Luke 17:20-37 - Second Coming Foretold

Introduction

[ILLUS] When Dalton was much younger he was heavy into construction equipment. I remember once when Dalton, who was maybe around 3 years old, was having a conversation with Bryant about construction equipment, Dalton asked him the name of some piece of equipment. Bryant guessed but got it wrong, and you could tell that three-year-old Dalton was thinking that Bryant needed to hand in his man card. (Full disclosure: I had to hand in my man card to Dalton months before.)

But Dalton was especially into one piece of construction equipment, the boom pump. It is the big truck that has a mechanical arm that pumps concrete to hard to reach areas. Dalton loved concrete boom pumps, so I thought it’d be a great idea to get him a toy concrete boom pump to play with. I looked online and only found one that was made of die cast metal; the description said that it made a great toy, but when it arrived, Dalton played with it for about 2 minutes before it broke.

It wasn’t Dalton’s fault. The description was inaccurate. There was simply no way to play with that concrete boom pump without breaking it. It was really meant to be more of a display piece.

We had expected a great toy, but the reality was that we received something more like a collector’s item.

We later built a concrete boom pump out of Legos and zip-ties, but my point is that reality often disappoints our expectations because we don’t understand what we are expecting.

The Pharisees were disappointed with Jesus because He wasn’t what they were expecting in a Messiah—in a Savior. What they expected was a Messiah who would crush any power opposed to the Jewish people. They expected Him to tear down and kick out the Roman government, to establish Israel as the greatest military power on earth, to rule with a rod of iron. This is what they expected the Messiah to be like; this is what they expected the Kingdom of God to be like, so they were disappointed with Jesus and with this Kingdom that He said was at hand.

Jesus didn’t seem to be crushing opposing forces.

Jesus didn’t seem to be tearing down or kicking out the Roman government.

Jesus didn’t seem to be establishing Israel as the greatest military power on earth.

Jesus didn’t seem to ruling with a rod of iron.

Thus, in the view of the Pharisees, Jesus could not be the Messiah. He could not be the Christ, the Anointed One, who would save His people.

But the reality of Jesus disappointed their expectations only because they didn’t understand the Messiah they were expecting.

I didn’t understand that the concrete boom pump was really a collector’s item and not a toy.

The Pharisee’s didn’t understand that Messiah was to come as Suffering Servant before He came as Conquering King.

[CIT] In Luke 17:20-37, Jesus talked about the now and the not yet; the Kingdom of God at present, and the return of the King after He suffered many things and was rejected by His own people.

[PROP] In this passage Jesus will say to us that He is here and that He is coming again, so we had better be ready when He comes.

[TS] Let me give you five TRUTHS from this passage…

Major Ideas

TRUTH #1: Jesus is here (vv. 20-21).

Luke 17:20–21 NASB95

20 Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

[EXP/APP] Jesus performed many miracles that pointed to His identity as Messiah, but He didn’t do the signs that the Pharisees expected—the overthrow of the Romans, the military might, and all that. The Kingdom of God—the Kingdom that Jesus said was at hand—wasn’t coming with those sorts of signs—at least not yet. At present, it was coming in the hearts of people who had faith in Jesus as Messiah. As they trusted in Jesus, God ruled the hearts of men, women, and children. And as His people followed His rule, the Kingdom of God continued in their midst.

Different translations translate that last phrase “in your midst” in different ways. Some “is within you” or “is among you”. For the follower of Jesus, there is no doubt that the Kingdom of God is within us, because, having trusted Jesus, the Spirit of Jesus—the Spirit of the King—lives within our hearts. But in v. 21, Jesus isn’t talking to His followers. He is talking to the Pharisees who had already decided that there was no way Jesus could be Messiah. That being the case, there is no way that the Kingdom of God could be “within them”. But it was “in (their) midst” as Jesus stood among them.

Jesus, as the King of Kingdom of God, is the Kingdom of God. As He stood in the midst of them, the Pharisee’s had the opportunity to enter the Kingdom. As He stood among them, they had the opportunity to trust Him.

Sadly, most of them failed to seize that opportunity. They failed to trust Jesus as Messiah. They failed to bow to Him as King.

[TS] Let’s keep going…

TRUTH #2: Jesus is coming again (vv. 22-25).

Luke 17:22–25 NASB95

22 And He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 “They will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go away, and do not run after them. 24 “For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. 25 “But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

[EXP/APP] After His quick conversation with the Pharisees, Jesus then turned to His disciples. Jesus said they would miss the days of the Son of Man.

The designation “Son of Man” was Jesus’ favorite reference for Himself. Sometimes that designation is used in the OT to highlight someone’s humanity in comparison with God’s divinity. (E.g., The prophet Ezekiel is often referred to as ‘a son of man’ as a reminder that although he was receiving and proclaiming the Word of God, he was, however, only just a man.) But while Jesus may have liked to refer to Himself as the Son of Man because of His humanity, I think it was actually more because of His divine authority.

In a vision of the prophet Daniel—Daniel 7:13-14—we read about the Son of Man presented. Daniel 7:13-14 says...

Daniel 7:13–14 NASB95

13 “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. 14 “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.

This Son of Man—this human being—travels like God on the clouds of Heaven.

This Son of Man—this human being—stands in the presence of God; He stands in the presence of the Ancient of Days.

This Son of Man—this human being—receives the sovereignty of God—He receives dominion, glory, and a kingdom. That all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.

This is who Jesus was claiming to be when He referred to Himself as the Son of Man.

This is the Kingdom that Jesus said was at hand.

This is the King that Jesus said was in their midst, and this is the King that Jesus said was coming again.

Now, for the King to come again, He has to leave and then come back. So where would Jesus go, and what would His coming back be like? Would His second coming be like the first? Would it be another coming in their midst without signs? Jesus said no, His second coming would not—it will not be like His first.

Jesus said that when He comes again, His coming will be like lightning that flashes from one end of the sky to the other. No one will have to hunt for Jesus when He comes again! No one will have to follow people who tell us to look for Jesus here and there! His coming will be apparent, obvious—you can’t miss it.

[ILLUS/APP] You ever have someone give you directions to a place and then say, “You can’t miss it.” My brain takes that as a personal challenge to indeed miss wherever it is that I’m trying to go. Back before GPS on smartphones, I was given instructions to some camp where I was supposed to share my testimony and teach some teenagers to share their testimonies as well. The guy who was putting on the event said, “Now, let me give you some instructions...” What followed was a series of landmarks that he said I would no doubt recognize once I got in the area. The directions were things like, “Go across the railroad tracks and turn right at the house and then turn left on the road next to the grass.” Very general, very vague, and then at the end I don’t remember what exactly what he said, but I’m pretty sure it was something like “You can’t miss it.”

I did miss it! And I’ve been missing it for more than 15 years now! I never found that camp, didn’t share my testimony, and I’m sure those teenagers still don’t know how to share their testimonies, because I missed what couldn’t be missed!

The return of Jesus will be different. You truly can’t miss it. In a callback to Daniel 7, Revelation 1:7 says of Jesus, “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him...”

My eyes will see Him.

So will yours.

We can’t miss Him.

[EXP/APP] But the question remains, where did Jesus go? Jesus hinted at the answer to the question in Luke 17:25, where He said...

Luke 17:25 NASB95

25 “But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

As Jesus spoke these words, He was on His way to Jerusalem where He would be betrayed, arrested, beaten, and crucified. That generation of unbelieving Jewish people, would look on the Messiah and shout, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” And the Romans did crucify Him. Hung between two criminals, with a sign over His head that read, “This is the King of the Jews,” Jesus breathed His last.

He was buried in a tomb, and for three days His body lay lifeless. The King of the Kingdom—the Son of Man—was dead.

But on the third day—the first day of the week—the stone that sealed His tomb was rolled away and the Son of Man—the King—rose again!

He appeared to the Apostles, to more than 500 brothers and sisters at one time, and then He ascended to the right hand of the Father—the Ancient of Days—and sat down until His enemies are made a footstool for His feet.

But Jesus will come again.

And when He comes my eyes will see it.

And so will yours.

Will you be ready?

[TS] …

Conclusion

The only to be ready for Jesus’ second coming is to trust Jesus as He came to us in His first coming.

Jesus came as a Savior—not to overthrow the Romans or anyone else—but to save His people from their sins.

Jesus will come as a Conquering King to rule with a rod of iron, but He first came as a Suffering Servant to die on a cross.

On the cross, Jesus paid the price for our sins—for all our rebelling against God.

On the cross, Jesus became sin so that in Him (i.e., as we trust Him, have faith in Him) we might become the righteousness of God.

In His resurrection, Jesus proved to be the accepted sacrifice for our sin.

In His ascension, Jesus intercedes for us and waits until that time when He comes again.

Again, will you be ready?

Have you trusted Jesus the Suffering Servant, the Crucified and Resurrected Messiah, the Returning Son of Man?