BULLETIN ARTICLE
5 May 2019
NO TURNING BACK
“Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it” (Luke 17:32-33).
On the fateful Monday morning of August 6, 1945, the people of Hiroshima, Japan woke up and went about their usual daily routine. Unknown to the Japanese, an American B-29 bomber was heading towards Hiroshima. At about 8.16am, the bomber dropped the Atomic bomb, known as “Little Boy” and it exploded some 600 metres above the city. This American military operation was top-secret and the world was not aware and did not expect that such a destructive “first time ever world event” would occur.
Luke 17 records the teaching of Jesus concerning his Second Coming. While the timing of the event no one would know about, Jesus did mention the signs that would precede his return. As Jesus was speaking about these last days, he told his disciples to “Remember Lot’s wife!” Why does Jesus connect the last days to remembering Lot’s wife?
Who was Lot’s wife? When we read Genesis 19 her name was not even mentioned. One can argue that she merely wanted to steal a glance back at her precious home in Sodom (a turning back) and surely the penalty meted out to her –“became a pillar of salt” – was too severe. However, it was not just one last look. It was a lingering look, a desire to stay in Sodom. Lot and his wife were both hesitant to leave their precious home that they had come to love. The things of the world of Sodom had a great attraction for Lot, his wife and family. “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17:28-30). In their escape, Lot looked forward. “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”
Lot and his family failed to heed the urgent charge to quickly escape to the hills. He lingered and even bargained to request for refuge in a small city of Zoar in the valley. Jesus recounted the incident to warn the disciples of the impending judgment when Jesus returns. Jesus did not say “do not imitate Lot’s wife” or “do not be like her.” He used different words. He mentioned the emphatic “Remember Lot’s wife!” as if there was the danger of Christians forgetting this incident (Genesis 19) or to brush it aside. Let us take heed to Jesus’ teaching to “Remember Lot’s wife!” as we see “the day the Son of Man is revealed”.
Each year, the people of Hiroshima gather at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park to remember the tragedy of the destruction of their city on 6 August 1945. At the 2018 event, Mayor Kazumi Matsui said: “If the human family forgets history or stops confronting it, we could again commit a terrible error.” For us who are Christians who have turned to Jesus for preserving our lives we need to always remember:
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.
