By Randall L. Broad
Read: Joshua 11-12:24; Luke 17:11-37; Psalm 84:1-12; Proverbs 13:5-6
In the Book of Luke Jesus talks about the kingdom of God:
20One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the
Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be
detected by visible signs. 21You won’t be able to say,
‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among
you.”
22Then
he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see the day
when the Son of Man returns, but you won’t see it. 23People
will tell you, ‘Look, there is the Son of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’ but don’t go
out and follow them. 24For as the lightning flashes and
lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the
Son of Man comes. 25But first the Son of Man must suffer
terribly and be rejected by this generation.
Luke 17:20-25
Jesus tells the Pharisees they won’t be able to ‘see’ or ‘find’ the kingdom
of God. It is not the promise of an earthly kingdom or a distant destination on
a map; it was already amongst them in the promise of the Son of Man. It is
difficult to understand just exactly what this meant to the people who heard
this message. The fulfillment of the life and ministry of Jesus was not yet
complete–Jesus does tell His apostles first the Son of Man must suffer terribly
(v. 22-25). They probably didn’t understand what he meant by this any more than
they understood how much they would long for His return … and so shares with
them how it will be when he returns.
26“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like
it was in Noah’s day.27In those days, the people enjoyed
banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
28“And
the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily
business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building 29until
the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from
heaven and destroyed them all. 30Yes, it will be ‘business
as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Luke 17:26-30
In the last days before the flood, no one but Noah knew it was coming. People
lived and celebrated their fallen natures until the very hour the end came. They
did not believe Noah when he tried to warn them to repent. In the last days of
Sodom, no one knew the end was coming either and they perished in their sin and
wickedness. Like both of these groups of people we do not know when the end
will come, but we know it will. The words of Jesus echo down through eternity to
us in the Holy Bible. Neither Noah nor Abraham had a Bible as we know it today.
Even the apostles who heard Jesus words in this narrative didn’t understand
what He was trying to tell them. There was still much for them to see, learn,
and understand before their faith would be complete–and this would not be
fully realized until Pentecost (Acts 2). But as Jesus has said before there is
no turning back …
31On that day a person out on the deck of a roof must
not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return
home. 32Remember what happened to Lot’s wife!
Luke 17: 31-32
When Jesus does return we shall not look back for anything. Lot’s wife
looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26). Forget
everything because it is all worthless in the Kingdom of God. Forget the old
and rejoice in the new, those old things have no value anymore.
Walk
with the Lord …
Ephesians
1:17
(RLB250415)
©
Copyright 2013: Randall L. Broad
Disclaimer: This commentary is written by Randall L. Broad. It is in no way affiliated with or represents any denomination, university, church, or pastor. Any errors or omissions are purely my responsibility.
