Dr. John P. Clark's Sermons & Writings

Series on Luke

IV The Imperatives of the Kingdom

B Instruction in Rejection

21 Secret Kingdom

Text: 17:20-37

Introduction

People’s interest has always been sparked, and their curiosity kindled by speculation about the future. Few books have created as much interest as Hal Lindsay’s, “Late Great Planet Earth.” Unfortunately, in many cases there is not much difference between this kind of inquiry and visiting a fortune teller. In fact, that is also very popular now, and you can even even call on the phone and get your horoscope. I don’t know of any number you can call to find out what our future is according to the Bible, but you can turn on your TV anytime and get the same. i have actually heard preachers say out of one side of their mouths that the Bible says we should not set dates as you have hear Jesus saying in our text, and out of the other side of their mouths they tell you not only the year Jesus is coming but the month. In Jesus’ time the leaders of the Jews expected a triumphant military Messiah who would usher in the glory of Israel. They were waiting for a victory as decisive as the Gulf War in 1990-91 which lasted only 7 months with the actual land assault lasting about 5 days. The victory they envisaged in New Testament times would swiftly and permanently give Israel its rightful place at the head of the nations. The first part of our text deals with Jesus answer to them. The second longer part is addressed to his disciples in which Jesus speaks of the suddenness of the judgment at the end of the age. The first part deals with seeing the kingdom, and the second with seeking the kingdom.

I Seeing the Kingdom

And so in verses 20 and 21 we find Jesus answering a question, Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation,  nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” The kingdom of God does not come all at once. It comes in two main stages. In the first we might say the kingdom is in our midst and in the second we are in the midst of the kingdom. God’s rule begins by being invisible. This is not at all what the Pharisees expected. People like answers they can see. When the true king came into the world he said my kingdom is not of this world and His own people cried out, we have no king but Caesar. God’s kingdom is invisible. It affects men’s behavior, their lives and their institutions, but God’s actions are not visible. That doesn’t mean he isn’t in charge. After His resurrection Jesus said, All power is given to me in heaven and earth. Yet as you look around at the sorry state of the world you may wonder where that power is. It is invisible but working in the lives of men. The best possible commentary on this is found in John 3. Here Jesus tells Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, that he must be born again or he cannot see the kingdom of God. Men are blinded by sin and cannot see God’s kingdom, and unless they are born from above, raised from the death of sin, resurrected from their graves of unbelief, they will never see it. If you are not a Christian today Jesus has the same message for you. The kingdom of God is here, in your midst, among you. If you are waiting for a decisive change in history you will miss it. What is needed is a decisive change in you and the way you see. Unless you believe the gospel that you are a sinner and that Jesus died for your sins you will be lost. Faith comes by hearing not seeing. It comes by the Word of God which offers you a Savior from sin and death. Now is the day of salvation, not the future. but Jesus goes on to speak to his disciples, those who have seen the power of the invisible kingdom in the present. To them he says there will be a time when you can see God’s actions visibly. In an election year we’d all like to know what the candidates are going to do after they are in office. Unfortunately we have to vote first and take our chances. The difference with Jesus is that we do know what he will do and this is what he goes on to tell his children.

II Seeking God’s Kingdom

The emphasis here is near to our hearts. True believers long for the  consummation of the kingdom. But they must have the right attitude towards that great day. Far from glorifying idle speculation Jesus forbids it. It will be according to verses 22-25 a long hard wait,Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. Men will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Don’t listen to the false prophets he says, but what should we do? Be prepared and don’t be surprised. This is the theme of verses 26-33, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! In the days of Noah they were surprised, pursuing retirement and comfort. In the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, they were surprised, pursuing retirement and comfort. In the days of Jesus’ coming they will be surprised pursuing retirement and comfort. Notice that our Lord says don’t go back for anything, remember Lot’s wife. What was it that drew her back? Not some horrible perverse wicked corrupt and sordid interest. She didn’t want to leave her home. The whole emphasis here is the tyranny of the ordinary. It’s how we are deflected from serving God by the everyday concerns of life. I’m old enough to belong to the AARP and in their magazine they always have these wonderful articles about meaningful retirement. How you shouldn’t sit and vegetate, but get out and help people. This is great, but what interests me is the premise of it all. What are people working for anyway that they need to try to figure out what to do with their retirement years. We are all like that man in the gospels who prospered and built barns and more barns and finally said now my soul be at ease, and God said, “Thou fool tonight shall your soul be required of you.” It doesn’t matter what age we are. The question we ought to be asking is, what are my goals. and the goal should be to do God’s will alone. The bottom line of this whole passage is verse 33, Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. The real question is not when is He coming but how should we behave? How can Jesus say it more clearly? How many people do you know that thought they had finally reached their goals and then something happened when they were not expecting it. I don’t know how they can cope with that. if on the other hand all I figured that I was to do here was God’s will then its pretty hard to disappoint me. Disappointment is His appointment.

Conclusion

The final verses 34-37 remind us of our need to change our thinking, 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.” “Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.” The perversity of the disciples’ question may be hidden, but it should not escape us. What they are asking is, “Where in the world will this happen?” To what awful people who deserve God’s judgment will this happen? A few years ago we might have said Russia, or perhaps we think of China or Iraq those sound like good places. Jesus says that God is no respecter of persons. It will happen everywhere, and it will happen here. Please remember that any one of us can be confronted with the inevitable at any moment. My wife and I occasionally indulge in a little eschatological humor. If she is going out she tells me so that if I take a nap and wake up, and she is gone, I will not be worried. I always say, OK, if I wake up, I won’t think the rapture has occurred and I have been “left behind.” Life is uncertain. Be prepared! If you are about to land in Newark on a commercial airliner and the landing gear won’t go down and you fly out over the Atlantic and dump your fuel and as you come into sight of the runway it’s sprayed with foam and firetrucks are lined up all along the field. You will have your own eschatological moment. Suddenly you will not be concerned with the date of Jesus’ arrival.  Verse 33 will be your verse. Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.