The Coming of the Son of Man in Luke and Acts: A paranormal experience

I attend a weekly metaphysics class, and today we studied Chapter 17 of the Gospel of Luke. I realized something upon hearing this today, that never clicked the previous times I had read it (NRSV):

20 Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” 

22 Then he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 They will say to you, ‘Look there!’ or ‘Look here!’ Do not go, do not set off in pursuit. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 

25 But first he must endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking, and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them 30 —it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. 

31 On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away; and likewise anyone in the field must not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it.

I said, "That's EXACTLY what happened to Paul!" The following is from the ninth chapter of the Book of Acts, when Paul was still known as Saul:

1 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 

3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Acts is the continuation of the story that began in Luke, and both are credited with the same authorship. This is very important to the point I'm making: we're not linking up passages of the Bible from different authors, but from the same author telling one story. I am not making a theological point, I am making a plot point:

Luke: "But first he must endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation."
Acts: "Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem."

Luke: "For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day."
Acts:  "Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him."

Luke: “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed."
Acts:  "The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one."

Luke: Jesus discusses people going about their normal business in life and then their world is washed away, or their city is destroyed, and there is no going back.
Acts: After Jesus appears as a flash ad speaks to Saul, there was no going back to his former life. The rest of Acts is mostly his story, and most of the letters in the New Testament are credited to him.

The implication is that this is how the "Son of Man" comes. Not in an event recordable by history, but to a person and within the person, with little or no physical "evidence" that it happened. This "flash" may also be known as "enlightenment." But it doesn't seem predicated on any "change of heart," a will to believe, or an "a-ha" moment. Nor does it seem to come from the imagination. It certainly wasn't an experience sought after or desired by Saul.

Jesus's Coming to Saul is more like other "paranormal" events in the Bible, such as the burning bush that Moses saw, or various visions by the Prophets.. And similar to the testimony of many today who've had near-death experiences, or have had close encounters with what they perceived as cryptids, UFOs, or ghosts. They had no desire or expectation to see such things. For sometimes better and sometimes worse, one's personality changes and the old life falls apart after such experiences.

In any case, whatever else may be said in the Bible about the End Times, I'm of the opinion that what was predicted in Luke 17, happened in Act 9. If both books were treated as fiction (remember, same author, one story), I think that would be the conclusion most would draw. And if they're not fiction, but is in some way factual or true, then is seems plausible Jesus's Coming could happen to any one of us. 

James Leroy Wilson writes from Nebraska. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter. If you find value in his articles, your support through Paypal helps keep him going. Permission to reprint is granted with attribution. You may contact him for your writing, editing, and research needs: jamesleroywilson-at-gmail.com.