-THE PEREAN MINISTRY

-Jesus Is Asked About the Coming of The Kingdom

-Luke 17:20-37

-Here, we find that the Pharisees inquired concerning the kingdom.  For several years now, Jesus

 had been proclaiming that the kingdom was coming - “...Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at

 hand” (Matt 4:17).  Were these Pharisees growing impatient for its arrival?  Or, were they

 hoping to see a sign as proof of its eventual coming?  After all, a sign had been requested

 previously on more than one occasion. 

            -“We do not know what prompted the Pharisees to ask this question at this time; we are

                persuaded that they had no good motive in asking it” (Boles, Luke, pg 333).

-Jesus’ response in verses 20 and 21 make it very clear that the coming kingdom was not

 of a physical nature - contrary to the Pharisees’ (and most others’) expectations.

            -This kingdom was not going to come “with observation.”  There were going to be no

             visible signs.

                        -Interestingly, the word observation is a medical term utilized by Luke, the physician.

                         “Medical writers use it of watching the symptoms of disease” (Robertson’s)

            -In regards to Jesus’ words,  “the kingdom of God is in you,” the following from Jamieson,

             Fausset and Brown are very helpful:   “This may either mean, 'inside of you;' meaning, that

             it is of an internal and spiritual character, as opposed to their outside views of it: so the best

             expositors among the Fathers understood it; and so, of the moderns, Luther, Erasmus, Calvin,

             Campbell, Olshausen. Or, it may mean 'in the midst of you,' or 'among you'-as already set up

             in its beginnings, if they had but eyes to discern it: so Beza, Grotius, Bengel, Meyer, de

             Wette, Alford, Webster and Wilkinson. It seems a weak argument against the former sense,

             though urged by nearly all who adopt the latter, that the kingdom of God could not be said to

             be within or in the hearts of the Pharisees, to whom our Lord was addressing himself. For,

             all that the phrase, in that sense, implies is, that it is 'within men,' as its general character.

             The question must be decided by the whole scope of the statement; and though others judge

             this to be in favour of the second sense, we incline, on this ground, to the first.”

-In verses 22-25, Jesus teaches His disciples that there was coming a time when they would

 long to see Jesus but would be unable to do so.  However, Jesus would first suffer many things

 in the hands of those that rejected Him.

            -“Like the martyred saints, Christians who find themselves a conscious, hated minority in

             society, reviled, and set at nought by a hostile secular world, will cry ‘How long?’ (Rev.

             6:10); but the end is not yet” (Coffman, Luke, pg 379).

            -Such a longing for the Messiah could cause the disciples to be susceptible to those making

             false claims of being the Messiah.  Hence, the warning provided by Jesus.

-In verses 26-36, Jesus turned His attention to His second coming.  He makes it clear that His

 second coming will be unmistakable.  Therefore, the claims made by any others of being the

 returned Messiah should simply be discarded as false.

            -There will be no warning signs of Jesus’ return.  Just as in the days of Noah and Sodom,

             people will be going about their daily routines in full expectation of a tomorrow that will

             not come.

            -One being taken and one being left does not support the idea of a rapture as many claim. 

             Instead, it shows that Christians and non-Christians will abide until the Lord’s second

             coming.  At that time, a separation will take place.  Yet, this passage says nothing of a

             group of individuals left behind on earth for a long period of time.  On that Great Day,

             Jesus’ disciples will be gathered first, then all others will be gathered on that same day

             to stand before the Lord (Matt 24:31-32).

-In verse 37, the disciples responded with the question, “Where, Lord?”  Such reveals that their

 perspective was still focused on the physical.  “In what place shall all these dreadful evils fall?

 The answer our Lord gives in a figure, the application of which they are to make themselves.

 Where the dead carcass is, there will be the birds of prey-where the sin is, there will the

 punishment be” (Clarke).