Luke 17:20-37

The Pharisees were looking for the reestablishment of the old Davidic kingdom. However, as Scripture explains the Kingdom of God is constantly expanding. See "The Renewed or New Covenant?" below.

The consummation of the Kingdom of God is inextricably tied to its King; Jesus (Luke 17:20-21). The Kingdom comes in three stages: (1) its initiation in the fist coming of Christ, (2) its continuation in the coming of the Spirit upon the Church - including the entire Church age, and (2) the second and final coming of Christ.

Jesus explains that the Kingdom of God is "among you." Bock explains this interpretation saying:

Why? Because "the kingdom of God is in your midst." This phrase is one of the most discussed in Luke's Gospel. It is one of the few statements of Jesus that puts the kingdom in the present. In fact, so unprecedented is this statement that some argue the idea is really futuristic. The idea is, The kingdom is as good as present, since I am here. You need not miss it when it comes.

But a futuristic meaning is unlikely here. The verb that normally takes a futuristic present is erchomai, not eimi, which is the verb in Luke 17:21. Thus Luke's shift of verbs in this context is significant, as is his shift of tenses. Moreover, the verb is placed in an emphatic position in the Greek text. More important, the remark about signs in Luke 17:20-21 is specifically denied if a future sense exists, for Jesus appears to go on and enumerate the signs! It is better to interpret this phrase as referring to the initial coming now with a consummation to come later. Then Jesus' reply is, "You do not need to look for the kingdom in signs, because its King (and so its presence) is right before you. But its display in comprehensive power will come visibly to all one day. You will not need to hunt to find it then."

When Jesus says it is "in your midst," he does not mean in one's heart (but so NIV: the kingdom of God is within you). Jesus is speaking to Pharisees who have rejected him. They do not have the kingdom in their heart. And nowhere else in the New Testament is the kingdom described as an internal entity. He must mean something else here.

Two senses are possible. Jesus could mean "in your grasp or power." The kingdom's presence is related to one's ability to repent. . . . Against this view is that it appears to be a nonanswer. To say the kingdom is within your grasp is not to say where it is or how you can get it - at least not very explicitly. In contrast to such vagueness, the second possible sense is that the kingdom is "in your midst" - that is, "in your presence." It is present in Jesus, so he and it stand before you. You do not have to look for it, because it is right before your face! This answer is very much like Luke 7:22-23 and Luke 11:20. It also fits the time perspective of Luke 7:28 and Luke 16:16, as well as the explicit declarations of current fulfillment in Luke 4:16-23.

The problem for the Pharisees was not a lack of signs - Jesus had done numerous miracles already! Their problem was not recognizing the Messiah - the King of the Kingdom - for which they claimed to look for in faith. As Hughes says:

. . . seeing the kingdom, was a matter of inner revelation and divine insight (cf. Luke 10:21). Entering the kingdom of God was essentially an inner process of repentance in response to the invisible winds of the Holy Spirit. The Pharisees needed to concentrate less on the external form of the kingdom and more on its spiritual dimensions. They had missed the deeper levels of the Old Testament's teaching as to the people, place, and rule of God's kingdom.

In Luke 17:22-24, we see that though many are saying of the Kingdom of God, "Here it is," or "There it is," Jesus warns them not to follow such claims. At the consummation, when the King of the Kingdom comes, it will be visible and obvious, like lightning flashing across the sky. However, before his coming another crucial event much still take place. The Son of Man must suffer (Luke 17:25). The Cross comes first! Sovereign suffering (Acts 2:23-24; 4:27-28) precedes the glory of the consummation of the Kingdom. Rejection must come first (Isa. 53:3; Psa. 22).

Jesus then refers to two Old Testament illustrations to make a point considering his coming: (1) Noah (Luke 17:26-27; Gen. 7), and (2) Lot (Luke 17:28-29; Gen. 19). Hughes says:

Both Noah and Lot were righteous men according to the New Testament, despite their faults (cf. 2 Peter 2:5, 7). Both escaped destruction - Noah because of his obedience (Hebrews 11:7), and Lot because angels induced him to leave Sodom (Genesis 19:16, 17). And both men lived in utterly depraved cultures.

But on this occasion Jesus made no mention of the righteousness of Noah and Lot or the sinfulness of their cultures. According to Jesus, people's problem was their regular everyday activities - "eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage buying and selling, planting and building" (Luke 17:27, 28). It was not their sin, as great as it was, that damned them to destruction - it was their indifference. They were so preoccupied with normal life that they rarely had a thought above the mundane.

That is the way it will be at the end - "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed" (Luke 17:30), and that is the way it is today!

So, the coming of the Son of Man will be like two other great periods of righteous judgment against humanity. Just as they did then, people will engage in the affairs of life with little to no attention to God. Life will be progressing on - everything seems normal - and then suddenly the end. Both illustrations picture the absolute finality of God's sovereign and just judgment.

Now Jesus presses this home to his listeners. The judgment will be swift. There will be no time for normal reactions. People will not have time to grab things out of their houses to take with them as they attempt to flee (Luke 17:31). Workers in the field will not have time to go home to recover certain possessions. There will be no time to look back! Jesus urged the disciples to remember Lot's wife (Luke 17:32). She had a misplaced allegiance. Unlike the thankful Gentile leper in Luke 17:11-19, she had an earthly focus, not a heavenly.

Jesus continues. Luke 17:33 states, "Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it." Hughes says, "On this occasion, Jesus was putting forth the need to let go of the world's possessions, so we can put our full trust in him. The constant hedging of one's life with things - home, investments, retirements - trying to keep one's life - is a sure way to lose it."

Jesus then explains what the last day look like. "I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left" (Luke 17:34-35). This does not speak of a rapture and then some being left behind for a period of time to await again for yet another coming of the King of the Kingdom! It speaks of an separation of the unrighteous from the righteous at the same moment. Noah was locked in the Ark and the world was immediately destroyed. Lot was taken out of Sodom and Sodom was destroyed - literally as they were leaving (Lot's wife looked back, et. al).

Luke 17:37 confirms our interpretation above, since what is left is left for the vultures to devour (cf. Job 39:26-30; Matt. 24:28). Vultures gather around the dead and dying, not those are alive. Where there are spiritually dead, there will be eternal judgment.