Luke 17:34-37
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-Well, let me ask you...
...to turn back to Luke Chapter 17...
...one last time!
If you’re visiting with us...
You should know that our typical practice...
...is to work our way (Verse by Verse)...
...through books of the Bible.
And in doing that...
...we’ve come now to the last few verses...
...of that long prophetic discourse...
...at the end of Luke Chapter 17.
-And, let me remind all of you...
...one final time, that...
...although this discourse contains...
...some statements and phrases that are...
...similar to statements and phrases...
...that are found in the Olivet Discourse...
...though that is the case...
...this discourse appears to have...
...taken place on a different occasion.
So, once again let’s be careful not to assume...
...that their message is exactly the same.
-And with that, we’re going to jump on in.
Like we did last week...
...we’ll just begin by reading today’s Verses...
...and then after we pray...
...we’ll do some review.
So, Luke 17 beginning in Verse 34.
This is the word of Lord:
34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left.
35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”
37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
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Pray
-Let’s begin with a bit of review:
The topic of this discourse...
...had started out as the Kingdom of God.
Remember the Pharisees had asked Jesus:
20 ...when the kingdom of God would come...
To which Jesus had replied:
21 ...the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
Referring, I believe, to himself...
...and his presence among them...
...as the Messianic King of God’s Kingdom...
...or, as he refers to himself in this discourse:
22 ...the Son of Man...
Now, if you’ll remember...
...the first thing that Jesus had told them...
...about his prophetic itinerary as the “Son of Man”...
...was that he wasn’t going to be...
...setting up his kingdom in the earthly Jerusalem.
In fact, he told them in Verse 25, that he...
25 ...must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
(by his own ethnic people)
And he told them (Verse 22):
22 . . . “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.
So, if we combine those two statements together...
He was foretelling:
His persecution at the hands of the Jews
His substitutionary death and suffering on the Cross
His bodily Resurrection
His physical, bodily ascension into heaven.
And, what that meant...
...from the perspective of his disciples, was:
He was going to depart from the earth...
And they would be bereaved of...
...his physical presence among them.
-However… he also indicated to them...
...that he would eventually return...
...And that when he did return...
No one would need to say to them:
23 . . . ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ . . .
Here was why:
24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.
(i.e., the day on which he returns to the earth)
-Now, after all of that...
...Jesus began describing the days (plural)...
...leading up to “the day” of his Return.
26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.
27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,
29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—
In other words...
They paid no attention to...
The preaching of God’s Servants:
Their warnings of the coming Judgment
Their passionate pleas for them to repent.
They just went right on...
Living their lives in intentional oblivion...
Enjoying their earthly comforts...
Ignoring the reality of the life/death to come.
And Jesus said:
30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
In other words:
When the King does return to the earth...
When he comes to consummate his Kingdom...
When he finally puts his Messianic glory on full display...
It's going to come as a shock and a surprise to many...
And it will overtake them suddenly and violently...
And they will be swept away...
...in his righteous judgment!
-Now, last week...
...we looked at Verses 31-33.
Look at them with me.
Jesus warned:
31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back.
And then he followed that up immediately...
...with this reminder:
32 Remember Lot’s wife.
Remember that?
What did she do?
She turned back to Sodom, right?
Why?
Because Sodom had her heart!
She wasn’t prepared and ready to go...
...when the day of the Lord came...
...because the Lord didn’t have her heart...
...at least not all of it:
Her affections were divided...
...between Christ and the World!
And because of that...
...when God decided to...
...pour out his righteous Judgment upon her city...
She ended up being swept away with it.
-That was the warning of both verses.
Don’t straddle the fence.
Don’t have a divided heart.
Don’t let your love of lesser things...
...anchor you down to this present life...
...and cause you to vacillate...
...on your commitment to Jesus Christ.
Now, He finished that charge...
...with this exhortation in Verse 33:
33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
Ryken says this in review:
This is one of the strange paradoxes of the gospel. If we try to save our lives—in other words, if we hold on to our position in the world, with all the possessions it has to offer—we will end up losing life itself, as well as everything we have worked so hard to gain.
On the other hand, if we give ourselves away—if we commit our whole lives to Jesus Christ, offering our time and our talents in service and sacrifice to others—then we will get to keep our lives forever.
People may think we are crazy for doing it, but when we let go of what earth has to offer, we gain what only heaven has to give. As Jim Elliot so famously said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” — Philip Ryken
Amen!
Such is the King’s Calling to us all!
-Now, in Verse 34...
...Jesus picks back up the theme of Judgment.
Look at it with me.
He says this:
34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left.
35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”
So, first of all...
...notice how Verse 34 is connected back...
...to the previous statements.
34 I tell you, in that night...
What do we do...
...when we see a demonstrative pronoun like that?
We look for its antecedent.
And if you’ll remember...
...we traced that out last week...
...and we found it back up in Verse 30:
30 ...the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Verse 31 had continued that:
31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop . . . and … the one who is in the field not turn back.
Similarly, here he says...
(with one slight difference)
(see if you recognize it)
34 I tell you, in that night...
What’s the difference?
34 I tell you, in that night...
So, that begs 2 Questions:
1.) Is this referring to a different event?
No!
No other “night” is mentioned in the whole discourse.
There is no other antecedent available.
So then...
2.) Does that mean that...
...that Jesus is saying that...
...His Second Coming will happen at night?
Sure it does!
For half of the planet!
(This reminds us that...
...we shouldn’t isolate portions of scripture...
...from the rest of scripture...
...and create doctrines from them by themselves)
We have to harmonize them together...
...if we’re going to arrive at truth!
Such is the case here.
And... as you’ll see in a minute...
...the next verse is clearly set in a daytime context!
So, why does he describe it as nighttime here?
He’s just setting the scene...
...for the illustration that follows.
34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed...
That’s when people sleep, right?
Now, here’s the actual point of the Verse:
34 ...there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left.
Now, notice the Two elements in that:
1.) Surprise
2.) Forceful Separation (Here, of families)
The same is true of Verse 35:
35 There will be two women grinding together...
They’re at work.
It’s just a normal day for them.
(BTW, they wouldn’t have been doing this...
...as the Roman Army laid siege to the city in 70 A.D.)
Here, they’re living life as usual...
They’re not aware that...
...the end of all things is at hand.
But again:
35 ...One will be taken and the other left.”
So again, two emphases:
1.) Surprise
2.) Forceful Separation (Here of co-workers/friends)
-So, the question now is...
What is it that’s happening...
That will be so surprising?
Cause such a forceful separation?
What event is Jesus foretelling?
-Some say:
It’s the Roman Soldiers in 70 A.D...
...arresting select people in their homes and at work.
(I don’t think you can square that circle)
-Some say it’s referring to...
...an invisible, secret, rapture of the church.
I don’t think that fits either.
At least not well enough
I think that...
...It’s a much more generic and simple concept...
...than either of those two options.
-Here’s why I say that.
There’s a broader eschatological principle...
...that shows up all over the Bible...
(And I think it’s what Jesus had in mind here)
Hear me out (please):
Consider the Judgment of the Passover:
4 . . . “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt,
5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die...
7 But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’
Judgment Comes:
One is taken
The other is left
And God is the one making that decision...
Based on their relationship to him.
-Next, Consider the first Ichabod Judgment on Judah:
4 And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”
5 And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike...
6 Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark...
Judgment Comes:
One is Swept Away
The other is Spared
And God makes that determination...
Based on their relationship to him.
-Finally, remember how the Old Testament ENDED!!!:
18 Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze...
2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.
3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.
Do you see the theme?
Judgment Comes:
One is destroyed by it!
The other is blessed!
And God is the one making that decision...
Based on their relationship to him.
-Now, when we get to the New Testament...
...what did John the Baptist proclaim?
He said of Jesus:
12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Same motif?
I think so!
Later on Jesus himself said:
41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,
One will be taken
42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father...
The other will be spared.
Again, Later on he said:
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.
48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad.
49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous...
Here, it’s stated plainly!
-In the Olivet Discourse Jesus said this:
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
(This time: a forceful separation unto salvation)
And Yes, there’s the statement...
Of the fig tree...
Of this generation...
...that follows that...
...but we’re just going to have to...
...address those later.
For now, just notice the consistent theme...
...from Genesis to Revelation!
-He goes on (after those two enigmas)...
...to say THIS:
(It contains language very similar to our text)
36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,
39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
And here, he attaches that idea...
...directly to the idea...
...of the wicked being swept away in judgment:
40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.
41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.
(forced separation unto judgment)
And here he makes THIS application:
42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
(That’s very similar to the application from last week)
-Now, I’ve saved the best cross-reference for last:
Notice how it brings it all together:
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
I think that’s the Sudden, Forceful, Separation...
...that’s being described in our text.
-Now, before we get to Verse 37...
...let me briefly explain to you why...
...Verse 36 is not there in the ESV...
...and why the NASB puts it in brackets.
If you care to know such things, here’s why:
...because it is not found in Papyrus 75 (c. 200 A.D.) and our two oldest Greek Bibles (i.e., Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, c. 340 A.D.). The verse comes from Matt. 24:40. — Background Bible Commentary
(I can’t spend any more time on that for now)
-Look at Verse 37.
I think it was meant to seal the deal:
37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” …
Notice that they didn’t ask...
...what WE tend to ask!
WHEN????
They ask WHERE???
Why do you think that is?
Well, I think that Jesus had...
...already spoken to the “when” in Verse 24.
Remember:
24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.
You’re going to know when!
Nobody will have to convince you of it...
...or help you to figure it out.
(Click Back)
So, now they ask...
Okay then… WHERE is it going to happen?!?
And brethren, Jesus essentially says...
...the exact same thing about the location:
You won’t have to wonder
It will be obvious
Look at the illustration that he uses...
...at the end of Verse 37:
37 ...He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
Meaning what?
It’s obvious where an animal carcass is...
Because the buzzards will be circling high above it.
So, similar to the lightning:
No one is confused...
...when they see a wake of vultures...
...circling in the air.
They know that it means that...
...a dead animal...
...is on the ground below them.
You see, the similitudes of lightning and vultures...
...are saying essentially the same thing:
You won’t have to guess when...
You won’t have to guess where...
Both are going to be obvious!
-Now, here’s some more evidence for that understanding:
In the Olivet Discourse...
...Jesus combines those two illustrations together:
Remember?
26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
What’s the point?
You’ll know where and when!
Everyone will know where and when!
Why?
Because, as we read before:
30 … all the tribes of the earth . . . will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
It’s pretty straightforward.
At least here in Chapter 17.
-Now, I want to finish by reading this.
It’s from the final chapter of our Confession.
It makes a great application for us.
Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century XXXII. The Last Judgment
XXXII
THE LAST JUDGMENT
Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century XXXII. The Last Judgment
32:1 God has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ...
Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century XXXII. The Last Judgment
In that day, the apostate angels will be judged. So also, all people who have lived on the earth will appear before the judgment seat of Christ...
Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century XXXII. The Last Judgment
...at that time the righteous will go into everlasting life and receive fullness of joy and glory with everlasting rewards in the presence of the Lord.
Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century XXXII. The Last Judgment
But the wicked, who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, will be thrown into everlasting torments...
Here’s our application and imperative:
Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century XXXII. The Last Judgment
32:3 Christ desires that we be firmly convinced that a day of judgment will come,
Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century XXXII. The Last Judgment
For this reason
Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century XXXII. The Last Judgment
because they do not know the hour when the Lord will come and
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Amen?
Let’s pray.
