Luke 17:20-37

Butler's Comments

SECTION 3

Guarded (Luke 17:20-37)

20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming he answered them, The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21nor will they say, -Lo, 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. And they will say to you, -Lo there!-' or -Lo, here!-' Do not go, do not follow them. 24For 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. 25But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of man. 27They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28Likewise as it was in the days of Lotthey ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, 29but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom fire and sulphur rained from heaven and destroyed them all30so will it be on the day when the Son of man is revealed.31On that day, let him who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away; and likewise let him who is in the field not turn back. 32Remember Lot's wife. 33Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35There will be two women grinding together; one will be taken and the other left. 37And they said to him, Where, Lord? He said to them, Where the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

Luke 17:20-25 Missing the Kingdom: Jesus had said a great deal about the kingdom of God in His ministry. He had worked many miracles; He taught with great wisdom and grace. Many believed He was speaking as a prophet of God and that He had some divine information about it. Others, however, were antagonistic toward Him because His teachings about the kingdom did not fit their materialistic, militaristic views. Jesus said much about the kingdom, but so far as they could see, He had done nothing to bring about what the Jews expected of the golden age of the Messiah. The Jewish Apocrypha reveals two fundamental expectations in Jewish tradition about the Messianic Age (or, the Kingdom of God):

a.

Politicsthe Messiah will be a warrior, he will conquer the enemies of the Jewish people, subdue them and rule over them in an earthly kingdom with the throne in Jerusalem. He will kill many of the Gentiles and reduce all the others to servanthood to Israel.

b.

ProsperityThere will be great material prosperity, for Israel. Some of the prosperity will take on supernatural proportions in the golden age of the Messiah. All Jews would be blessed with an abundance of worldly wealth.

So, when Jesus proclaimed Himself as the Anointed One (the Messiah) the majority of the Jewish people expected Him to show signs according to their concept of the kingdom.
Jesus informs these Pharisees that they are completely unprepared for the messianic age because they are not on guard spiritually. They are watching for a materialistic kingdom but the Messiah's kingdom is not of this worldit is spiritual. Luke uses an interesting word to report Jesus-' answer. He uses the word paratereseos which is translated signs to be observed. The word is most often used to mean watching with hostility (cf. Mark 3:2; Luke 6:7; Luke 14:1; Luke 20:20; Acts 9:24 and Galatians 4:10). What Jesus is saying then is that the kingdom of God is not recognizable by those watching for it with views hostile to it, Those who are looking for it with a worldly-minded concept are unable to see it because it is a spiritual kingdom. Pilate could not see Jesus-' kingdom (John 18:33-38) because it was a spiritual kingdom. His kingdom is not provincialnot localizablebecause it is not earthly. His kingdom is wherever the King is in body or Spirit. His kingdom was right then in the very midst of the Pharisees because the King was there. But they did not see it. His kingdom is not at Jerusalem or on Mt. Gerizim, but in spirit and in truth (cf. John 4:1-54). His kingdom is His rule in the hearts of men and is therefore universal.

Even His own disciples will be tempted to want an earthly utopia in place of a spiritual kingdom. The King will have to leave His disciples for a while and go back to heaven. The absence of the King will especially pressure His citizens to want Him to come back and set up an earthly Eden. Men will try to seduce the King's subjects into thinking that His kingdom is an earthly one and that it has been set up Here or There. But Jesus-' disciples must not let down their spiritual guard. They must not be seduced into thinking the kingdom is worldly in nature or they shall not be prepared for the ultimate manifestation of His other-worldly kingdom.

Luke 17:26-37 Manifestation of the Kingdom: Some day the Son of man will come back, bodily, to destroy the world and give the consummate manifestation of His kingdom. When the King comes back there will be no doubt by anyone as to the true essence of His kingdom. It will be revealed in a flash of brilliance like the lightning lightens the sky. In the meantime, the kingdom does exist in the world. The Spirit of Christ is ruling in that kingdom as He rules in the hearts and lives of men and women. But the world goes blindly on in its way of materialism unable to see the kingdom because it is spiritual. Some will try to say, Lo, there! or, Lo, here! or, He will be here when you see this sign or that sign.. but do not go running off after them. But keep your spiritual guard up. God does not operate according to man's concepts or man's time-tables. Christ never really stated times or seasons for His return. As a matter of fact, He stated that He would return when the world's society was functioning normally! The ultimate, final manifestation of His kingdom will not be preceded by any abnormal, extra-ordinary signs pointing to a definite time. It will be just like the days preceding the flood in Noah's time. There were no extra-ordinary signs that God was going to destroy the world before the flood. The only warning was the promise of God through the preaching of Noah. In Noah's day life went on its normal path. People married, built, ate and drank. Suddenly the end came. Business as usualand without a signal, the end was there. So will the coming of the Son of man be. The Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect (Matthew 24:44). Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the Son, but the Father only (Matthew 24:36; Mark 10:32-33). If men cannot see the signs of His kingdom while it is here in the world, and surrender to it, -they would not surrender to it in faith and obedience should spectacular signs be given to precede its final manifestation.

The final manifestation of the Son of man in His kingdom will be just like the days of Lot. There will be people still clinging to this world and its goods as if it were the only world. People who will not renounce all their worldly goods now for the kingdom will not be prepared to do so when the end comes. Remember Lot's wife! She had invested her life in Sodom, not in the spiritual heritage of her uncle Abraham. She could not give up this world.
The time to turn loose of this world's pull is now. When the Son of man reveals His kingdom for the final time it will be too late. And since no one knows when He will reveal His kingdom for the final time, since it could be the very moment you are reading this sentence, it is imperative that you and I lose our lives for His sake every day, every hour. If you are a disciple of Jesus you must be prepared every moment to leave all your worldly possessions behind. You must also be prepared to be separated from all your friends and relatives who are hostile to the kingdom. Because when the Son of man comes the great judgment of separation will take place. One will be taken and one left. This is not to be taken literally, of course, that out of every bed one will be taken and the other left. In some beds and in some kitchens (grinding at the stone) perhaps all will be taken, or all will be left. The idea is that those who have seen the spiritual kingdom and become members of it by faith and obedience will be takenwhile those who have not seen it and are clinging to this world will be left to be destroyed with it. Would Jesus sneak up on the world? Yes! He is coming as a thief in the night (Matthew 24:27-51; Matthew 25:1-13; 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3; 2 Peter 3:8-10). Thieves do not announce their coming ahead of time. If He came tonight would you go with Him? Is there anything or anyone you couldn-'t leave behind in order to go with Him? If there is, you aren-'t readyyou-'ve let your spiritual guard down.

All this eschatological imagery excited the disciples so they eagerly asked Jesus, Where willall this take place Lord? Jesus replied, Where the body is, there the eagles will be gathered. Wherever the dead are is where the vultures gather. The most important thing about Biblical eschatology is its emphasis on the certainty of the end of this world and the judgment. Where (and when) the rotten comos needs dealing with, there the Lord will come and deal with itwhich is, of course, all over! The Lord's return will be instantaneous and universal. Jesus never spoke of His final coming in terms of time or place (see comments on Luke 21:1-38), but of condition. There is only one way to be certain Jesus is coming againthat is to take His word for it. He promised, and His promise is authenticated by His resurrection from the dead (Acts 17:30-31). That is the only sign this evil world will be given (cf. Matthew 12:38-42; Luke 11:29-32). It is spiritually recognized and spiritually anticipated and comes neither at the first nor finally with signs perceivable by carnally-minded people.

Obviously, Luke 17:26-37 indicates Jesus does not expect to find the faith universally triumphant on the earth when He returns (cf. Luke 18:8 which is connected to this discussion). There will be some (perhaps the majority) who will be indifferent or who have lost heart. Only those who have prayed and endured and kept up their spiritual guard will be vindicated (declared to have been right all along) when He comes back, Only those are prepared for the end.

STUDY STIMULATORS:

1.

Just how careful must we be in our conduct in not causing someone else to stumble?

2.

Does the weaker brother have any responsibility in the area of scruples?

3.

Can you forgive like Christ forgaveeven when you know the offender will not accept it? What if you don-'t?

4.

How much does the willingness to forgive demand of you?

5.

Why does it take faith to forgive?

6.

Why doesn-'t Jesus give faith? Do miracles produce faith? If we had more miracles, wouldn-'t we have more faith?

7.

Do you ever catch yourself thinking you are a worthy servant? Are you?

8.

Does the church today need to be on guard against misidentifying the kingdom? How?

9.

Is it possible that there are religious teachers today showing signs that the kingdom will come physically or materially here and there? What should you do about that?

10.

If Jesus came to the World at midnight tonight, could you leave all your worldly possessions, even some of your kinfolk, and go with Him? He won-'t force you to, you know!