有一次我们全家一起徒步旅行，我们坐在悬崖上俯瞰山谷，拿出一些用吃剩的烤火鸡做成的三明治。我们刚开始吃东西，一只大秃鹰就从我们身边掠过。很快，它便飞走了，因为它看到没有死的或腐烂的食物可以吃。
在今天的经文中，耶稣对秃鹰的评论与末世的议题有关。人们往往想知道，他们那个时代的灾难是否标志着世界末日。今天也是如此，战争、地震、干旱、飓风、洪水和火灾造成了如此多的破坏和苦难，人们怀疑这些现象是否预示着耶稣的再来。但是当耶稣的门徒让祂解释祂再来的事时，耶稣给了他们一个关于尸首和秃鹰的比喻这样神秘的回答！祂似乎只是在说，如果你看到许多秃鹰聚集在天空中，你就能肯定有东西正在死亡。
在另一段经文中，耶稣补充说，只有父知道末日何时到来——“连天上的使者也不知道，子也不知道，唯独父知道……所以……你们也要预备，因为你们想不到的时候，人子就来了。”（太 24:36, 44）
知道耶稣终会再来，我们才能不断在盼望祂的再来中，忠心为主而活。
主啊，求你帮助我们不要因等候懈怠，乃要在你里面常存盼望，盼望你的再来，慇勤为你而活。阿们。
路加福音 17:22-37
22他又对门徒说：“日子将到，你们巴不得看见人子的一个日子，却不得看见。
23人将要对你们说‘看哪，在那里！’、‘看哪，在这里！’，你们不要出去，也不要跟随他们。
24因为人子在他降临的日子，好像闪电从天这边一闪，直照到天那边。
25只是他必须先受许多苦，又被这世代弃绝。
26挪亚的日子怎样，人子的日子也要怎样。
27那时候的人又吃又喝，又娶又嫁，到挪亚进方舟的那日，洪水就来，把他们全都灭了。
28又好像罗得的日子，人又吃又喝，又买又卖，又耕种又盖造，
29到罗得出所多玛的那日，就有火与硫磺从天上降下来，把他们全都灭了。
30人子显现的日子也要这样。
31当那日，人在房上，器具在屋里，不要下来拿；人在田里，也不要回家。
32你们要回想罗得的妻子！
33“凡想要保全生命的，必丧掉生命；凡丧掉生命的，必救活生命。
34我对你们说：当那一夜，两个人在一个床上，要取去一个，撇下一个；
35两个女人一同推磨，要取去一个，撇下一个。”
37门徒说：“主啊，在哪里有这事呢？”耶稣说：“尸首在哪里，鹰也必聚在哪里。”
"Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather." - Luke 17:37
One time while we were on a hike as a family, we sat on a bluff overlooking a valley, and we took out a bundle of sandwiches made with leftover roast turkey. As soon as we started eating, a large vulture came swooping past us. And just as quickly it flew off again, seeing there was nothing dead or decaying for it to eat.
Jesus' comment about vultures in our reading for today has to do with questions about the end times. People often wonder whether disasters in their era are signs that the world is going to end. Today too, with wars, earthquakes, droughts, hurricanes, floods, and fires causing so much devastation and hardship, people question if these events might be the harbinger of Jesus' return. But when his disciples asked him to explain about his coming again, Jesus gave a cryptic response about dead bodies and vultures! It seems he was simply saying that if you see many vultures gathering in the sky, you can be certain that something is dying.
In another passage Jesus adds that only the Father knows exactly when the end will come—"not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. . . . So . . . be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him" (Matthew 24:36, 44).
Knowing that Jesus will eventually come again, we can live faithfully as we continually look forward to his return.
Lord, help us not to grow weary of waiting but to continually hope in you and to live for you as we long for your coming again. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
