocalypse and as it is used here, its meaning is unveiling something that is hidden. This speaks to the full nature of Christ, to many during his ministry he was a healer, a prophet and even a nuisance but no earthly individual has yet to comprehend his full identity except maybe for Peter but even he did not figure that out on his own and also it was really only in name only. The full substance of Christ was yet to be revealed. This would happen in the future era that would come after his death, resurrection and ascension.
31 On that day, let him who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away; and likewise let him who is in the field not turn back.
In this moment of divine judgement people on their rooftops should not retrieve their possessions on the way out of escaping the city as is related to Lot escape Sodom. This phrase might come of as unusual because of how modern western housing is considered but houses where Jesus lives were different in layout. Possessions would be inside the house (obviously) there would be an external staircase or ladder to a flat roof that people would relax on, kind of the equivalent to a garden seating area so he is saying those on the roof should leave by the staircase, not go back into their home and just leave.
“In Jesus’ day, houses often had flat roofs, accessed by ladders or external stairs. The urgency of Jesus’ message is emphasized by the imagery: when judgment comes, there is no time to go down and retrieve anything, not even to descend to safety from the roof” (Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, p. 432).
Those who are out in the fields should not turn back to the doomed city. Fields were located outside of the city limits which were limited to trade, governance and temple activities. Keener also comments on the geographic layout: “Fields were typically located outside the walled cities, and the instruction to not return reflects the suddenness and finality of the judgment about to fall” (Keener, Bible Background Commentary, p. 156).
32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.
As a warning Jesus refers back to Lot’s wife who is killed because she turns and looks back at the city. This emphasizes the graveness of these warnings. He is firmly establishing those who look back will die. He then follows it with a teaching that elsewhere has been left in a state of interpretive mystery but here in this placement gives clarification to its literal meaning. “Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it”. In this context we can clearly see the literal meaning being “your life as you know it is coming to an end, if you cling to it you will lose it but if you leave and embrace a new life you will not die, for example, refuse to leave the condemned city you live in? you will die, you cannot stop what is coming you will simply be taken up in the destruction but if you abandon this life, move somewhere else, you will not suffer in that particular event.
34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.
Jesus begins with “I tell you”, he is prophesying a future event. The text itself is referring to a domestic setting where two are in one “bed” but the greek word used is klinē. First century hebrews did not have the same family conventions as we do. John Nolland (in his commentary on Luke) points out that klinē was not just a bed for sleeping but a space for reclining during meals in a communal setting, and it was typical for such furniture to be placed in the main room of the house Bible Backgrounds. With this in mind we can go back a few verses to those “eating” up until judgement and we can see that Jesus is referring to those common life activities but something happens, one is “taken” and another is left. The greek word is paralambanō which based on it’s biblical usage is perceived as something positive not negative. For example when Jesus is “receiving” his disciples or when Jesus “takes” people to himself (John 14:3). Another within this same family home will be left (aphiēmi) . Considering the previous statements by Jesus, the context is about getting away from a city that is going to be destroyed so combining the positive use elsewhere of paralambano with that, those who are taken are the ones preserved from the punishment and those that are left are not. This connects very coherently with Jesus’ earlier teaching about a family house being divided Luke 12:51-53, with some who are loyal to Jesus’s kingdom and others who are not.
Keener (Bible Background Commentary): Keener explains that while the Mosaic covenant was national in scope, Jesus’ kingdom is universal but individual in its application. The shift from a corporate to a personal response means that not all members of a family will necessarily enter the kingdom of God, as the decision to follow Jesus is one that must be made individually, regardless of familial ties.
Jesus has corrected the perception on who will receive the kingdom (Matthew 5:1-11 the beatitudes) but now he is correcting the perception on who will escape future events of divine catastrophe and in both cases the jewish mainstream opinion is wrong.
35 There will be two women grinding together; one will be taken and the other left.”
Same division as before but now in the context of those who are working in the fields or elsewhere. Those who are obedient, who have faith will not question the warning they will just up and leave whereas the others will carry on eating, drinking and working until the judgement arrives
37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”
When the disciples ask, “Where, Lord?” they may be inquiring about the location of the judgment or the gathering of the “taken” ones. Jesus’ cryptic reply about the body and eagles suggests that the location will be self-evident when the time comes. Ezekiel 39:17-20 describes birds and animals feasting on the flesh of fallen armies, symbolizing divine judgment on the wicked. Jesus’ use of similar imagery may evoke this apocalyptic picture for His audience.
The Greek word aetoi can mean either “eagles” or “vultures.” In this context, it likely refers to scavenging birds drawn to a corpse. This imagery conveys the idea that judgment follows sin as naturally and inevitably as vultures follow death.
N.T Wright interprets the saying in the historical context of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. The “body” represents the corrupt city, and the “eagles” signify the Roman legions Bible Backgrounds