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Christ Teaches on the Second Coming
Luke 17:20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation;
They may have asked the question mockingly, having already concluded that He was not the Messiah. not coming with signs to be observed. The Pharisees believed that the Messiah’s triumph would be immediate. They were looking for Him to come, overthrow Rome, and set up the millennial kingdom.
Christ’s program was altogether different. He was inaugurating an era in which the kingdom would be manifest in the rule of God in men’s hearts through faith in the Savior. Romans 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
That kingdom was neither confined to a particular geographical location nor visible to human eyes. It would come quietly, invisibly, and without the normal pomp and splendor associated with the arrival of a king. Jesus did not suggest that the OT promises of an earthly kingdom were hereby nullified. Rather, that earthly, visible manifestation of the kingdom is yet to come.
Luke 17:21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
The Lord Jesus could not have meant that the kingdom was actually inside the hearts of the Pharisees, because these hardened religious hypocrites had no room in their hearts for Christ the King.
But He meant that the kingdom of God was in their midst. He was the rightful King of Israel and had performed His miracles, and presented His credentials for all to see.
But the Pharisees had no desire to receive Him. And so for them, the kingdom of God had presented itself and was completely unnoticed by them.
Luke 17:22 Then He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.
Speaking to the Pharisees, the Lord described the kingdom as something that had already come. When He turned to the disciples, He spoke about the kingdom as a future event which would be set up at His Second Coming. But first He described the period that would intervene between His First and Second Advents. The days would come when the disciples would desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but would not see it. In other words, they would long for one of the days when He was with them on earth and they enjoyed sweet fellowship with Him. Those days were, in a sense, foretastes of the time He would return in power and great glory.
Luke 17:23 And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. :24 For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day.
Many false christs would arise, and rulers would announce that the Messiah had come. But His followers were not to be deceived by any such false alarms. Christ’s Second Advent would be as visible and unmistakable as the lightning which streaks from one part of the sky to the other.
Luke 17:25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
Luke 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:
Luke 17:27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Turning back to the subject of His coming to reign, the Lord taught that the days immediately preceding that glorious event would be like the days of Noah. People ate, they drank, they married, and were given in marriage. These things are not wrong; they are normal, legitimate human activities. The evil was that men lived for these things and had no thought or time for God.
After Noah and his family entered the ark, the flood came and destroyed the rest of the population. So the Second Coming of Christ would mean judgment for those who reject His offer of mercy.
Luke 17:28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;
Judgment came suddenly, destroying people in the midst of their everyday activities. Genesis 19:24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. :25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
None of the things Jesus cited with regard to Noah’s day or Lot’s day were inherently sinful. But people were so absorbed in the things of this life that they were utterly unprepared when the time of judgment came.
Luke 17:29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.
Luke 17:30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
On the very day that Lot, his wife and daughters went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed the wicked city. So will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. Those who concentrate on pleasure, self-gratification, and commerce will be destroyed.
Luke 17:31 “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. :32 Remember Lot’s wife.
Luke 17:33 Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.
Luke 17:34 I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. :35 Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. :36 Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”
Luke 17:37 And they answered and said to Him, “Where, Lord?” So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”
The location of a carcass is visible from great distances because of the circling carrion birds overhead (cf. Job 39:27–30). Similarly, Christ’s return will be clearly evident to all near and far..
Parable of the Woman and the Judge
Luke 18:1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,
A common theme in Paul’s epistles, in light of the afflictions and hardships of life, and the evidence of approaching judgment..…
Luke 18:2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.
This man was thoroughly wicked. Christ described him as “unrighteous” (v. 6)—like the manager in 16:8. The judge is not given as a symbol of God, but rather in contrast to Him. If such an unrighteous man would respond to persistent pleas, would not God, who is not only just, but also loving and merciful, do so more readily?
Luke 18:3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’
Luke 18:4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, :5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”
Luke 18:6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.
Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 121). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. MacArthur, J. F., Jr., MacDonald, Farstad, Believers Bible; Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2195). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
