Beloved, today Jesus comes to you and says, “Do not wait for me. Do not look for me. I am here!” Behold, brothers and sisters. The kingdom of heaven is on your tongue and in your heart and on your lips.
The Pharisees don't want the kingdom of heaven, but they do want to know when it's coming. Jesus has said that He must suffer, and that's fine. Best to get Him out of the way. But what about God? When He comes, they don't want to miss it. Do you see the problem? Jesus might have said, “I who speak to you am He.” They're separating God from Jesus. They think they know who God is, and, well, this man, this Jesus... He doesn't qualify.
But, beloved, the kingdom of heaven does not come with observation. Of course not! The kingdom of heaven is in you and among you! It is here. It is now. But seeing the Pharisees see but do not perceive. The kingdom of heaven is Jesus, the Incarnate God, standing right there, among them.
But the Pharisees don't have eyes. Faith is not living in their hearts. Though the kingdom stands there and speaks to them plainly, He is not within them, for Pharisees are as Pharisees do. And doing...that's the problem. The Pharisees are occupied with the things of this world and of this life, and so when Life made flesh speaks into their ears, their eyes and their hearts remain closed to Him. Jesus speaks His kingdom into His subjects, but the Pharisees have stopped their ears full of sin unto which they have cleaved.
A few weeks ago we had an apostle who wanted Jesus to give him a number so he could stop forgiving his brother. And today we have Pharisees who want Jesus to tell them when He's coming so they can ignore Him for awhile. If Satan can't make you bad, he'll make you busy. There's some truth there, but it's easy to forget that Satan uses the busy to bring in the bad.
And you've noticed there's a lot of busy in this text. Eating, drinking, getting married. Eating and drinking are marvelous things, and why shouldn't they be? We pray in the prayer Jesus gave us, “Give us this day our daily bread.” So we cook up all sorts of wonderful things He's given us—like sausage—and we say, “Thank you, Lord. You truly are the good giver of all good things, and I thank you that you provide me with all that I need to support this body and life!” And then we eat!
But here, the Pharisees want to hold Jesus at arm's length—or further—and Jesus calls the Pharisees' actions what they are. They are the sign of Noah and the sign of Lot. In Noah's day every inclination of the heart of man was only evil continually. And Lot lived in a community so depraved that they would have raped him if his angelic guests had not saved him.
But Jesus isn't talking about rape. Eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage. These are not sins! These are the good gifts of God. They are daily testimonies of God's gracious provision of our needs.
But even good gifts of God can become idols. The Pharisees may have been healthy eaters and good husbands. In fact, they probably fasted faithfully. They probably worked hard and provided for their families. After all, doing stuff was important! They wanted to earn God's favor by their deeds.
And so Jesus speaks of the day that the Son of Man will be revealed, the day he will be apocalypsed! And you've heard that word. You know that when we are talking Apocalypse, we're talking judgment, wheat and chaff, sheep and goats. Scary stuff. Final stuff. Stuff you don't hide from.
These good gifts of God: the eating, drinking, and marrying... these very things have become the jaws of death that crush the life out of the Pharisees and drag them into hell even as they claw at the ground and by the strength of their deeds try to pull their bodies out of the slimy pit.
Eat, drink, marry, give in marriage! Thank God for these magnificent gifts. But you get it wrong if you look to the gift for good in life. If there's no Giver, there's no Gift. Believe, trust, and love the Giver, the Jesus whose hand is extended on the cross, the nail piercing his sinless flesh and pouring into the chalice the very Life of the World.
The kingdom of heaven does not come by observation. It comes by the suffering, death, and resurrection of the King. It comes by his love that cannot let you go. It comes with the flash of lightning from one end of heaven to the other. It comes with the opening of graves and death being destroyed when Life Incarnate dies.
Do not watch as the Pharisees watch. Do not push away at Jesus as the Pharisees push. He is near you. He is written on your forehead and on your heart. He has removed from you your heart of stone and created a heart of flesh within you. Water has flowed from His side and begotten you of His Father. He is risen and ascended, but Christ is not departed from you.
He is with you alway, to the very end of the age. It is not given us to ask when the days of the Son of Man shall come. But they are nigh. Wake, Awake, for night is flying. Eating, drinking, and marrying. These are good gifts, indeed. For you will in mere minutes eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Bridegroom who has given you His life, His holiness, and His eternal life. Eating, drinking, and being given in marriage are indeed very good things when Jesus is the food, the drink, and the groom.
What is the sign of Noah? God saved eight people through water. He set His bow in the sky and will never again make war on the earth by a flood. But He has sanctified all waters by His Baptism, and will wash you also!
What is the sign of Lot? God has restrained the evil of wicked men and delivered you from the danger of sin, bringing you into the peace and safety of the church, thinking it better to feed you with Himself than to accept your hospitality.
The coming of Jesus. Lightning from one side of heaven to the other. Scary stuff? Sure, but not for you. No fear for you. No terror at your sins. No hiding from God's judgment. Joy for you. Your Bridegroom comes. Holiness for you, your sin destroyed on the cross. Judgment for you, but the verdict is not guilty, for how can a child of the Eternal Father be anything but beloved?
That's the wrong question, and we'd best not try to answer it. You, beloved, are just that: People loved by God... Your sins are forgiven and you are free. And in that freedom you may loudly and fearlessly pray, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”
Amen.
