Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity

Luke 17:20-30

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we are blessed today in our Gospel lesson to hear about the Kingdom of God that has come into our midst, and it is good, right, and salutary that we should focus upon the Kingdom that has come and is yet to be. For the Pharisees are blind, when they ask when the Kingdom of God would come, because it is in their midst. The reason they have missed it is because they ignored the signs that the prophets had given them, they ignored and cast aside the Word of God. We do not wish to fall into the same trap, for the Kingdom of God is not only in their midst, but it is also in ours, for Christ reigns for Jesus has ascended and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and continues bestowing gifts that repentant sinners might find in salvation in Christ.

The Advent of the Kingdom

The disciples had been proclaiming the kingdom.

The pharisees at this point knew what His disciples had been doing in Jesus’ name. Jesus had sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom of God, to heal diseases, and cast out demons, and just before this passage, Jesus had healed the 10 lepers from their illness, but only a Samaritan came back rejoicing and praising God. That Samaritan knew the Kingdom of God was present and he had received a foretaste of it. Whereas

The Pharisees wanted to know when it would come.

When is the Kingdom of God that they want to see showing up? Now they were looking for a place here on earth where the Kingdom of God will be established as an earthly Kingdom, and this is why Jesus chastises them, because they think of earthly things and are looking for signs like an earthly kingdom and the desires of their hearts have blinded them to the truth. For

Jesus tells them it is now.

In fact they are standing in the midst of it at that very moment. They are asking the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the God of all creation, the one through whom all things were made, when His Kingdom was coming, they have the Scriptures but they do not know their King. If the promised King is standing before you, why are they asking when?

The Kingdom is Near

People were looking in the wrong place.

This is a struggle even with Jesus’ disciples at his ascension, they want to know if now he will restore the Kingdom. They kept looking to this earth, and this is important for us as Christians to note especially as we live here waiting for Christ’s return. We live in the tension of a now and not yet, that we have the Kingdom of God, but not fully as it will be at his return. So Jesus explains what the prophets had said about the Christ,

First, Jesus had to suffer.

Jesus would receive a crown, but it would be one of thorns for Jesus takes upon himself our suffering that His name might be exalted above every name as He restores Creation to the Father. He would also be rejected by this generation. Which is what the Pharisees would end up doing, and what many still today do.

People think of it being in the future.

Some distant time far away from us, so that we don’t need to worry about it or be concerned about the Kingdom, but Jesus’ words bring the Kingdom of God very near, we all ought to pay attention to Christ’s words.

The kingdom is in their midst for there is Jesus.

Where Jesus is, there is the Kingdom of God. Now that Kingdom is marked by the ministry of Christ which addresses the biggest problem of this world, and it wasn’t the Romans.

Jesus, Our God and King

Jesus’ ministry was overthrowing Satan.

For the Scriptures describe Satan as the ruler of this world and Jesus in Parable refers to him as a strong man guarding his goods, and Satan does that until Jesus comes and overpowers him and strips Satan of his possessions. All those people that had been ensnared by Satan’s cunning, deception, and the power of sin that includes all of us. We were bound with chains and

Sin afflicts body and soul.

That’s why Jesus’ ministry was about healing people, but Jesus didn’t just heal their bodies, Jesus saved you from the power of sin that rules over each and everyone of us. Those chains bind all of us, and most folks never realize the strength of these chains, because they never try to break them. But convince themselves that they are helping, making stronger as they struggle to lift them.

If you want to see the strength of the chains that bind you and drag you down not only into the grave, but into hell itself. Stop sinning. Stop making excuses about the language you use and that its too hard to quit foul language, stop being greedy, stop being lustful, see if you can do it, if you can free yourself from these sins in thought, word, and deed. All of us fail at it, and that’s why we rage against the law, because it shows us that we are slaves to sin. However, the Law is good because through it comes the knowledge of Sin, that we are under a severe affliction and we cannot free ourselves from it, like the Lepers that Jesus just healed. Now we miss this in the English, but do you know what Jesus said to the Leper that came back? Rise and go, your faith has made you well. We think eh, he healed his body, the word that is translated “made you well” is σῴζω which primarily means saved. For what did Jesus come to do for those unclean in body and soul? Jesus came to save you and

Jesus made you citizens.

Of the Kingdom of God, citizens who have been rescued from the powers of sin, death, and the devil that they might have a place in his kingdom. This treasure is far greater than any other kingdom that has existed in the history of the world. No other leader however great they might be in the eyes of the world has been able to break those chains for us. What does Jesus do, he broke those chains, the chains of sin and death so that you might belong to Him and have everlasting life. That’s why we look ahead to

Jesus’ Second Advent

Jesus’ return will be sudden.

It will come at an hour that will catch many off guard, but that is why we are always told to be ready. This is why it is important that we do not neglect our faith, or the gifts that Christ has given. For we none of us knows the hour that we will be called to stand before Christ, and so we regularly receive the gifts that Christ has given. Now Jesus tells us that

Most people won’t care.

We wonder at that, and think how on earth could that be? If Jesus is coming back then wouldn’t they pay attention? Consider Christ’s ministry, even though He performed countless miracles before their eyes, they rejected Him. But in particular what will happen is that they will be...

They will be busy with life.

Before God destroyed the whole world in the flood most folks didn’t give much thought to God’s Word only Noah and his wife and his sons and their wives were saved on that day. Then in Sodom, they were busy with enjoying life until the fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. So it will be when the Son of Man is revealed.

Do not to be caught unaware.

Jesus cites these events to impress upon each of us the importance of his return. That there are no second chances when this happens. Most will continue in their sins and ignore the Kingdom of God and prioritize their own desires over the gifts of the King. Dear Christian, do not perish with the world, and plead with those outside of Christ’s Kingdom to repent and stop relying upon their works and denying their sin. Rather encourage them to confess their sin, and receive the grace that God has given to us and to come where the Kingdom of God is here on earth.

The Kingdom In Our Midst

When the Word is preached the kingdom is near.

This is the charge that Jesus gave to His disciples as he sent them out and it is this same message that we proclaim even today. The Kingdom of God is at hand, and it is in our midst. For

Jesus comes in the Sacrament.

for what does Jesus say? This is my body, this is my blood, and while we do not receive the immediate physical healing that the lepers did, we receive through the Body and Blood of Christ eternal life, and the greatest treasure in the world. For

There is no greater treasure than forgiveness.

The world will chase after fleeting treasures that fade with time, that moth and rust will destroy, but in the Lord’s Supper we have something far greater, you are given a portion of the very sacrifice that was made for your sins. It is this meal that grants to us strength to meet that final day when Christ returns in power and glory and might, and it is why Christ desires that we receive it regularly. That’s why it is important for all those not able to receive it that they prepare and are examined, and all of those who have been prepared and examined come to the table regularly. That they might receive the peace offering, the sin offering, the atonement that Christ has made for you.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, the Kingdom of God is in our midst wherever and when ever the Word is preached purely, and the Sacraments are administered rightly, for there is Christ our Lord in our midst. So let us gather together around these gifts with fervent devotion, so when Christ appears in all power, glory, and might that we may not be caught unawares but rejoice that the day all creation has been waiting for with groaning is finally revealed as we enter into God’s presence for all eternity. In Jesus name. Amen.