The Already and Not Yet of God’s Kingdom
Notes
Transcript
Opening Comments:
Opening Comments:
This morning we’re going to walk together through Luke 17:20-37 (pg.823-824 in our church provided Bibles) as we continue in our Journey through the Gospel of Luke we’ve titled “The Son: From the Manger to the Cross.”
Rather than reading the entire passage at once, we’ll read each section as we move through it together so we can see how Jesus’ teaching unfolds.
Introduction:
Introduction:
By this point in our journey through Luke’s Gospel (84), Jesus is walking a very deliberate path toward Jerusalem and his ultimate mission of redemption via the cross and ultimately his resurrection.
51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
Luke doesn't tell us exactly when or where this confrontation takes place in that journey, but the tone is unmistakable. The opposition,skepticism, and resistance from the Pharisees is rising and becoming more and more hostile. Sometimes they questioned Him out of curiosity, but more often, like this moment, they did so hoping to catch Him in His words and discredit His influence.
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20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed,
So when Luke says that they asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God was coming, It’s highly unlikely they were being sincere, and more likely they were being sarcastic and cynical. They expected the Messiah to overthrow Rome, to restore Israel’s glory, and to bring about a visible, political kingdom, via armies and thrones, like what was promised by the prophets.
If Jesus was truly who he claimed to be, then, where were the results?
But Jesus response flips their assumptions on their head:
20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed,
21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
Observed- To watch closely or to track something carefully.
Like an astronomer charting the stars.
“in your midst”- Could also be translated as “among you” (NLT), or “in your presence.” It could mean “within” (KJV, NKJV) but that’s unlikely here given who Jesus is speaking with.
That’s the tension at the heart of what Jesus is teaching.
The kingdom is both here and still coming—the King has already come, and His reign has begun, but the day of His visible glory is still ahead.
That’s why I’ve titled this message, “The Already and Not Yet of God’s Kingdom.”
And that same tension runs through our lives as believers. We live between what God has already started and what He has not yet finished. Paul captured that truth perfectly when he wrote…
…for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.
The christian faith is one that looks back with assurance and forward with anticipation. The kingdom has come in our hearts, but not yet in full on the earth. The King reigns spiritually now, but one day He will reign physically and universally.
With that in mind, let’s explore this tension into great movements:
The Kingdom already present. (v.20-21)
The Kingdom not yet Complete. (22-37)
I.) The Kingdom already present. (v.20-21)
I.) The Kingdom already present. (v.20-21)
The Pharisees’ assumptions about the kingdom were entirely earthly. To them, Jesus should have waived military banners and asserted political dominance instead of offering mercy and preaching personal repentance. But instead, Jesus came announcing a kingdom that begins within before it is revealed without.
The “kingdom of God” is the central theme of Jesus entire ministry. From his first sermon in Mark 1:15-
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15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
To his post-resurrection, teaching, and Acts 1:3-
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3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
-the kingdom is the thread that ties his entire mission together.
In fact the very word,
Kingdom- doesn’t mean a place, but a rule, a reign, an active authority. It’s not about geography, but God’s sovereign authority exercised over his people.
Jesus, himself is the embodiment of that kingdom. The King was standing “in their midst.” His miracles, teaching and forgiveness, all were demonstrations of the royal power of God, invading a broken world through his presence.
So when Jesus says, there’s no need to cry,
.’..Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’…”
He’s confronting the Pharisees’ obsession with spectacle. They wanted fireworks and a show! He offered faith and salvation.
The kingdom of God doesn’t come by observation it comes through transformation. It’s not discovered by sight, but revealed by surrender to the Lord.
Application:
If you belong to Jesus, you are living proof that the kingdom has already come. Your obedience, forgiveness, and love are living testimony of his rein.
But this reign we live under now is only a foretaste. What we experience inwardly, the world will one day see outwardly when Christ returns to establish His kingdom in glory.
The kingdom isn’t just a future hope, it’s a present reality wherever Christ rules in the hearts of men.
But the story doesn’t end there. Jesus goes on to say he will one day return visible to rule over all.
II.) The Kingdom Not Yet Complete. (v.22-37)
II.) The Kingdom Not Yet Complete. (v.22-37)
After answering the Pharisees, Jesus turns to His disciples. The conversation shifts from correction to preparation. They believe in Him, but they still don’t grasp that before the crown must come the cross. Though Jesus has already told them He will suffer and die, the meaning of that death is still hidden from their understanding.
So now He teaches them what it means to live between His first coming and His second—how to live faithfully while waiting for the King to return.
A.) The Longing for the King (v.22-25)
22 And he said to the disciples, “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.
This describes the time in which we live. The time between Christ ascension and His inevitable return.
Many of us have felt that ache—that deep longing for home, for the day we’ll see Jesus face to face.
It’s the same longing that moved the aged, isolated and persecuted Apostle John on the island of Patmos to write at the end of Revelation
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
But, Jesus warns that some will try and exploit that longing.
23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them.
History records many examples of this both in the ancient and modern world.
In the years after the resurrection men like Theudas and Judas the Galilean (Acts 5:36–37), claimed to be deliverers of Israel. Latercame Bar Kokhba, hailed by his followers as the “Star of Jacob.” These men were false saviors who promised freedom but led only to destruction.
In our modern time we’ve seen cult leaders like Jim Jones, David Koresh, Marshall Applewhite and Sun Myung Moon deceive thousands with promises of revelation or power. Offering salvation but delivering death.
Others wear different disguises—political leaders who promise to “save” society if we’ll only give them our loyalty, or or influencers and self-help gurus preaching that the ultimate truth is to “believe in yourself” and “manifest your own destiny.”
There’s nothing wrong with godly leadership or personal discipline, but when anyone offers redemption without repentance or hope without Christ, they become yet another false savior.
But the true Messiah won’t need marketing.
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.
The true Messiah won’t need marketing. His return will not be secret or hidden. When He comes again—in that glorious, visible moment Scripture calls “the revelation of the Son of Man”—it will be sudden and unmistakable to all.
But before glory comes suffering:
25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
The disciples wanted the crown without the cross. But the King chose to set aside His crown to bear our curse. He laid down the scepter of heaven to take up the cross of Calvary, but one day He will rule again with both in His hands.
His suffering was not a detour in the kingdom plan—it was the foundation of it.
B.) The Revealing of the King (v.26-30)
To help His disciples understand what His future return would look like, Jesus draws on two Old Testament examples of divine judgment poured out on sin:
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— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
In both scenarios, the people completely ignored the warning of God’s coming judgement.
Noah obeyed in faith; the people of his day ignored the message.
Lot fled in obedience; his city perished in unbelief.
Both prove that when judgment comes, only those under God’s mercy are spared.
The same is true today.
Faith still listens; unbelief still laughs.
Faith obeys when God speaks; unbelief goes on living as though judgment will never come.
Dual Fulfillment:
Some of what Jesus said here looked ahead to a near judgment—the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70—but it also points to the final judgment still to come. The first confirmed His word as true; the second will fulfill it completely.
Application: We live in a world just as blind, busy, distracted, and indifferent as theirs. The call to readiness isn’t about reading the sky; it’s about repentance of the heart.
The question isn’t when will He come, but will we be ready when He does?
C.) The Separating by the King (v.31-37)
Jesus continues with a sober warning about the suddenness of judgment and the danger of divided priorities.
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.
Jesus is talking about urgency. When judgment comes, there won’t be time to pack or prepare. This is a warning against misplaced affections— the one who treasures this world more than the coming King will be left behind.
Then comes one of the shortest but most haunting verses in Scripture:
32 Remember Lot’s wife.
We just saw how Lot was delivered by God’s mercy when judgment fell on Sodom. But his wife tells the rest of the story. When they left the city, her feet went with her husband, but her heart stayed behind. She couldn’t let go and looked back. As soon as she did, judgment fell and she was turned to a pillar of salt.
She became a lasting warning to anyone who tries to follow God and hold on to the world at the same time.
Jesus’ warning, “Remember Lot’s wife,” is about the sobering reality of ignoring God’s warnings.
In Genesis, she was told not to look back, but she did—and it cost her everything. Jesus is warning His disciples (and us) not to repeat her mistake: when God calls us to leave something behind, we obey and don’t look back.
Genuine salvation isn’t just escaping judgment—it’s forsaking what once enslaved you. True deliverance moves both the feet and the heart toward God.
Then Jesus drives the point home with a paradox regarding God’s kingdom.
33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
Lot’s wife clung to her life and lost it; disciples of Jesus let go of their lives and gain them.
That’s the upside-down logic of the kingdom
You save your life by surrendering it to the King.
You gain by giving.
You live by dying.
You win by surrendering
Missionary Jim Elliot understood that truth. In 1956, he and four other young missionaries—Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian—set out to reach the Huaorani people of Ecuador, a tribe known for hostility to outsiders. For months they prepared, learning language, dropping gifts, and praying for open hearts. When they finally made contact, the meeting turned violent, and all five men were speared to death on the riverbank.
To the world, it looked like a senseless loss. But God used their deaths to ignite a missionary movement that would eventually bring the gospel to the very people who killed them. Their wives later returned to the jungle and led many in that tribe to Christ.
Years before his death, Jim Elliot had written these words in his journal: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
That’s exactly what Jesus meant—those who release this life for His sake gain what can never be taken away.
1. The Great Separation (vv. 34–36)
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.”
These verses are often used to describe the rapture, but in this context Jesus is emphasizing division, not timing.
In Matthew’s parallel (24:39), those “taken” are taken in judgment, just as the flood “took them all away.”
When the Son of Man returns, His coming will divide even the closest of relationships. The righteous and the unrighteous may share beds, tables, and fields—but they will not share destinies.
Some translations include an extra verse here, but it simply repeats the same idea from the previous one. The point remains unchanged—when Christ returns, His coming will divide even the closest relationships.
2. The Universal Judgment (v. 37)
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37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
The disciples ask, “Where, Lord?”meaning, “Where will all this take place?”
Jesus replies with a sobering image:
“Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
Just as vultures circling in the sky reveal the presence of death below, so the final judgment will reveal the corruption of a world dead in sin.
There will be no mistaking it. Just as lightning flashes across the sky, judgment will be global, visible, and inescapable.
With that vivid picture, Jesus leaves His disciples (and us) staring upward, reminded that history is rapidly moving toward His return.
Application: This whole scene reminds us that the coming of Christ will expose the true loyalties of every heart. Some will look back like Lot’s wife; others will look up in faith. The difference isn’t location but affection—what the heart truly loves.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Jesus doesn’t end with a neatly packaged conclusion; He ends with a call to readiness.
We live between the already and the not yet—between the redemption already accomplished and the return yet to come.
We are citizens of a kingdom already among us and heirs of one that will soon appear in glory.
So how should God’s people live?
Hopefully—because Christ could call His church home at any moment.
Holy—because His reign within us should shape our conduct and our conscience.
Heralding—because the King who saved us is coming again, and others need to be ready too.
When we pray, “Your kingdom come,” we’re praying two things: that His rule would deepen in us now, and that He would return soon to reign over all.
Invitation:
Invitation:
Have people stand prayerfully.
Let me ask you a question, are you ready for the King’s return?
When the lightning flashes and the trumpet sounds, there won’t be time to repent—only time to reveal what’s already true in your heart.
The good news is that the King still invites you in. He suffered, was rejected, crucified, and rose again so that sinners like us could be forgiven and made citizens of His kingdom.
If you’ve never trusted Him, call on Him today. Repent and believe the gospel.
And believer—if your heart has drifted, this is the moment to realign your life with His kingdom.
Don’t look back like Lot’s wife. Don’t grow distracted like Noah’s neighbors. Don’t let the world dull your longing for Jesus.
Pray, “Lord, reign in me until You reign on earth.”
Because the kingdom of God is already among us through His Spirit, and it is not yet complete until He returns in glory.
And on that day—every knee will bow, every tongue confess, and the King will reign forever and ever.
Prayer:
Prayer:
Lord Jesus,
We thank You that the door to Your kingdom is still open.
For those who have never trusted You,
may this be the moment they call upon Your name and find forgiveness.
For those who already belong to You,
help us not to look back and grow cold,
but to live with hearts that long for Your appearing.
Reign in us, Lord, until the day You reign over all.
In Your precious name we pray,
Amen.
