In the book of Daniel, Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar about a great day to come. He tells him that there’ll one day come a kingdom that will be set up by the God of heaven himself. It will never be destroyed nor left to another people. It will break other kingdoms into pieces, bringing them to an end, while it will stand forever (Daniel 2:44). That word is one of the high points of the Old Testament, for ever since Adam first sinned in the garden there was a longing for the promised King to come, crush the enemy of Satan, sin, and death, establish his eternal kingdom, set everything right, and reign forever. Years later, Daniel reminded Nebuchadnezzar that this promise was indeed going to come; that great kingdom was going to be established to stand forever.
Because of this, practically every Israelite who studied the Old Testament scriptures had one thing in the utmost of their thoughts and affections – the coming Kingdom of God. Just to get an idea as to what they were longing for, we might simply consider our own expectations. As believers, we know that Jesus is going to come back some day, everything will be right, there will be no more pain or sin or death, and we’ll live forever with our glorious King. Well, that is exactly what the Jews anticipated happening at the Messiah’s coming.
You can, therefore, see why many of them doubted that Jesus could be the promised Messiah, God’s promised King. After all, with his coming the earth did not shake and the arrival of his ministry had been less than breath-taking. Even John the Baptist, who pointed to Jesus as the Promised One, later sent delegates to question him once more to make sure he was the one or whether they should look for another.
Therefore, though it’s obvious that Jesus has taught many impressive things, had produced a great number of miracles, and had lived an amazing life, the Pharisees simply could not bring themselves to see him as the Messiah. Meanwhile Jesus was continually exposing their unbelief and pegging them on their sin. So they are all the time after him. It is then, at this point in Luke, that they decide they will ask him the question that is on everyone’s mind. According to Luke 17:20, the Pharisees ask Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. If he were to deny the coming of the Kingdom, then he would show himself to ignore a key (maybe the key) theme of the Scriptures, and if he listed a time, then they could establish a point to illustrate his failure.
It would be much like turning to someone today who claims to be an expert in the last things, asking him when Jesus will return. Now, ignoring for a bit that he should answer, “Jesus himself said, ‘No one knows the day or hour,’” let’s consider that his answer could go one of two ways. He could say, “Jesus is not returning,” and then his rejection of Scripture would be exposed. Or, he could say something like, “November 16, 2007.” Either way, he is seemingly going to be exposed as a fraud. Either his immediate answer that Jesus is not returning, shows he’s a fraud, ignorant of the Scriptures, or we simply wait and watch November 16 come and go, and then he is exposed.
This is the scene with Jesus. If he denies the Kingdom, he is a fraud. And if he names a date, then he is setting himself up to be wrong. So, you can imagine the tension building as Jesus turns to answer the question of when this everlasting Kingdom will come and all will be made right. However, his answer is a bit surprising to the Pharisees.
Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Luke 17:20-21).
He first clears up some misconceptions the Pharisees may have had. Thinking of the kingdom of God as the greatest event in world history, many of the Jews anticipated heavenly signs signaling its arrival. Perhaps a lightning storm would break out for a number of days, world disasters would all occur simultaneously, many unbelievers would all fall dead. These were the kinds of things that might have been anticipated in their minds. But Jesus tells them clearly that the kingdom is not coming with signs such as those which could be observed.
By the same token, however, nor will the kingdom be something that you have to travel to a certain place to find. It’s not as if this great reign by God’s coming King will begin among a small tribe of people in East Asia so that we all need to board a plane to go see it.
But then Jesus tells them why neither of these things is true; it is because, Jesus says to the Pharisees, “the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (17:21). That is, Jesus tells them that the kingdom of God is already here, right in their presence. This would have been a shocking answer for them to hear. How could it be that the kingdom which was supposed to set everything right was actually here?
The answer is simply this: the kingdom of God was in their presence because God had sent his king into the world, and he was/is none other than Jesus of Nazareth, the very one the Pharisees had asked the question. He was already in the world, and they had missed it. He was already reigning over Satan, sin, and death by casting out demons, raising the dead, and forgiving sins. He was already demonstrating the reign of God over his enemies through his ministry. He had even given the disciples the ability to demonstrate God’s reign over his enemies as he sent them out with the ability to cast out demons and heal the sick. As the disciples did that, it was a clear sign that God had sent his king and he was reigning over his enemies. This is why when the disciples returned saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” Jesus responded to them saying, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:17-18). God had sent his King, and he was already demonstrating God’s reign overcoming his enemies of Satan, sin, and death. And he was standing right in front of the Pharisees. That’s why Jesus could say that the kingdom was right in their midst; it was being demonstrated all around them through his ministry.
Now, obviously the kingdom in its full reality – even as Daniel had spoken of, was not yet being demonstrated, but the kingdom had nonetheless arrived. And, ironically, the Pharisees who no doubt would have listed the kingdom as the matter for which they were most watching and anticipating, had missed it’s coming because they had missed the King.
What this text means then, that we need to understand as well, is that the kingdom of God is already here.
Now, we might say, “Of course.” After all, we acknowledge that Jesus is God’s King, see the ways he’s demonstrated his reign over Satan, sin, and death, and would not dispute that he is reigning now over the earth at the right hand of God. However, I wonder if we deny that the kingdom of God is already here in the way we practically live our lives.
There are hundreds of people who could stand up and point out to many believers who think that if we just obey Christ and have faith that we’ll all be healthy and wealthy, that they are deceived. In fact, we might be among the crowd that says to them, “Brothers and sisters, we’re not in heaven yet. We don’t have resurrection bodies yet. And the kingdom of God envisioned in Daniel 2 hasn’t become a full reality yet.” And we’d be right in pointing those things out and correcting the errors they have. However, let me also warn us to shine the light on our own thoughts and lives and ask if we are committing an equally egregious error. Just as the health and wealth people misunderstand that the Kingdom of God is not here fully and therefore over-estimate how easy life is for the believer, do we miss that the kingdom is here in some sense and therefore do not anticipate God’s power and reign demonstrated in any sense?
Do we, for example, have little faith in the power of the gospel to open the eyes of the unbelieving and transfer them from the reign of darkness into the reign of Christ? Do we doubt the power of the gospel to transform the minds, hearts, and minds of unbelievers? I know that I’m tempted to think that way on occasion. I’m tempted to think that this message of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ just isn’t powerful enough to free someone from the grip that Satan and sin have on them. If we think that and it leads us not to share the gospel, we are sinning, and that sin stems from forgetting that Jesus is right now reigning over the earth – that the kingdom of God is here.
Do we pray little if at all for miraculous things? Do we pray for people to be healed, for kings’ or politicians’ hearts to be changed, or for injustice to be done away with in realms of society? If you don’t, it may very well be because you’re ignoring the fact that the kingdom of God has come with the coming of Jesus Christ and that he is now reigning at the right hand of God. And if that is our mindset, then we need to repent for our maligning of the Scriptures and sin the same way the health and wealth guys do.
I plead with all of us this morning, do not let us be characterized as a church that lives as if Christ has not come and his kingdom is not present among us. Pray, labor, and expect God to work miraculously in and among us, demonstrating his reign over Satan, sin, and death. Let us hear that word, let it sink into our hearts, and let it change our lives.
“But,” some might say, “there is still more to come, right?” That is, even though Jesus announced that the kingdom of God is here, that doesn’t mean that the promise of Daniel 2 is already fully here, does it? After all, we would have to be blind to the world around us not to see that Satan, sin, and death very much have a grip on this world. Children still get used for prostitution so that mothers can feed a cocaine habit. Men still leave their wives to be with a younger woman whose beauty shows less signs of aging. Parents still wake up to find that their newborn child has quietly died from SIDS in his crib. Christians are still being put to death and their bodies hanged and burned because they refuse to deny Christ. And churches are still caught up in thinking that success means seeing which of us can look most like an amusement park. No, the kingdom is not yet here fully. There is no doubt about it. Jesus knew that this would be our question. Jesus knew his disciples would instantly wonder about when things would ultimately be made right. And he knew there would be many days when his followers would cry out, “How long, O Lord, will you delay?” longing for him to return to the earth, fully and finally crush his enemies, and make all things right. That’s why immediately after addressing the Pharisees’ question he turns to his disciples and says, “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” (17:22). Jesus turned and prepared his disciples for a long wait before his return, and as those who still await Jesus’ return, we find a helpful word for us here in verses 22-37.
Basically, Jesus tells them, “Don’t be deceived, the kingdom is still one day coming in all it’s fullness.”
Again, Jesus knew there would be many days when his followers, thought knowing the kingdom is present in one sense, would long for its fullness. There would be many days when they (and we) would long to see the return of Christ. So, Jesus makes a few things clear for them.
First, they don’t need to worry about missing the kingdom (17:22-25). It’s not as if you’re going to wake up one morning, Jesus came back and you missed it, left to forever regret that you didn’t wake up thirty minutes earlier. Jesus tells his disciples that many will be claiming that Jesus has come and brought the full kingdom, only it’s over here or over there. Jesus tells us, “Don’t go out to those places or follow those people.” Rather, know that just as lightning lights up the whole sky so that you can’t miss it, so the Son will return in a way that can’t be missed. However, he also reminds them that he’ll suffer and be rejected before that day comes.
Second, he tells his disciples what life will look like when Jesus comes back (17:26-30). Ooh, this is an interesting text. It makes us want to get out our pads of paper and say, “Alright, now I’m ready to take some notes. Now we get the good stuff. Here’s what will be going on when Jesus returns.” But if that’s our response, we’ll be sorely disappointed because Jesus’ answer is that life will just be going on as normal. He tells them that just as in the days of Noah people were going about the daily affairs of life, eating, drinking, marrying, etc. and then the flood came and just as in the days of Lot when people were eating, drinking, buying, selling, etc. and then fire rained from heaven, so it will be when Jesus returns. Everything will look pretty much like it does today, and then he’ll come.
And, finally he warns them (17:31-37). When that day comes, make sure that you’re life has shown (and will show) that you hold loosely to the things of this world and long for his coming. He tells them that if they are on the roof of their house (which was common in that culture) that they shouldn’t come down to get their goods, and if they are in the field they should not try to run back to the house. Such actions will only expose that they do not love and long for Christ. Rather, their affections are tied to this world. He urges them specifically to remember Lot’s wife, who showed her affections for Sodom were greater than her affections for God and was judged along with Sodom. Therefore, be willing to lose your life here and now, and you’ll find life eternal. But if you long to hold on to this life, you’ll lose it and face judgment. All will be going on as normal, and in fact, believers will be laboring right alongside unbelievers, like two people lying in bed or two woman grinding up wheat together when one will be taken as an act of deliverance while the other one is left to be judged. This is what will transpire on that great day.
Then, as his disciples ask “Where?” probably meaning, “Where will this judgment take place?” or “Where will those delivered be taken to?” Jesus answers, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather” (17:37). Here, Jesus probably means something like, “Just as it is obvious where there is a dead body by seeing vultures flying around, so it will be obvious where judgment is taking place and where God’s people are delivered, again reminding them that they should not worry but that his actions and coming will be obvious to all.
Therefore, be reminded this morning that the kingdom is going to come one day in all its fullness. You don’t have to worry about missing it. You don’t have to worry about missing signs that show it’s about to happen. Life will simply be going on as normal. What you and I need to do is to make sure that our greatest affections are not tied to this world but to Christ. What we need to do is make sure that our greatest allegiance is to Christ and that we long for him more than we long for the things of the world.
So, today, as you battle with Satan, sin, and death, be encouraged. The kingdom will come. There is coming a certain day when all will be made right. You won’t face temptations forever. You won’t have to battle your sinful desires forever. The days when parents can pull out of their driveways and back over their young children whom they didn’t see, parents be killed by drunk drivers, and believers all over the world can be murdered won’t continue forever. Daniel 2 will most certainly come about in all its fullness. So let us, in light of that hope, prepare ourselves by being willing to lose our lives to the things of this world and live them as unto Christ.
“But,” now we might ask, “is there anything we can do as we wait and face these challenges? Is there anything we can do if we find ourselves being persecuted for following Christ? Is there anything we can do when the evil of this day becomes overwhelming to our souls and we don’t even want to go on?” Yes, Jesus tells us that we can pray and ask God to send his Son again and bring the fullness of his kingdom.
It’s easy to lose heart as we continue to wait for that day. It is hard for every generation of disciples to wait as we continually see evil around us and even in our own actions. Therefore, Luke writes, “[Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (18:1).
Jesus told them a parable of a wicked judge in a city. He didn’t fear God and didn’t respect his fellow men. And there was a widow in the city who was somehow being wronged. Perhaps someone was taking advantage of her financially or something of the like, and she was helpless. Being a widow, she didn’t even have a husband to go and address the issue. Her only hope was this judge. So she kept coming to him saying, “Give me justice against my adversary” (18:3), but the judge refused, perhaps proud of the fact that he had no compassion on her.
However, after a while he said to himself, “Now, yes, I don’t fear God and I don’t respect man. Neither of those things would motivate me to do what’s right. However, if I don’t act on behalf of this widow she’s going to keep coming and requesting and wear me down.” Therefore, not wanting to face her continual asking he finally decided to grant her the request and give her justice.
Therefore, Jesus declares, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily” (18:7-8).
That is to say, if an unrighteous judge who does not fear God or respect man will finally give in to the cries of a widow, how much more will a God who is righteous and just, who loves us, who sent his Son to die for us, and who has promised to be faithful to us answer our cries for him to come, deliver us, and make things right?
Jesus says, “Yes, there’s something you can do when you don’t think you can take this life anymore and long for the fullness of the kingdom. Pray! Pray and ask God to send his Son, to send justice. He’ll hear you, and he most certainly will respond, bringing swift justice.”
Therefore, pray for this. Think about our brothers and sisters in the world who are being martyred for claiming Christ and pray, “Lord, let your kingdom come.” Think of sin and death all around you and pray for Christ to come. Don’t ignore these realities but think on them and let them move you to pray for Christ. God hears us and will answer.
But Jesus does leave us with one question. Yes, it is beyond question that Christ is coming back to bring his kingdom in its fullness. But the question, Jesus asks is, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (18:8). He’s coming. The question is, will we be found to be faithful until that day?
Will we make our lives so much about Jesus that we find ourselves longing for his return? Or will we make our lives so much about this world that when he returns he’ll expose that our greatest affection is for this life? I pray that we’ll be among the faithful.
Therefore, let us remember and live in light of the fact that his kingdom has come when Jesus came, living life expecting to see Christ demonstrate his reign through us. Let us be encouraged in our struggles that Jesus is returning to bring the kingdom in all its fullness. And, as we struggle and go through this life, let’s make sure that our affection is for Christ and that we’re living for eternal things. One way that will be shown is in our prayers for his return. Such prayers show your affections for Jesus above all else. Therefore, let us come to the table now, reminding ourselves again that there is a great day coming when the Son will return, and the meal we are about to eat we will eat with him, as he is physically present with us. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.