Thursday, March 17, 2022

Getting to Know Jesus Even Better #17

The Disciples and Pharisees had been observing Jesus teach with power and heal person after person, when we find this question in Luke 17:
20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 Remember Lot's wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
The Pharisees asked the question, but after a brief comment, He addressed the answer to the disciples.  In one sense the Kingdom had already come, though not visible with a palace or governmental structures. It was right there where His people were.  But there is another sense in which the would not see the kingdom to a future time of judgment. They were to always be on the alert, because just like in the days of Noah and Lot, people get so wrapped up in the things of this world that they forget all about the Kingdom to come; we easily live our lives oblivious to the rule and reign of God. There is coming a rude awakening for most, when the evidence will be clear and painfully obvious; judgment has come. 

No comments:

Post a Comment