It is good to ask questions because they can open up opportunities to find answers on topics that can be of great importance to us. The teaching methods of rabbis in Jesus’ day with their disciples included a significant proportion of discussions on key subjects by way of asking questions and seeking to discern an appropriate biblical answer.
In this passage today the unexpected question put to Jesus is recorded in Luke 17:20: Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come… The standard teaching on this subject in Jewish synagogues at that time focussed on a military strongman who would lead the nation to evict the occupying Roman forces and establish a godly Jewish nation under his rule. This figure was viewed as the Messiah sent in God’s name. The questioners wanted a checklist of things to tick off to indicate how close they might be to that event. It is similar to Christians seeking to try to work out how close we are to Jesus’ second coming. What did Jesus say in response to their question?
1.Beware of false predictions (Luke 17:20-24) 20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, “Here it is,” or “There it is,” because the kingdom of God is in your midst.’ 22 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.
23 People will tell you, “There He is!” or “Here He is!” Do not go running off after them. 24 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.
There have been a number of scientists with their different models claiming to suggest how the Covid-19 virus pandemic will go in our country. Some of them may be right and accurate in their predictions, but no-one knows for certain.
Yet it doesn’t stop some of the headlines in newspapers and other on-line sources that offer a level of clarity in interpretation of the data that goes beyond the evidence. Of course we want certainty of what will happen in coming months, but no-one knows for certain.
In the same way, there are plenty of people who make claims that they know when Jesus is coming back, and a few individuals have even claimed to be Jesus come back to earth! What does He say here? Ignore them! Quite a few cults or new religions began by people making claims about Jesus’ return. God hasnot given us sufficient information to make such a prediction.
In Mark 13:32 Jesus specifically said that only God the Father knows the date of His return. It will be when no-one is expecting it. We must ask God to help us handle the uncertainty of life today. Will this new way of living here make people in richer countries more sensitive to the fact that hundreds of millions of people have only ever lived with this kind of economic uncertainty in the two-thirds world?
2. A clear pointer (Luke 17:25) But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. The events of the first Easter were still in the future when Jesus spoke these worlds. It was a prophetic prediction that came true. There were many Old Testament prophecies referencing the birth, life death and resurrection of Jesus hundreds of years earlier. God keeps His word. He is trustworthy. How trustworthy are you and I when we make promises?
3. Alarming Indifference (Luke 17:26-30 ‘Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 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. 28 ‘It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulphur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 ‘It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
‘Business as usual’ is what is conveyed here. Even when there were warning signs they were ignored. No matter how strong the challenge to them, they were living life as before, they had no interest in what God was trying to communicate. This pattern was not new, the exact same thing happened in the time of the ‘natural disasters centuries earlier in the times of Noah and Lot.
There are plenty of questions that arise from this observation. These include: How open am I to God speaking into my life? Or if I am not giving God first place in my life, what will it take for me to stop what I am doing and listen to Him and then be willing to take action?
4. Additional Pointers (Luke 17:31-37)31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.
34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding corn together; one will be taken and the other left.’ 37 ‘Where, Lord?’ they asked. He replied, ‘Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.’
These verses are a warning and a challenge to complacency. We must not put off committing our life to follow Jesus because we think we have plenty of years ‘to do our own thing’ first. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow let alone a few weeks, months or years.
As Christians these verses are a challenge to avoid drifting through life giving God a place but not ‘the place’ at the centre of our lives. These words from Jesus were far from a timetable for His second coming. Instead they should make us think and question as to what is most important in our lives,most of all if He came back unexpectedly tonight or tomorrow would you be ready? The only way we can be ready is if we have already put our faith and trust in Him. Don’t delay taking that step today if you havn’t done it before. The person who by faith accepts Jesus as Lord and Saviour will be welcomed into God’s family for ever, the moment they truly seek it in prayer. I hope that is true today for us all.
Our song for reflection today is: ‘All my days I will sing this song of gladness’
Brian Talbot