Getting ready for the kingdom of God
Luke 17:20-37
20 Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.”
22 Then he said to the disciples, “The days are coming 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!’ or ‘Look here!’ Do not go, do not set off in pursuit. 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. 25 But first he must endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will 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 Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them. 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 that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them 30 —it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away; and likewise anyone in the field must not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it. 34 I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left.” 37 Then they asked him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
Jesus returns to familiar themes here. Themes that are foreboding and threatening
Where is the kingdom of God and when will it come? The kingdom, Jesus says, does not come in a way that can be predicted – it comes hidden and unseen, growing like the yeast in all that flour. For the kingdom is present among us in Jesus Christ, who himself came unexpectedly in lowliness and humility. That is, what Jesus means when he says “the kingdom of God is among you.” The kingdom is present because Jesus the king is present, even though he is not recognized as king.
The kingdom’s full arrival will not come easily or without struggle. The king’s journey to take up his throne takes an unexpected turn, for Jesus the king will first experience rejection and endure much suffering. Only after the king has suffered much will the kingdom come. It will come like a lightning strike, no one knowing where it will hit. The kingdom will come seemingly out of nowhere because there will be no evident warning signs that it is about to be fully revealed. And when it comes people need to be ready because the time to respond will have come.
All of that sounds frightening. It was not Jesus’ purpose to frighten. Rather it is a statement of hope for those who are ready to hear. To hear that the kingdom is on its way, to hear that when the kingdom is fully revealed everything will change, to hear that being ready is not about reading the signs correctly instead it is about being faithful to God moment by moment, day by day. The way ahead is to live a human-sized following of Jesus each and every day.
PRAYER:
Lord God, your Son, Jesus Christ, called us to be ready for the full revealing of the kingdom. Teach us each day to live lives of faithfulness to you, that we might be ready. In Jesus’ name. Amen.