2016-07-31 Luke 17:22-24 Kingdom Coming (2): I Wonder What He Meant By That

KINGDOM COMING (2): I WONDER WHAT HE MEANT BY THAT (Luke 17:22) July 21, 20156 Intro – Two psychiatrists pass a lady in the hallway one morning. She says, “Good morning?” They throw questioning glances at one another and one of them says, “I wonder what she meant by that?” That’s the same question Jesus constantly left His disciples with: “I wonder what He meant by that?” By now they’ve committed 3 years to the idea that He is the promised Messiah who oust the Romans and set up His own kingdom in Israel. Luke tells us in 19:11, “they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.” That’s why their constant argument about who was the greatest. It’s why James and John came to Him and asked, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory” (Mark 10:37). They had high hopes. Jesus certainly acted like Messiah. His preaching and His miracles were stupendous evidences. And yet He also kept saying things like He was going to Jerusalem to suffer and die. And now, when the Pharisees ask, “So when exactly is this kingdom of God coming?” Jesus has answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed.” The disciples heads are spinning. They have to be asking, “I wonder what He meant by that?” With the gift of hindsight, we have some idea. We know that the kingdom is multi-dimensional – comprised of both a spiritual and physical component – and the spiritual component is prior -- required for entrance. It’s here. But the physical kingdom isn’t coming yet. Their expectations are going to be dashed in Jerusalem. Instead of the crown, it is going to be the cross this time. It is the necessary pre-requisite to the kingdom they expect. But while there is a wait, it will come. So Jesus turns from addressing the Pharisees on the kingdom’s spiritual dimension to address the disciples on the physical dimension. His message? It’s not yet – but it’s coming! It will be history’s watershed moment – a wonder for believers; a nightmare for unbelievers. You can’t have God’s glory without the destruction of evil. And all of that will happen at a 2 nd coming the disciples never anticipated. Now, let me take a moment to orient Jesus’ comments into the overall framework the Bible gives us for events yet future to us. The next event on God’s prophetic calendar is called the Rapture (phrase 1 of His coming again). This is when Jesus calls believers of the church age, both dead and 1 living, out of this world prior to the Tribulation. Paul describes it in I Thess 4:16-17: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” Notice in this Phase 1 Jesus doesn’t come all the way to earth like He does 7 years later at the culmination or 2nd coming. These are two distinct and separate events 7 years apart. Many reasons show this. Let me give you 2 quick ones. The Second Coming is described in detail in Mt 25:31-46, and differs significantly from the Rapture. At the Rapture, Jesus comes in the clouds and in the air. In the Second Coming, He comes all the way to earth with devastating effect (the Mt. of Olives splits in two, for example), and He stays on earth. Second, at the rapture, believers meet Christ in the air. At the 2nd Coming, both believers and non-believers meet the Lord on earth. Seven years of Tribulation follow the Rapture. It’s described in Rev 6-19. After that, as described in Rev 19-20, Jesus will come again, bind Satan and establish a 1,000-year earthly Kingdom. At the end of that time, Satan will be loosed to lead a brief rebellion. That is followed by his quick defeat, final judgment of all unbelievers, the destruction of the old heaven and earth, creation of a new heaven and earth and establishment of God’s eternal kingdom. Good Xn people differ on this summary, but I challenge you to read Rev 19-22 without theological bias and conclude otherwise. It’s pretty clear! In this passage, Jesus give 8 characteristics of His coming again to lift our hearts. We believe these things in our minds, but our hearts haven’t always engaged. Is Jesus’ really going to come and make an end of all the wrongs in this world? Do you really believe that deep down? We need to realize this isn’t fairtytales. Jesus is encouraging His doubting disciples: “It may not be your way or your timing, but make no mistake, it’s coming. Take heart.” And that’s His message to us as well. So what will it be like? I. Jesus’ Coming is Desired by True Believers (22) 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.” There is an interesting anomaly here. Usually the Bible refers to end time events as the day of the Lord. Yet Jesus refers here to “one of the days (plural) of the Son of Man.” He does the same thing in v. 26. So how are we to understand “days”? 2 V. 26 itself includes the clue. 26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.” “Days of Noah refers to Noah’s time. We can infer that “days of the Son of Man” refers to the time of the Son of Man described in Daniel 7: 14) And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” Jesus’ favorite self-designation was Son of Man because He knew He was Daniel’s eternal ruler! His kingdom starts the day (singular) when He returns and sets everything in motion. Now, Jesus tells His disciples: “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man.” Of course, they were already desiring that, but not like they would when coming persecution really hit home. They would long for His coming to see wickedness abolished and glory reigning. So, let me ask you this morning, do you long for the kingdom of God? Believe me, if the spiritual dimension has taken root in your heart, you will long for the culmination of that kingdom – for the day when Jesus will rule with power and glory. If we don’t long for Him, we may not be a true believer at all. How can we not long for that? Are we so self-satisfied that we are content to see the rest of the world go to the Devil without caring? Here’s our world. On Dec 8, 2014, an internet article documented that a radical Islamist group, Daesh, overran a Xn enclave close to Baghdad. British pastor Andrew White reported that they grabbed four children and told them, “You must say the words that you will follow Muhammad.” The children, all under 15, said “No,” they could not dishonor Christ by saying those words. Given one last chance, they repeated, “No, we can’t” – they were immediately decapitated in front of their parents. How can we not long for Jesus? That same day a news report that said the militant group ISIS has extracted fines from many Xns and then killed them anyway. The report says they went about systematically beheading Xn men, women and children – killing every Xn they could find. Don’t you long for Jesus to come again? You say, those are exceptions? Really – tell that to the estimated 140 million people killed by genocide in the 20 th century alone. We live in a world where wickedness is the norm, not the exception. In our comfort we’ve been brainwashed into thinking we are immune. We are not. Our days of immunity are ending. Xn leaders may soon be jailed for hate crimes for speaking truth! 3 Meantime, behind our easy facades, the pain of betrayal, isolation, unmet expectations, rebellion by children, incurable disease take their toll. As D. A. Carson says, “All one has to do is live long enough and one will suffer.” C. S. Lewis’ Narnia is a place where it is always winter, but never Christmas. But when the great lion Aslan returns, the snow begins to melt; flowers begin to bloom; color invades the drab landscape and the King set about righting every wrong. Don’t you long for that, Beloved, for the spring that will invade human existence when our Aslan returns? That’s why we must hold loosely the things of this world; we must limit our attachments; we must think beyond now to then and we must pray with John – “Even so, come Lord Jesus. Hurry back!” That’s how true believers think and act, always long for Him. II. Jesus’ Coming is “Not Yet” to the Disciples (22b) 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.” Keep in mind, we know from 19:11 that the disciples are expecting the kingdom now. They’ve dedicated 3 years of their lives to this; Jesus has become King of their hearts thru repentance; now they expect the payoff, the culmination of the kingdom in Jerusalem. Further, Jesus goes right on to describe what it will be like when the culmination does come. But he throws in those chilling words: “you will not see it.” It’s coming. Your expectations will be met eventually. BUT -- “not yet.” You will not see it. You will long for it. Rough days are ahead and you will long for it. But you will not see it. What does Jesus mean? Well, He can’t mean they won’t ever see it ever, right? The disciples will be there in the kingdom. So what does He mean? He could mean the kingdom is not going to come just because they desire it. But it is much more natural to understand that Jesus is saying, “Guys, I know you’re expecting the culmination and coronation in a couple of weeks. But it’s not going to happen that way. That’s not the timetable. This is the time for the cross which must precede the crown. This is the time when the kingdom must be bought and paid for by my death and resurrection. You’re not going to see it in a couple of weeks. In fact, you’re not going to see it at all in your lifetime. That is not God’s timing. It’s delayed beyond your lifetime.” He’s already given a hint of that in Lu 9:27 where in a context talking about His Second Coming (which they did not begin to understand yet) He said, “But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” Who were those? The context tells us 4 those were Peter, James and John who saw the kingdom preview during Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain one night. But the implication is that the others would taste death before seeing the kingdom. That was a hint! Now He clearly says, “you will not see it.” And they are saying, “I wonder what He meant by that.” They certainly didn’t get it. Even after the resurrection in Acts 1:6 they ask, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Now He’s died and rose again – surely it must be kingdom time now! But remember Jesus’ words? He patiently told them it was not for them to know the times or the seasons. It was not for them to speculate. Rather, it was for them to get on with the task of telling the world. It wasn’t kingdom time, yet. It was time to take the gospel everywhere! A moment after that it became much more clear why Jesus kept talking about His coming when He was already there. Because all of a sudden, He wasn’t there! Acts 1: 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” No doubt it was about that time that they began to say, “So that’s what He meant! He has to come again! There’s a second phase to all of this.” And indeed there is. And Jesus adds a critical detail in vv. 23-24. III. Jesus’ Coming Will Be Unmistakable (23-24) 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 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.” One of the greatest delusions of our time is the idea that we can bring in the kingdom. We can make a perfect world. It is a pipe dream, Beloved. We should do all we can to help those in need; that is our mandate from Christ Himself. But we will not bring in the kingdom. The kingdom arrives when the King arrives and like lightning striking, the whole world will know instantly when that happens. Look at Jesus’ examples in vv. 34-35. One couple in bed and another couple working. Night in one place and daytime in the other. One on one side of the world, and another is on the other side. But everybody knows. All secrets are out when Jesus comes. Jesus warns against those who say, “Hey, He’s already arrived in Israel. Or He’s already come spiritually in this group of that group.” Don’t go for that! When Jesus comes, you will know! Everybody will know. Rev 19:11. After seven long years of bloody persecution, destruction 5 and death: 11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses (that’s believers who’ve died previously). 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.” This is what the disciples wanted; this is what we want. It’s “not yet”, but just as sure as He came as a baby, He’s coming again in power and glory and might. Conc – So what must we do? First, be ready. Are you ready? Is the kingdom already resident in your heart spiritually because you have repented and turned to Him as your own King? You must do that first and foremost. And if you know Him, then what? Then, Beloved, follow His instruction in Lu 19:13, “Engage in business until I come.” Don’t get entangled in this world, but use your gifts and abilities to represent Him will with one eye fixed on your work and one eye looking for His return. Faithfulness is the thing He desires. Little 6-year-old Tiffany had just finished watching Disney’s Cinderella. Overwhelmed by the romance she said to her mom, “I hope I meet my prince someday.” Mom replied, “Of course you will. You know, I met my prince the day I met your daddy.” Tiffany said, “Really! Who was he?” Well, there will be no doubt when we meet King Jesus, will there? And whether He comes in our lifetime or we meet Him at the moment of our death, here is what we know: 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (I Jn 3:2-3). That’s the hope that keeps us pure; the hope that keeps us encouraged; the hope that keeps us faithful. Let’s pray. 6