Slices
Prepare
John Lennon famously said, ‘Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.’ When has that been true in your experience? In your experience of God?
Bible passage
The coming of the kingdom of God
20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, “Here it is,” or “There it is,” because the kingdom of God is in your midst.’
22 Then he said to his disciples, ‘The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will tell you, “There he is!” or “Here he is!” Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
26 ‘Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 ‘It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulphur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 ‘It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding corn together; one will be taken and the other left.’
37 ‘Where, Lord?’ they asked.
He replied, ‘Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.’
Explore
Luke suddenly changes perspective from the personal to the cosmic. He zooms out to a wide shot. It is not a pretty picture (see v 37)!
The passage opens with a question about ‘when’ (v 20) but ends with one about ‘where’ (v 37). It is important to ask the right question! Jesus completely reframes the Pharisees’ issue from an obsession with signs (which is really about being clever), to the vital concern of response (which is really about obedience). Signs are external. Response is on the inside (v 21).
Church history is littered with groups confidently predicting Jesus’ return in response to interpreting ‘signs’. They all look foolish. Jesus could not have made it clearer (see Mark 13:32). That is none of our business. What counts is whether we are ready for the day, every day. How we live is of much greater importance than how cleverly we think we can predict Jesus’ return.
The kingdom of God is within (among) us. That reality should inform every relationship, our life priorities and our perspective in the midst of challenges.
Respond
Perhaps today is the one Jesus is referring to in verse 24. In that moment everything else becomes redundant. How should that possibility affect how you live for him today?
Deeper Bible study
‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.’1 Reflect on Jesus’ Lordship over your past and your future. Commit to being fruitful in the present.
Speculation is growing. On the way to Jerusalem, both the disciples and the Pharisees want to know what this all means for the kingdom of God.2 Jesus is challenged about when and where the kingdom will come.
Jesus answers the Pharisees by saying that the kingdom cannot be either diagnosed or located by careful observation. Instead, Jesus insists that the kingdom of God is already present in their midst. We have earlier seen Jesus driving out demons ‘by the finger of God’.3 When that happens or people are healed (v 14), the kingdom of God has come. In that sense, the kingdom is already present in our midst as the power of the Holy Spirit at work among us.
Jesus then tells the disciples (probably privately), that there’s also so much more of the kingdom that is not yet present. There’ll be times when they long for its coming (v 22) and people will imagine its presence (v 23), but the disciples are not to be deceived. The not yet of the kingdom won’t come in a hidden way: when the Son of Man comes,4 his coming will light up the sky and there will no doubt at all (v 24). Before that can happen, Jesus himself has to choose the kingdom by choosing the cross (v 25).
So the disciples are to live ready. They’re to rely on the kingdom present in their midst, even as they wait for it to come in its fullness (facing travails in that waiting). When the day comes, we must not look back, as did Lot’s wife, but must run towards Jesus, revealed in his glory, as vultures are drawn from afar to a feast on the ground.
Speculation about the Lord’s return isn’t fruitful.5 Instead, ask for more of God’s already to come in your life and that of your community.
1 Heb 13:8 2 Cf Luke 19:11 3 Luke 11:20 4 See Dan 7:13 5 Matt 24:3
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Genesis 24,25; Matthew 9
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray that God will inspire many more Christians to become Faith Guides and help with the vital work of helping the next generation to discover the hope and joy to be found in following Jesus. (This week's prayers all relate to this story)
