Entry
Remember Lot's wife / Lot's wife
What did Jesus mean
Feel it fully or not at all.
Where did Jesus say this
Luke 17:22–33 — And he said unto the disciples: The days will come when ye shall desire to see one day of the son of man, and ye shall not see it. And they shall say to you, See here, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightning that appeareth out of the one part of the heaven, and shineth unto the other part of heaven, so shall the son of man be in his days. But first must he suffer many things, and be refused of this nation. As it happened in the time of Noe, so shall it be in the time of the son of man. They ate, they drank, they married wives, and were married, even unto the same day that Noe went into the ark: and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it chanced in the days of Lot. They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built. And even the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. After these ensamples shall it be in the day when the son of man shall appear. At that day, he that is on the housetop and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it out. And likewise let not him that is in the fields turn back again to that he left behind. Remember Lot’s wife. Whosoever will go about to save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life shall save it.
A historical sidenote
In this verse, Jesus references three separate examples (ensamples):
- Jesus’s death and judgment day
- The flooding and Noah’s Ark
- Lot’s wife and the destruction of Sodom
He’s drawing parallels to make a point.
Words Behind the Words
Jesus referred to himself as “the son of man.” So when he uses this in the passage, he’s referring to himself in third person.
A biblical sidenote
To fully understand this passage, you need to understand the reference to Lot’s wife. Here’s where she was mentioned in Genesis:
Genesis 19:17 — “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither tarry thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.”
Genesis 19:24–26 — “Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven… But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.”
The picture painted is a woman who was saved by God (commanded by the angels to leave), but for some reason, she still longingly looked back at her home (despite receiving a warning not to do so). As a result, she turned to salt, frozen in regret.
What Jesus did not mean
This particular passage from Jesus is a big one, with lots of parallels, “ensamples,” and — let’s face it — horror and destruction.
Despite the horror and destruction, however, Jesus did not mean for this to scare you. So, let’s first break down this passage in a modern way, and then we’ll dissect what Jesus meant.
Jesus is speaking to his disciples, telling them that he will suffer, be refused by people, and die. Once he dies, they (his disciples) will long to see him, even just for one day. People will claim that they have found Jesus in a building, on a mountain, in a book, in a ritual… but don’t believe them. When Jesus comes back, it will be unmistakable. And just as it was for Noah and for Lot’s family, Jesus’s return will be sudden. Everyone will be wrapped up in the kosmos, and if people decide to stay wrapped up in that life, they will not be rescued by Jesus and will lose the life they were built to live with God.
It’s a lesson, coupled with a warning.
The lesson: Don’t be like Lot’s wife.
The warning: You will be trapped in the kosmos if you look back.
Where to start
For starters, you must stop focusing on judgment day. If you are so wrapped up by the ending and what that means for you, then you are forgetting about the journey that leads you there. The journey is what settles judgment day for you. The anxiety you feel about being judged will leave you unprepared and provide no room for the love that Jesus wants to fill you with.
And then we have Lot’s wife, which directly ties to the above. If you’re stuck on something other than building a relationship with Jesus — whether that be judgment day or the kosmos — then you’re not fully in it. You’re not fully feeling it. You’re frozen in time, looking back at a life that was never really yours to begin with.
Your life is here in the present. Not behind you (Sodom) and not far off in the distant future (judgment day).
Benefits
When you focus on the present and you focus on the relationship you can build with Jesus, you can actually feel what needs to be felt. You can stop using the world and everything inside of it (kosmos) as a filler, and you can be filled by Jesus instead. If you are filled with Jesus, no form of judgment day will matter.