The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM
Lesson Plan:
1. The Kingdom Within (vs 20, 21)
2. False Prophets of the Kingdom (vs 22-25)
3. The Unexpected Kingdom (vs 26-37)
Lesson Setting:
Time: March, A.D. 30, a short time before the crucifixion.
Place: Probably in Perea, on the way from Galilee to Jerusalem; perhaps on the border line between
Samaria and Galilee.
Inductive Study of the Lesson:
a. Read the lesson passage, Luke 17:20-37, with the parallels, Matthew 24:17, 18, 23, 26-28; 37-
41; Mark 13:15, 16, 21
b. With the thought of verse 21 compare Deuteronomy 30:14; Matthew 12:28; 23:26; John 1:26
c. With
verse 22 compare Matthew 9:15; John 12:35; 13:33; 17:12; Revelations 6:10
d. With the prophecy of Christ’s sufferings, verse 25, compare Luke 18:31-34
e. Read the account of
“the days of Noah,” Genesis 6:5-7; 7:11-23
f. On “the days of Lot” see Genesis 18:20-32; 19:15-26; Isaiah 13:19; Ezekiel 16:46-56; Amos
4:11; Jude 7
g. With these warnings compare 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10
h. With the reference to Lot’s wife (v 32) compare Luke 9:62
i. With verse 33 compare Luke 9:24; John 12:25; 2 Timothy 4:6-8
j. With the thought of verse 34
compare Matthew 13:36-52
k. Find commentaries on verse 37 in Deuteronomy 28:49-52; Job 39:30; Jeremiah 6:22, 23;
48:40; 49:22; Lamentations 4:19; Hosea 8:1; Habakkuk 1:8; John 11:48; Revelations 19:17-21
Introduction: Do not put off following Christ – Christ’s discourse which we now study “was probably delivered a day or so after the healing of the lepers, and marks a farther stage in the Perean journey towards Jerusalem” (Edersheim). It treats the coming of our Lord’s kingdom, a subject always very close to His heart, and one which, therefore, should be very close to the hearts of all His disciples. Actually, the history of the world, in all its higher aspects, is only the history of the coming of the kingdom of heaven. It is of supreme importance to learn Christ’s thought of His kingdom, and our relation to it.
Scripture Reading: Luke 17:20, 21
1. The Kingdom Within
It’s no doubt safe to assume that when Jesus taught and preached about the kingdom of God, He probably received both immediate and sympathetic attention. Why? Because that subject was of profound interest to His listeners. The Hebrews firmly believed they were a chosen nation, destined to rule the world. Their hopes were fed by ancient and magnificent prophecies of the universal dominion to be attained by the Jews. Though trampled upon by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, still the Hebrew looked forward with a proud and impassioned longing for the ardently expected Messiah, who would deliver them from bondage, placing them on the throne of the world.
What was Christ’s idea of the kingdom of God? – He did not think of the kingdom as a new political regime, to be set up on some certain day, but rather as a new moral order which had already begun. A life of loyalty to God is the characteristic of this kingdom. The kingdom of God comes as more and more people follow Christ more and more faithfully. Why did the Pharisees ask Christ when the kingdom would come? Many of the Jews living during this period of time expected the kingdom to come soon. John the Baptist and Jesus proclaimed its approach. Jesus had now been preaching a few years. Yet people saw no sign of the kingdom. “There was a certain impatience, a certain materialism, possibly also a tinge of sarcasm and depreciation in the question” (Farrar). Can you hear their mocking tone through your mind’s ear? “A king without a kingdom! So tell us, when can we expect the kingdom to come?”
What would be observed at the coming of the kingdom? – It would be the redemption of individual men and women, nations, and the world, by changes in their outward conditions only; changes visible to the eye and testified by the material senses. The world is full of people who place their ideal of earthly happiness too much in the hope of getting into better circumstances, better homes, better dress, better society, and better fortune. But it is a common experience which George Eliot has put on record in her saying that “no list of circumstances will ever make a paradise.”
What did Christ mean by the statement that the kingdom does not come with observation? – That we cannot point to it, saying, “Here it is,” or “There it is.” It does not come by narrow, curious watching. The kingdom can be seen only by the soul; not by the senses. Looking for the kingdom of God through external signs means simply that we are overlooking the slow and spiritual processes constantly at work before our eyes. It was put into this world by Jesus Christ, who left us His Holy Word, quietly working its way in the world like leaven in meal.
Illustration: Compare the change in the Jewish ideas regarding the kingdom of God which Jesus sought to bring about, to the time when a child discovers Santa Claus is false. One day the child will come to understand the reality behind the mythical Santa Claus, i.e., his parents’ love.
Illustration: Many great events and powerful institutions begin without much observation, while many that are loudly heralded in their beginnings so often go no further. Trench compares the obscure and slow beginnings of Rome, which became the mistress of the world, with the building of Babel, whose tower was to reach to heaven, and which was soon only a shapeless mass of bricks.
In what sense is the kingdom of God external? – Only in the sense that in this world the spiritual must have a material basis. Is it easier to be good in a healthy, fed, clothed and housed body, with no fear of poverty, than in a sick, thinly clad, poorly sheltered, and weighed down with dread of the poorhouse body? Christians seek to help those who are sick, hungry, thirsty and needing shelter, but that is only the setting of the kingdom of God, not its central reality. What did Christ mean that the kingdom of God is within? One thing only can be derived from this: Jesus’ emphasis of the kingdom as internal and spiritual, not external and material. “There is certainly an element of truth in that statement; but it must not be understood as teaching that the kingdom is simply something that gets into men. Summers appears to have had something like that in mind, basing his conclusion upon the fact that the word here translated ‘within’ occurs only twice in the New Testament, the other instance being in Matthew 23:26 where ‘the word refers to the inside of a cup or dish.’ This, however, is not the whole story. The word in Matthew (used as an article) is a noun, and here it is an adverb; and W.E. Vine particularly stressed that in Luke 17:21, ‘The RV margin, in the midst of, is to be preferred. The kingdom of God was not in the hearts of the Pharisees!’ (Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words). God’s kingdom is an inner dominion, swaying the hearts of men. The kingdom of God within enables us to meet the trials and disappointments of life with patience and meekness. The kingdom of God is within, because within is moral evil; within is the power of love; within is the will and hope required to reach the higher ideal of character.
Scripture Reading: Luke 17:22-25 (also read Matt. 24:23, 26, 27; Mk. 13:21)
2. False Prophets of the Kingdom
What did Christ mean by “one of the days of the Son of man” (v 22)? – Some scholars consider this to mean “one of the days when Christ is present, one such day as the disciples were having then. The thought is the same as is expressed elsewhere in prophecy that they will fast in the days when the bridegroom is taken away (v 35). It is the longing for Christ’s return after His departure” (New Century Bible). Other commentators, however, believe that the expression looks forward rather than backward. “Their troubles and trials would be such, at various times before His return, that they would long for the rest and refreshment of even one of those days which He had taught them to anticipate, in the glory and blessedness of the finished kingdom in heaven” (American Commentary). “‘O for one day of heaven in this time of trouble!’ is a futile wish, but it will be framed by some” (Int. Crit. Com.). Some think that “one of the days” is a Hebrew way of saying “the first day,” the beginning of that glad time to come. William Barclay wrote, “Verses 22-27 speak of the Second Coming of Jesus.” This verse (22) is a reference to the present dispensation, during which Christians, oppressed by temptations and tribulations, will, like the Pharisees of old, desire to see just such cataclysmic events as they wanted to see, and which they erroneously understood would usher in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus shows here that those great physical, cataclysmic disorders and cosmic signs shall indeed come to pass at the Second Coming, but not now. Like the martyred saints, Christians who find themselves a conscious, hated minority in society, reviled, and set at naught by a hostile secular world, will cry, ‘How long?’ (Rev. 6:10); but the end is not yet. There are difficulties in this passage that we cannot fully understand, but that should not deter us. The things here prophesied shall surely come to pass.
Why would the disciples desire for this in vain? – Simply because the best time for Christ’s appearing would not have arrived. Our Lord often said, “My time has not yet come.” He knew that an event or experience hurried on in advance of the wise ordering of God’s providence brings only half a blessing. But to every earnest follower Christ grants happy fore-glimpses of His coming. We can live realizing the days of the Son of man by seeking out and ministering to the wants and woes of humanity, as He loved to do. The days of the Son of man are wherever Christ and misery stand face to face.
In that time of trouble and persecution, who would try to cheat and fool the disciples? – False prophets, announcing the second coming of the Messiah: “There He is! Look! He is here!” The century after our Lord’s death was one of incessant Messianic expectation among the Jews. “A vivid description of the perpetual Messianic excitements, which finally ceased in the days of Barcochba and the Rabbi Akibha” (Cambridge Bible). Too often in our times of trouble we, too, frequently see Jesus in what seems to be a form of relief from vexation, when in reality we are being tempted. “It is a grand thing to have such faith in Christ that you have none to spare for impostors. It is important not to distribute your faith too widely” (Spurgeon).
To what did Christ compare the coming of His kingdom? – To “the lightning,” (v 24), which, as soon as it appears in one part of the sky, flashes instantly to all other parts. “The coming of the Son of man should be bright, sudden, terrible, universal, irresistible as the lightning flash” (Farrar). You cannot miss Him. His appearing will shine everywhere, like the lightning. None can tell when it will flash, but when it does, we will all see it at once. “The idea apparently is that the presence of the Son of man will not be local, but everywhere visible” (Int. Crit. Com.).
Illustration: There is an old legend of a man who waited a thousand years before the gates of paradise, watching for them to open, so he could enter in. At last, yielding to weariness, he slept for an hour. During that hour the gates opened for a few moments and then closed. So, by being off his guard a little while he missed his opportunity. The coming of Christ will be so sudden that no preparation can be made after He appears. We must learn to live so that there will not be a moment, day or night, when we would be afraid or ashamed to have Him come into our home or place of business, finding us as we are. Every day could be our last on this earth. Therefore we should keep our spiritual work complete up to the moment, finishing it every evening as if we were never coming back.
How did Christ modify His disciples’ eager expectation of His kingdom? – By telling them that it was not coming until He had suffered many things, and had actually been rejected by His own generation.
Scripture Reading: Luke 17:26-37 (also read Matt. 24:17, 18, 28, 37-41; Mk. 13:15, 16)
3. The Unexpected Kingdom
How were the days of Noah like the days before the coming of Christ’s kingdom? – “The gleam of His second advent will flame upon the midnight of a sensual, unexpectant world, as the flood rolled over the festive sensualism in the days of Noah, and the fire and brimstone streamed from heaven upon the glittering rottenness of the Cities of the Plain” (Farrar). It is evident that Jesus accepted the Old Testament narratives of the flood and destruction of Sodom as real history. Just before the blotting out of their world by the waters of the flood, though warned of what was coming, the men of Noah’s day were marrying and the women were giving in marriage and there was hilarious feasting. A special point of the analogy is not that the generation was exceptionally wicked, but that God’s solemn warnings were ignored because they were absorbed in worldly pursuits. Instead of saying, “It is certain to come; therefore we must make preparation and always be on watch,” they said, “No one knows when it will come; therefore there is no need to be troubled about it yet.”
Illustration: Nearly seventeen centuries had rolled away when the city of Pompeii was disinterred from its silent tomb, all vivid with undimmed hues; its walls fresh as if painted yesterday (not a hue faded on the rich mosaic of its floors) in its forum the half-finished columns as left by the workman’s hand – in its gardens the sacrificial tripod; in its halls the chest of treasure; in its baths the strigil; in its theaters the counter of admission; in its saloons the furniture and the lamp; in its triclinia the fragments of the last feast; in its cubicula the perfumes and the rouge of faded beauty; and everywhere the bones and skeletons of those who once moved the springs of that minute yet gorgeous machine of luxury and of life. In a garden was found a skeleton with a key by its bony hand, and near it a bag of coins (Bulwer’s Last Days of Pompeii).
Illustration: The scenes in the destruction of Sodom must have been similar to those in the ruin of Pompeii, except the material burning Sodom was not of a preservative nature.
Illustration: Woe unto those whose eating and drinking do not include the bread and water of life; and who marry or are given in marriage, but not to the heavenly Bridegroom. What a dreadful day for sinners. “Day of Judgment, day of wonders! Hark, the trumpet’s awful sound, Louder than a thousand thunders, Shakes the vast creation round! How the summons Will the sinner’s heart confound!” (Spurgeon).
What about v 30? – “Both in the case of Noah, and that of Lot, God’s people were taken away from the scene of judgment before it occurred” (Everett F. Harrison, Wycliffe Commentary). In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Paul indicated this to also be the case with Christians. Other analogies which we are perhaps justified in drawing are: (a) faith will virtually have ceased on earth; (b) men will be busy in the same old ways, pursuing their same old interests; (c) materialism will have won the minds of men; (d) the utmost security shall be felt by men; (e) all appeals regarding the worship of God shall be scoffed at; (f) the Second Coming shall be an instantaneous thing, like lightning; (g) it shall be world-wide, occurring everywhere simultaneously, and therefore involving the totality of the earth and its enveloping atmosphere; (h) the Christians shall be caught up out of the ‘conflagration’ and shall suffer no harm from it; (i) Jesus and His holy angels shall deliver them; they shall ever be with the Lord. These analogies, some of which are in the text here, and some of which have been imported into it from the writings of Paul, are all nevertheless true.
How are we to act, if Christ comes in our day? – The commands of Christ to His immediate disciples are also for us. If, when Christ’s coming was apparent, they should happen to be on the housetop, they were not to go down to seize and carry off any of their possessions. If they were at work, lightly clad, in the fields, they were not to go to their houses for their outer garments. They were to flee just as they were. It seems clear that in these warnings, as in Matthew 24, our Lord has distinctly in view the destruction of Jerusalem, and the awful troubles and judgments which it brought, as being the first fulfillment of the prophecy of His Second Coming. “Eusebius, H.E. III. 5, 3, tells how the Christians left Jerusalem when the troubles preceding its destruction arose, and removed to Pella in accordance with an old oracle, apparently this passage” (Menzies). “The Eastern housetop in ordinary weather is the most frequented spot of the house. The roofs were flat, with ‘battlements’ or balustrades to prevent persons from falling. Here they sat, walked, chatted, worked at light work, or found recreation or retirement. From the outside a stairway led to the ground, so that one could descend without going down into the house” (Rice). “A number of houses being at times joined, the disciples were told to take advantage of this when trouble came. They should flee along the roofs, and thus escape” (Geikie).
Why did Christ bid His followers “remember Lot’s wife” (v 32)? – While fleeing, she regretfully turned to gaze one last time upon Sodom, becoming only a mound of salt-encrusted cinders; no doubt a warning against delay. Isn’t it also a warning to the Christian against being unwilling to leave home and possessions? Lot’s wife is supposed to have been reluctant about forsaking her property. Christ’s disciple is thus warned against clinging to material possessions more than spiritual life with Him.
How are we to get ready for the coming of Christ? – By keeping Christ and His ideals and commands uppermost in our minds and lives. This implies keeping the lower part of our lives down where it belongs “Whosoever shall seek to save [R.V. ‘gain’] his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it” (v 33). At least eight times, with varying emphasis, Jesus Christ gave this thought to His disciples. It was difficult and probably seemed contrary and they did not understand it. Do we understand it today? Too often we call on Christ to save our souls, and then act like we want Him to stay out of our lives. “The point of the maxim lies in the contrast between the two senses. To gain the lower now is to lose the higher hereafter, and conversely, to lose the lower for the sake of Christ (for example, to die a martyr’s death in confessing Him) is to gain the higher” (Ellicott).
Illustration: Consider the language of a general exhorting his troops on the field of battle. What if they should fall on the field? They would win immortality. Better die a glorious death than purchase life at the cost of honor. When Francis of Assisi heard the reading of the priest, in the chapel of the Portiuncula, it thrilled him so much that he threw aside his staff, wallet, purse, and shoes, devoting himself from that hour to a higher mission. It is no wonder that the apostles responded to the appeal when they heard it warm and impassioned from the Lord’s own lips. However, for most of us the summons is to follow Christ in the little duties of each humdrum day.
What striking illustrations did Christ give of the separations when the kingdom comes? – (a) Of two men sleeping together in one bed, one shall be “taken,” that is, saved; the other “left,” that is, abandoned to the judgment. “Taken” perhaps refers to John 14:3; taken to the Father’s house of many mansions, or perhaps to 1 Thessalonians 4:17, caught up to meet the coming Lord. “Shall be taken ... shall be left ...” Which of these refers to the saved, which to the unsaved? From 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, it would appear that the saved are the ones who shall be ‘taken.’ However, Everett F. Harrison cautioned that ‘Taken is often applied to saints, but it may refer to the gatherings out of offenders to judgment (Matt. 13:42).’ The evidence, however, favors the other view. (b) Of two women grinding together at one mill “one shall be taken, the other left” (v 35). “There are a few mill-streams in Palestine, hence hand-mills are a necessity. The women grinding at a hand-mill in the house or at the door is a common sight in Syria. They have a mill composed of two stones, one above the other, the upper having a hole in the center through which the grain is poured, while the upper stone is twirled upon the lower by two women sitting on opposite sides of the mill, who take hold of the handle inserted in the upper stone. Most of their grain is ground in this way” (Rice). The phrase implies the nearest neighborhood possible. “They may be fellow-servants in a rich man’s mansion, or they may be mother and daughter or two sisters in a poor man’s home; but however closely they may have been attached to one another, if one is saved by the grace of God, and the other is still under the sentence of condemnation, the one shall be taken, and the other left” (Spurgeon).
Sad Separations –If the veil could for a moment be drawn up which hangs over the future; if we could but look eight or ten years onwards, how infinite would be the variety of fortune experienced by those now here assembled, who have now so much in common with each other. The one shall be taken and the other left. What a difference of success and failure, of prosperity and adversity, of wealth and poverty, rank and obscurity, of joy and grief, will befall those who are now in circumstances so similar. Do what you will, the experience of all ages has proved that you cannot insure earthly prosperity; but in the great separation that will take place hereafter it does depend upon yourselves whether you shall be among those who are taken or among those who are left.”
How did Christ answer when asked where His kingdom should be established? – He replied enigmatically, perhaps quoting a common proverb: “Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together” (v 37). “As to the ‘where’ there could be as little answer as to the ‘when,’ and the coming of God’s kingdom is as little geographical as it is chronological. The mystic Armageddon is no place whose situation you may fix by latitude and longitude. Wherever there is individual wickedness, wherever there is social degeneracy, wherever there is deep national corruption, thither do the eagle-avengers of the divine vengeance wing their flight from far” (Farrar). A reference to the eagle-standards of Rome “is very possible, especially as the Jews were very familiar with the Roman eagle, and so strongly detested it that the mere erection of the symbol in Jerusalem was sufficient to lash them into insurrection (Josephus Ant. XVII. 6:3)” (Cambridge Bible). “Eagles neither fly in flocks nor feed on carrion. Seeing the ravine between Jerusalem and Jericho Alexander Maclaren wrote: “We gaze down, and see the ravens, eagles, and griffon vultures sailing beneath us. These are now the sole inhabitants of the caves, the monarchs of the waste, or, more strictly perhaps, the board of sanitary commissioners, a business which would be ill executed in this region were it not for the beneficent natural provision of the vulture, the raven, and other birds of prey. No sooner is some sickly animal dead, or some piece of carrion thrown out by the way, than the vultures appear. There may not have been one visible a moment before in the hot blue sky, but, taught by scent or by sight that their banquet is prepared, they come flocking from all corners round their hideous meal, fighting with flapping wings and tearing it with their strong talons. And so, says Christ, wherever there is a rotting, dead society, a carcass hopelessly corrupt and evil, down upon it, as if drawn by some unerring attraction, will come the eagles, the vultures of the divine judgment.”
Why should we obey and follow Christ at once? – (a) Because we know that He will visibly return, and that return will be sudden and unexpected. It might be today; perhaps this very hour. (b) Because, whether He comes today or not, He is here right now, knocking at the door of your heart and mine, bidding us let Him in. (c) Because His Spirit will not always strive with our spirits, but, if rejected too often, will retire, never to return. We shall fix ourselves forever in the file of rejection. (d) Because even at the longest, our lives here on earth are very short. A lifetime of service is not too long to serve the One who gave Himself for us. (e) Because the longer we serve Him here, the better entrance will be ours to the land where we are to dwell with Him forever. We will be glad throughout eternity if we follow Christ during our time on earth.
