Please read the text for today here: Luke 17:20-37
Are you ever a bit anxious about the arrival of a special guest and want him or her to be very specific about the arrival time? I am. I don't want to be sitting around waiting, if he isn't coming for another 6 hours. But I surely don't want to have him arrive before I am ready! Apparently, the Pharisees mentioned here (v. 20) wanted no surprises; so they asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God was coming.
Of course, I may have misread their motive with the above explanation. From earlier stories we know how wily they were and how quick to criticize Jesus. Perhaps they asked this sarcastically, knowing that he had announced the Kingdom as "at hand", and they were implying that they saw nothing to convince them that it was. We also know from other parts of the gospels that they wanted Jesus to show them miraculous signs in the heavens to prove that he was the promised Messiah and was inaugurating the Kingdom.
For this reason Jesus stated very frankly: "The Kingdom of God is not coming with miraculous signs to be observed: you people won't be able to say 'It's here' or 'It's there'. No, the Kingdom of God is in your very midst!" (v. 20). He was telling them that what they were looking for was right under their noses, but they were too blind to see it.
Then he said to his disciples: "The time will come when you will wish you could see one of the days I was here on earth, but you will not be able." What does this mean? Remember, he is now talking to disciples, not to his critics. Since his true disciples will not have regrets that they did not believe when he was here for the first time, the meaning must simply be that they will long for his re-appearing to bring in the full and visible form of the Kingdom, which Jesus also promised. The fact that, despite their wish, they will not see it (v. 22), shows that they will wait a long time and feel the tension and frustration that we all feel, praying marana tha"Our Lord, come!"
But in this longing for Jesus' return, which in itself is praiseworthy, there is a danger. The danger is deception, both intentional and unintentional. The unintentional will come from over-zealous believers who will try to see signs in everything and turn our minds away from the work that our Lord has given us to do in his absence. The intentional will be those opponents of Jesus who may wish to find other fulfillments to the prophecies of his coming in glory: false messiahs in the first century AD, false prophets from Jesus' time to ours, founding new religions (Muhammad and Islam, Joseph Smith and the Mormons, etc.).
Either way, true disciples must not let themselves be deceived by the "He is here" and "He is there" crowd. For Jesus states it clearly (v. 24), that when he comes a second time, there will be nothing secret about it: "As lightning flashes and lights up the sky, so will be the Son of Man (Jesus) in his day".
But first things first. And here he probably also addressed only his disciples: "First I must be rejected and put to death in the present generation. But as for my return in glory, the situation will be just like in Noah's day."
Now we know a few things about life on earth while Noah was building the ark (see Genesis 6). There was great wickedness. Perhaps it had been that way for some time. God's clock of judgment had been secretly ticking away, and only Noah knew (because God told him secretly) that this wickedness was about to be judged on a worldwide scale by the Flood.
In Jesus' analogy, Noah represents the believers at the time of Jesus' return. Noah didn't know the day the Flood would come; nor will believers on the eve of Jesus' return know the year, month, day or hour it will happen. But he knew it was time to get ready for the Flood. So he followed God's instructions and built the ark. Believers in all ages after Jesus' resurrection have been busy building an ark to save those who will believe and enter it: it is the family of God (the "Church", if you like). And we invite all kinds of people into that family. The only entrance fee is faith.
But when the flood came, the timing was a surprise even to Noah. And that is Jesus' main point here. No one—believer or non-believer—knows the day or the hour when Jesus will return in glory to abolish evil together with everything that hurts, and establishes his eternal kingdom of goodness and peace. So it is iportant that we who believe in him always be ready.
Returning to the illustration I gave from my own life: Although my guest will not tell me when he plans to arrive, I don't have to just sit and twiddle my fingers while I wait for him. Not only should I keep my house in order ("spiritually"), but I should also be about the business that Jesus called me to do. And that is inviting friends into my house. It needs to be a loving and merciful house. It needs to be warm with kindness and understanding. It must be a clean house: not full of envy, greed, immorality and lust. Just the place for the whole Family to wait for their eagerly longed-for Guest!
Are you ever a bit anxious about the arrival of a special guest and want him or her to be very specific about the arrival time? I am. I don't want to be sitting around waiting, if he isn't coming for another 6 hours. But I surely don't want to have him arrive before I am ready! Apparently, the Pharisees mentioned here (v. 20) wanted no surprises; so they asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God was coming.
Of course, I may have misread their motive with the above explanation. From earlier stories we know how wily they were and how quick to criticize Jesus. Perhaps they asked this sarcastically, knowing that he had announced the Kingdom as "at hand", and they were implying that they saw nothing to convince them that it was. We also know from other parts of the gospels that they wanted Jesus to show them miraculous signs in the heavens to prove that he was the promised Messiah and was inaugurating the Kingdom.
For this reason Jesus stated very frankly: "The Kingdom of God is not coming with miraculous signs to be observed: you people won't be able to say 'It's here' or 'It's there'. No, the Kingdom of God is in your very midst!" (v. 20). He was telling them that what they were looking for was right under their noses, but they were too blind to see it.
Then he said to his disciples: "The time will come when you will wish you could see one of the days I was here on earth, but you will not be able." What does this mean? Remember, he is now talking to disciples, not to his critics. Since his true disciples will not have regrets that they did not believe when he was here for the first time, the meaning must simply be that they will long for his re-appearing to bring in the full and visible form of the Kingdom, which Jesus also promised. The fact that, despite their wish, they will not see it (v. 22), shows that they will wait a long time and feel the tension and frustration that we all feel, praying marana tha"Our Lord, come!"
But in this longing for Jesus' return, which in itself is praiseworthy, there is a danger. The danger is deception, both intentional and unintentional. The unintentional will come from over-zealous believers who will try to see signs in everything and turn our minds away from the work that our Lord has given us to do in his absence. The intentional will be those opponents of Jesus who may wish to find other fulfillments to the prophecies of his coming in glory: false messiahs in the first century AD, false prophets from Jesus' time to ours, founding new religions (Muhammad and Islam, Joseph Smith and the Mormons, etc.).
Either way, true disciples must not let themselves be deceived by the "He is here" and "He is there" crowd. For Jesus states it clearly (v. 24), that when he comes a second time, there will be nothing secret about it: "As lightning flashes and lights up the sky, so will be the Son of Man (Jesus) in his day".
But first things first. And here he probably also addressed only his disciples: "First I must be rejected and put to death in the present generation. But as for my return in glory, the situation will be just like in Noah's day."
Now we know a few things about life on earth while Noah was building the ark (see Genesis 6). There was great wickedness. Perhaps it had been that way for some time. God's clock of judgment had been secretly ticking away, and only Noah knew (because God told him secretly) that this wickedness was about to be judged on a worldwide scale by the Flood.
In Jesus' analogy, Noah represents the believers at the time of Jesus' return. Noah didn't know the day the Flood would come; nor will believers on the eve of Jesus' return know the year, month, day or hour it will happen. But he knew it was time to get ready for the Flood. So he followed God's instructions and built the ark. Believers in all ages after Jesus' resurrection have been busy building an ark to save those who will believe and enter it: it is the family of God (the "Church", if you like). And we invite all kinds of people into that family. The only entrance fee is faith.
But when the flood came, the timing was a surprise even to Noah. And that is Jesus' main point here. No one—believer or non-believer—knows the day or the hour when Jesus will return in glory to abolish evil together with everything that hurts, and establishes his eternal kingdom of goodness and peace. So it is iportant that we who believe in him always be ready.
Returning to the illustration I gave from my own life: Although my guest will not tell me when he plans to arrive, I don't have to just sit and twiddle my fingers while I wait for him. Not only should I keep my house in order ("spiritually"), but I should also be about the business that Jesus called me to do. And that is inviting friends into my house. It needs to be a loving and merciful house. It needs to be warm with kindness and understanding. It must be a clean house: not full of envy, greed, immorality and lust. Just the place for the whole Family to wait for their eagerly longed-for Guest!
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