The Kingdom Of God For Dummies Part 1 Series

While the earnest desire was for the immediate return of Jesus Christ to set up his Kingdom, Jesus said to his disciples, "You will not see it" (verse 22). Jesus was not saying that they would never see the Kingdom of God, but rather that the longing disciples may not immediately see the return of Jesus. In other words, there may be a delay before Jesus returns; something Jesus hinted at in several parables concerning his return.

The earnest longing for Jesus’ return, along with a delay in his return, could possibly cause problems for the disciples. They could be susceptible to false profits, false christ, and false reports of Jesus’ return. In the same way that a thirsty man lost in the desert is likely to see and believe in a mirage of water, so disciples might be likely to believe in the reports that Jesus had returned when people would say things like, "There he is" or "Here he is" (vs. 23). The disciples so desired the return of Jesus that they were likely to believe false reports out of wishful thinking.

Jesus basically tells them, and us, not to go chasing after those who say such things about Jesus return because we do not have to worry about missing the return of Jesus. Why not?

2. The full manifestation of the Kingdom of God will be obvious to all.

Nobody will need to inform anyone of the return of Jesus! As Jesus said in verse 24, "For the Son of Man in his day will be like lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky and from one end to the other." Lightning does come very suddenly, and so will the return of Jesus, but the sudden return of Jesus is not the emphasis of this illustration. Jesus pointed out how lightning can be seen from one end of the sky to the other, i.e. it cannot be missed and neither can Jesus’ coming to set up the Kingdom of God on Earth.

Please note that this verse is not referring to the rapture, which is when Jesus takes his people to be with him before the judgment comes. This judgment precedes the setting up of the Kingdom of God and revealing of Jesus Christ as the King of Kings. I will share more on that next week, but for now the main point of these verses is that. . .

2. The full manifestation of the Kingdom of God will be obvious to all.

The teaching of these verses is applicable to at least two false teachings in the world today. One false teaching comes from the cult group: Jehovah’s witnesses, who teach that Jesus returned invisibly and set up the Kingdom of God in 1914, but only a small number of faithful believers saw it. It is very clear that such teaching is totally contradictory to what Jesus said here. He said, "Don’t go running after them." In other words, Jesus was saying do not listen to people who teach that Jesus’ returned but most people missed it.

Another popular, but false teaching, concerning the Kingdom of God and the return of Jesus is found in the church. This teaching is that Jesus returns spiritually (invisibly) in his people/church and gradually establishes the Kingdom of God through them. Again this teaching is contrary to the verses we have read and to those which come next, in which Jesus clearly teaches that his coming will both be sudden and public. It will be obvious to everyone.