阅读经文 

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！（参路 17:37）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。”（参太 24:36）“所以，你们也要预备，因为你们想不到的时候，人子就来了。”（太 24:44）

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。

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.