Knowing The Word in Luke 17:20-37

The Coming of the Kingdom

17:20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 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 suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it 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 when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 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 when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 Remember Lot's wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

Comments

The coming of the kingdom cannot be observed as in the marching of the allied forces into Paris or the fall of the Berlin wall. Rather, it is present in the Person and ministry of Jesus. God was physically in the midst of the Pharisees.

Jesus turned from the present kingdom of God to the future. People cannot control the coming of the kingdom, yet they will desire the Messianic age to have begun at some point in the future. While they are blind to the present kingdom in their presence, the second coming of Jesus will be as obvious as the lightning. There will be nothing secret about it. Yet, there can be no second coming until Jesus is crucified, resurrected, and ascends to the Father.

Regarding his second coming, Jesus said that people will not be paying attention because they will be absorbed in their daily routines. The real problem is self-centeredness. When the day comes, however, the situation will be urgent. Recounting Lot’s wife, Jesus said that she came as close to deliverance as anyone without achieving it, because she did not follow voice of God. The self-affirming and the self-destructive will not see the kingdom, only the self-denying.

At the day of judgment, there will be a separation between those who are for Jesus and those who are against him. Jesus does not explain what taken means exactly, but we can assume it means taken to be with him. Jesus does not directly answer their question of “where Lord?” but states that where the spiritually dead are found, there one will find judgment.

Application

Jesus speaks of his second coming but opaquely, without the specific details we may want. Instead, he asks us to trust in him, to have faith and hope in him, because he loves us implicitly and sacrificially.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I desire to be ready for your return and not preoccupied with myself. Draw me and my affections to you and away from anything or anyone who would impede me from being ready for your return.