106. Chapter 47 - A Sermon on the Second Coming
Chapter 47 - A Sermon on the Second Coming
Luke 17:20-37 The Perplexed Disciples
Doubt and agonized perplexity assailed the apostles during the closing period of Jesus’ ministry as He continually pressed upon them the fact that He was now going up to Jerusalem, where He would allow His enemies to kill Him. Jesus helped their faith and hope by keeping before them His return in glory and the consummation of the kingdom of God. It is hard to see exactly how much they understood these predictions and how far they were able to fit together the tragic present and the glorious future. Their anxious question at the close of this sermon as to the geographical location of His return shows how they were struggling to harmonize the seemingly contradictory items He kept revealing to them. The revelations concerning His second coming had begun early in the ministry of Jesus in the parables, such as the parable of the tares, and in repeated assertions that He would be the Judge of all mankind in the final day (Matthew 13:36-43; Matthew 7:22-27; John 5:19-47).
Question of the Pharisees
Naturally, similarities occur in the predictions Jesus made in this sermon on the second coming and the sermon which He delivered to the apostles on the Mount of Olives during the final week. The destruction of Jerusalem was the prediction which brought about the latter sermon. It had a large place in the entire discussion Jesus gave. It is a moot question as to whether the impending doom of the capital also enters into this sermon delivered in Peraea. A question of the Pharisees brought up the entire discussion. Jesus had already predicted the doom of the holy city and had solemnly declared that God would no longer defend it, but that it would be left desolate (Luke 13:34, Luke 13:35). We cannot be sure how much this prediction of doom for Jerusalem was remembered by His hearers as He made these predictions of the second coming and the final consummation of the kingdom.
“And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God cometh, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo, here! or There! for lo, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20, Luke 17:21). Observe first that He answered their question of “when” with an answer of “where,” and that this question was still asked by the disciples at the close. Because the Pharisees asked the opening question does not prove that their motives were evil. But the probabilities are that there was an undercurrent of scoffing at the kind of campaign Jesus was carrying on and its probable end, and the lack of any of the evidences of a worldly kingdom such as they desired and expected. They might have been hoping to entrap Him in some sort of definite prediction of His immediate establishment of the kingdom and to secure information as to His plans and program. His reply shows that He was trying to correct their false idea of a material kingdom. The Kingdom
“The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo, here! or, There! For lo, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20, Luke 17:21). The verb from which the noun observation is derived is used by medical writers of watching symptoms of a disease. It sometimes implies sinister watching, but usually only close watching. If the former connotation colors the passage here, Jesus was suggesting that all their malicious plots and speculations would be in vain to forestall His plans and program. The warning not to heed the false prophets who declare the presence of false christs, “Lo here! or, There!” seems to place the emphasis upon their mistaken idea that the kingdom was to be worldly with vast armies, lofty thrones, worldly wealth and luxury. They could see none of this in the campaign of Jesus. But He warned them that His kingdom was not worldly; it was spiritual. No close watching could enable any man to foretell its coming. This spiritual kingdom was of God’s making; it would be brought about by His will, not by man’s observation.
Pentecost The alternate reading in the footnote of the a.s.v. for within you is in the midst of you. It suggests, “You seek vast political transformations as evidence of the coming of the kingdom. But the kingdom is in your very midst now in the Person of the Son of God, who is the King. You who are blind to His Person, His teaching, His miracles, will find no greater signs to awaken you to the presence of the kingdom.” When the kingdom of God was set up on the day of Pentecost, only one hundred twenty persons were in the select company of disciples as Peter preached the first full sermon to the multitude. Three thousand persons were baptized as the kingdom, or church was established. Those who were intent on a political kingdom still did not realize that the kingdom was in their midst even though it had not actually been established. The Will of God The translation within you causes one to turn back to the model prayer with its parallel petitions: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth” (Matthew 6:10). The kingdom was to come in its preparatory stage during the ministry of Jesus, in its actual establishment after His ascension, and in the final consummation at His second coming. Men would enter into the kingdom by doing His will; its citizens would be in subjection to His will.
Within you in the context of Luke would mean “The kingdom will not come with great worldly pomp and glory as you expect; it is completely spiritual. It will not be gained by observation which is centered in worldly might and power, but rather by yielding your hearts in obedience to God.” Gregory Nyssen held it to mean the image of God bestowed upon all men at birth, but this overlooks the entire context. Cyril of Alexandria interpreted “lies within your power to appropriate it.” Moldonatus gave the sense that they had the power to accept Christ if they would. This interpretation fits the meaning “in the midst of you.” He argued it could not mean “in your hearts” because He was addressing the Pharisees who were continually rejecting Him, and because Luke emphasizes that the next verse was addressed to the disciples. Modernists quote this passage widely to set aside the importance of the church as an institution, its divine character, and divinely ordained means of entrance, and to argue for their “social gospel.” The Second Coming
“And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it” (Luke 17:22). This question was of tremendous interest to the disciples also. Since they undoubtedly had discussed it among themselves many times, Jesus turned to detailed instruction of His disciples concerning the establishment of the kingdom. The repeated predictions Jesus had made of His voluntary surrender to death at the hands of His enemies in fulfillment of the will and the definite plan of God now made very critical the questions “When and where the kingdom?” Both questions were on their hearts and came up for discussion. At the close of this sermon the disciples were still asking, “Where?” Christ shows that there would be signs of His second coming, but none that would enable men to foretell the time. They had to beware of being misled by those who would insist on predicting the time. Jesus shows that the time and place are immaterial; the attitude and condition of the disciples are of supreme importance.
Whether the Pharisees had withdrawn under what amounted to a strong rebuke or remained to hear this discussion is uncertain. This discussion seems to have been private, following the public instruction introduced by the question of the Pharisees The fact that the predictions during the final week recorded in Matthew 24:1-51, Mark 13:1-37, and Luke 21:1-38 were private inclines one to think that this second discussion was to the disciples alone, after the Pharisees had departed. “Ye shall desire to see.” Some identify the meaning with Matthew 9:15 and Mark 2:20, where Jesus predicted He would be taken away from His disciples and they would with great sorrow realize His absence and long for one such day of fellowship as they had enjoyed during these years of His ministry. But the meaning here seems to be the longing which the disciples will have for His glorious return. During times for persecution they will experience this desire for His coming again. It is possible that the phrase one of these days may be a Hebraism for “the first of the days of the Son of man,” i.e., the beginning of His eternal reign. As the Lightning
“And they shall say to you, Lo, there! Lo, here!” This verse does not contradict the statement of Jesus in Luke 17:21. He had warned against such folly, but in spite of His warnings false prophets and false christs would abound. The disciples were not to heed those who would claim they could predict the time of the second coming. “For as the lightning, when it lighteneth out of one part under the heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall the Son of man be in his day” (Luke 17:24). The lightning offers a vivid illustration of the nature of the second coming. In general, a person can tell when to expect lightning, but the exact moment cannot he predicted. We are told in the New Testament that evil men will wax worse and worse, that the love of many Christians will grow cold, that fierce opposition and persecution will be endured by the followers of Christ, but no precise signs are given to indicate the approach of the second coming, as were revealed concerning the destruction of Jerusalem. The figure of the lightning streaking across the sky pictures the Son of God coming in glory to all the world, seen by all at once, but the time foreseen by none.
After this glowing picture of the parousia, Jesus renewed the somber prediction of His approaching rejection and suffering. They would not have been able to understand His coming again if they did not realize that He must first go back to heaven. They had to be prepared for very dreadful experiences before they could see the establishment of the kingdom. The refusal of man to give heed to His warnings is compared to the godlessness in the days of Noah and in the destruction of Sodom. There is strong similarity in the teaching given in this sermon and the more detailed instruction given to the apostles during the final week.
Unprepared!
“So shall the Son of man be in his day” (Luke 17:24). “After the same manner shall it be in the day that the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he that shall be on the housetop...(Luke 17:30, Luke 17:31). The reference seems to be to the second coming in each of these verses. In his day in Luke 17:25 is followed immediately by in the days of the Son of man (Luke 17:26), but this seems to be a general reference as one might say “in the time of.” In Luke 17:30 it is brought out very clearly: “in the day that the Son of man is revealed.” Some would refer Luke 17:25-32 to the destruction of Jerusalem, the day in which the predictions of the Son of man shall be completely vindicated and the nation destroyed because of its rejection of Christ. They would refer only Luke 17:32-37 to the second coming. The general similarity between this discourse and the one delivered during the final week would naturally invite the expositor to make this division here. But the destruction of Jerusalem is explicitly presented in the final discussion in Matthew 24:1-51. In this sermon in Peraea we may well have a more limited presentation with much of the same teaching included. The comparisons with the times of Noah and of Lot would apply either to the destruction of Jerusalem or the second coming, except that the suddenness fits better with the second coming, and the idea of trying to rescue their goods fits the destruction of Jerusalem better. Since Jerusalem is not definitely mentioned in this sermon in Luke, one is inclined to apply the entire sermon to the second coming. The warning not to go down into the house to rescue precious, worldly possessions is, then, a figurative warning against any thought of earthly goods or attempt to cling to them in the time of the second coming.
Lot’s Wife
Lot’s wife allowed her mind to turn back to the earthly treasures left behind and, even in the hour of rescue, was destroyed. Thus it will be with those who cling to earthly treasures at the very last. The fact that no warning is given to flee to the mountains, as in Matthew 24:16, inclines one to apply this entire sermon to the second coming. Luke does record this warning to flee to the mountains in Luke 21:21.
“Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32). Observe that Jesus does not say, “Behold Lot’s wife!” No support is given for the ridiculous efforts of Josephus and early Christian writers to identify a gargantuan formation on the mountain along the southern shore of the Dead Sea as the pillar of salt into which Lot’s wife was turned. On the other hand, Jesus gives powerful substantiation to the historic verity of the fact that Lot’s wife was actually turned into a pillar of salt. To a student who once asked him what had become of the pillar of salt, McGarvey answered that he presumed the winter rains had washed it away or the cows had licked it down.
Losing Life
“Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it: but whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it” (Luke 17:33). This is a favorite saying of Jesus, and the only great saying which is recorded in all four narratives (Matthew 10:39; Matthew 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24; John 12:25). The particular turn given to the saying in this sermon is warning against the effort to gain earthly possessions at the expense of the soul and the willingness to lose earthly possessions in order to gain the heavenly. It is, of course, implied in lose his life that he does not lose his life as a drunkard or a gangster, but “ for Jesus’ sake.”
Night and Day
“In that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall he taken and the other shall be left” (Luke 17:34). This verse is clearly a reference to the second coming, but one may not infer that Jesus is saying it will occur in the night, for the next verses picture women and men at work at home and in the field. The whole picture fits the world perfectly because it is actually day on one part of the earth when it is night on the opposite side. The puny achievements of man in this space age show him circling the earth in a swift circuit. Orbiting the earth in this fashion gives us a suggestion of how God in His infinite might will he able to reveal His Son to all the earth in a manner similar to the sweep of lightning across the sky. Instead of naming an exact geographical location in answer to the eager question of the disciples: “Where, Lord?” (Luke 17:37), Jesus gives an enigmatic answer. They are left with the universal appearance of Jesus at His second coming. It is a picture in motion rather than a specified location.
“Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles he gathered together.” The reference is plainly to vultures rather than eagles. Plummer remarks that eagles do not go in flocks and do not feed on carrion. Bishop Lightfoot thought the reference was to the Roman eagle at the head of a Roman legion, and his influence has caused the word to be translated eagle. The saying has been taken to mean that as the vultures, circling in the sky, indicate the general location of a dead body so (1) the fulfillment of expected conditions will indicate the general approach of the second coming; or (2) the clinging of sinful men to earthly treasures will indicate where the judgment of God will descend in the Person of His Son.