Prelude
This week several stories of firefighters and a police chief losing their homes to wildfires have emerged. They had no time to mourn their losses, because they had a job to do in continuing to fight. Something greater than personal loss drove them on, they longed to see others saved.
When times are tough, what do we long to see? Do we long to hear once more the stories of Jesus? In Luke 17:20-37 Jesus prophesied a time of trouble after the cross and what we should focus on as most important. What is the most important thing in our lives?
No Signs
In Luke 17:20 what did Jesus mean that “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed”? The Greek implies Jesus was describing both the careful and anxious watching, with which the hostile Pharisees had been observing Him and others, who were looking for a sign that He was the Messiah king. His kingdom is not one of worldly pomp but God’s reign in men’s hearts.
In Luke 17:21 speaking of the kingdom of God, Jesus says, “nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” We too can focus so much on the visible coming of the king of kings, that we miss the kingdom of God in our midst. It reigns in our hearts and its king was already here.
Long to See
In Luke 17:22 Jesus said to His disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.” This wording looks both backwards to the disciples’ joy in His earthly ministry and forward to their eagerly awaiting His return. During difficult times let’s also remember our days hearing Jesus’ teachings and His healing people.
In Luke 17:23 we read, “They will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go away, and do not run after them.” In those days many false Christ’s began to appear. Even today false prophets attempt to tell people they will find Christ here or there among their deceptive doctrines. We must constantly focus on doctrines that Jesus taught, not enticing things which He did not teach.
Like Lightning
Luke 17:24 “For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day.” Though the kingdom of God is in the hearts of all who submit to God’s rule in their lives, Jesus points to His bright and visible return and conquest of earth by that kingdom.
Luke 17:25 “But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.” As the ultimate Patriarch of both Old and New Testaments, Jesus set the example of true self-sacrificial leadership for the world He loves. So, before coming in glory, He would suffer in shame. We see in Jesus a loving God who mourns for the world’s suffering and is willing to suffer along with it.
Lot’s Wife
Luke 17:26-27 “And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” In the dark days ahead, life will continue in many respects as normal.
Luke 17:28-29 “It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.” A perverse society that cared nothing for the poor was suddenly judged, abruptly as will Jesus return.
Luke 17:30 “It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.” In rich countries we are so proud. We ignore countries that we have exploited, the poor that we have oppressed to gain our wealth and we take pride in our sins. Like Sodom we live in lands that are “ well watered everywhere… like the garden of the Lord” (Genesis 13:10).
Luke 17:31-32 “On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife.” We get so attached to things, yet unlike Lot’s wife we must live as if ready to walk away from our worldly possessions without looking back.
Luke 17:32-33 “Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” The pillar of salt is a memorial to the failure of a counterfeit gospel about wealth. As Lot’s wife was told not to look back, let us learn not to mourn for the materialism of a dying world, but forward to the things that will last forever.
Carcass
Luke 17:34-36 “I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. [Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.]” Is this reminiscent of the final judgment?
Luke 17:37 “And answering they said to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, Where the body [carcass] is, there also the vultures will be gathered.” This is not the Body of Christ, but the rotting carcass of a sinful nation about to be taken and destroyed. But Jesus’ words also prophesy of our time and are deliberately vague enough not to be limited by where or when?
Postlude
Let’s not be like Lot’s wife, but live as if we are ready and willing at a moment’s notice to abandon all our material possessions for the kingdom of God. Because, all of those things will pass away, and only the kingdom remains.
Luke 17:20-37; Genesis 13:10
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
