The deliverance of the elect and judgment of the unrighteous
Luke 17:26–37. November 11, 2022 - Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop
In the Bible, the fate of the righteous and the unrighteous is distinguished. As Abraham stated, the Judge of all the earth does right by treating the righteous and the wicked differently (Gen 18:25). Jesus brings two such examples: Noah and his family were saved from the flood and Lot and his family from the brimstone and fire that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. In both cases, the righteous were warned about the incoming judgement and the wicked had time to repent. Lot, for example, tried to save his sons-in-law, who were to marry his two daughters, but they thought he was joking (Gen 19:14).
Jesus saying reminds us about the escape of Christians to Pella, on the eve of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman legions in 70 AD. Eusebius, the Church historian of the fourth century AD, who tells us that story, sees it within the pattern of the righteous being saved and the unrighteous punished. Today, however, we are cautious in applying such a pattern to historical events. However, it is still important to heed Jesus’ warning about God’s judgement and the distinction he makes between the righteous and the wicked. It would also be good to ponder whether or not we are so immersed in daily activities of this life - eating and drinking, buying and selling, marrying and being given in marriage, planting and building - that we forget about life in the age to come, about the fact that here we are just pilgrims on a journey to the promised land.
The most difficult passage to interpret from today’s Gospel is the last verse about the vultures gathered around the body. But let us render the Greek noun not as vultures but as eagles and make it a symbol of Christ’s believers. In the book of Revelation, the Woman representing the Church is given the wings of an eagle to fly into the desert where she is nourished by God and protected from the wrath of the dragon. Then let us understand the word “body” as referring to Christ’s body. And so we have an interesting interpretation of this verse:
Wherever the Church - Christ’s believers - gather around the crucified Body of Christ, there salvation takes place.
But to become Christ’s believer we need to relinquish our attachment to the world and make a clear cut with our former way of life. We cannot be like Lot’s wife who looked behind, because as Jesus said: “Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it” (Luke 17:33).