The Kingdom of God: Already, Not Yet

Luke 17:7-37 

In this episode,  we explore the parable of the unworthy servants, emphasizing humility, duty, and gratitude in our walk with Christ. We also examine the healing of the ten lepers and the importance of gratitude and recognizing God's work in our lives. All this before, jumping into the biblical concept of the Kingdom of God, its already and not yet aspects, and what Jesus' teachings reveal about its coming and significance. We delve into scripture, historical context, and theological insights to deepen understanding.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

But which of you, having a slave ploughing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, Come immediately and sit down to eat? Will he not say to him, Prepare for me something to eat, and clothe yourself properly? Serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you may eat and drink? Is he grateful to the slave because he did these things which were commanded? In this way you also, when you do all the things which are commanded of you, say, We are unworthy slaves. We have done only that which we ought to have done. And it happened that while he was on the way to Jerusalem he was passing through Samaria and Galilee, and as he entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met him, and they raised their voices, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them he said to them, Go and show yourself to the priest. And it happened that as they were going, they were cleansed. Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at his feet, giving thanks to him, and he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered and said, Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine, where are they? Was there no one found who turned back to give glory to God except this foreigner? And he said to him, Stand up and go. Your faith has saved you. 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, nor will they say, Look here or there. For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. 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. And they will say to you, Look there, look here, do not go away, and do not run after them. 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. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will also be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same as in the days of Lot. They were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building. But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down and take them out. And likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other will be left. There will be two women grinding grain at the same place, one will be taken and the other will be left. Two men will be in the field, one will be taken, and the other will be left. And answering they said to him, Where, Lord? And he said to them, Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered. Well, welcome back again to the One Truth Podcast here in season four, episode 81, this week, as we uh continue on uh through our study of Luke uh here in season four, and as we continue on through the summer of 2026, I'm happy to report uh here in Montgomery this uh last few days. We've had it uh had it pretty nice. It's been mid-80s for the high, and and uh actually even had a heater kick on in the nursery, which doesn't happen very often. I don't think it's ever happened for me in uh July um in this uh this part of the state. But uh yeah, some storms rolling through has kind of kept it cool. It's been really, really nice, so we'll take it and and be real happy with it. Uh uh if you haven't uh haven't joined us before, this is your host, Josh Brockman, and uh normally alongside me would be Dan Reed. But our schedule sometimes, as you who do listen regularly, would know, don't align. And so you just get one of us, and that's uh that's the case this week as uh as uh we couldn't necessarily get together, and and I know Dan's traveling to uh Brenham this weekend to do some showing and and uh and give the message there. And so uh with that, just normal farm stuff for us, camp last week and and all of that to come. So it just kind of worked out where uh just have me this week as we kind of press on through Luke 17. So I know um it's been uh been a couple of weeks since we've uh we've been uh in the in our in our normal study with uh on the road edition there last time, and and so uh certainly hope y'all enjoyed that and uh enjoying the podcast as we go. As as always, we'll uh we'll ask you to to subscribe, follow, like, share, all of those things if you've enjoyed it, and if you're listening to it regularly, I assume that means that you do. And um anyways, that's that's probably enough for the housekeeping. We've got a lot to cover today as we are gonna try to continue and and finish these last 30 verses of Luke 17. And I'll tell you, it's been an extra week study for me, and it's funny how sometimes where the calendar just doesn't shake out, we don't get something out as quick as we were planning. And it seems like it's always in one of these passages that uh is uh needs another week, anyways, or I could use another week. I feel like I could always use another week to study, um, but especially when we get into passages and and chapters uh like we do uh here in the rest of Luke 17. So there's a lot to get to. We'll uh we'll get right into it here, and we're gonna pick up in verse 7 and um and go all the way through uh the end of Luke 17 today, and and so we'll have a few instances also as we'll jump back into the Old Testament, do some reading from there, and uh if it all comes out the way that I've kind of got it laid out in my mind, we'll see uh we'll see how it comes. But I think it'll be a really enjoyable one to listen to. So we're picking back up in Luke 17, 7, and and Jesus in the first six verses of 17 had just um done a little more teaching to his disciples that uh uh stumbling blocks or temptations to sin um were were gonna come. We talked about that. If you haven't listened to 4-79, um, you can go back and and and hear a lot of these first six verses of the things that we'll face in the world and to expect them from the world. And uh, but the warning against uh if you brothers and sisters, don't be stumbling blocks, don't be temptations, don't cause temptations to sin. And if your brother does sin, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. And and Jesus extends that uh that teaching on there in the first six verses of seventeen, and then we pick up and he and he kind of continues in the same same thought in the same parable. He says in verse seven, but which of you having a slave uh ploughing or tending the sheep, and it may say servant or bondservant, depending on your translation, but which of you having a slave ploughing or tending sheep will say to him when he has come in from the field, come immediately and sit down to eat. But will he not say to him, Prepare something for me to eat and clothe yourself properly?

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Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you may eat and drink. Now we can read seven and eight and think, Man, it's kinda rude, whatever, but but again, put it in the context here of this is this is this man, this slave, this servant, this monster, and this is his job, this is his duty. These are the things expected and required of him, and that the servant's expect uh expecting to do. He knows that when he's done in the field, it is also his duty to come in and prepare dinner, um, and then after dinner then then he would eat. It's not a it's not a uh um anything other than what than what uh what he's expected. He goes on and tells us that and it says in nine, is he grateful to the slave because he did the things which were commanded? In this way you also, when you do all the things which are commanded of you, say, We are unworthy slaves. We have done only that which we ought to have done. So Jesus tells them the parable. They say he says, If it was you and you have this servant, and he does his duty out in the field, and then he comes in, are you gonna say, No, no, no, don't do that? You eat first, he's gonna say no. Do your duty, and then afterwards you would eat, and it should be expected. And and then he tells them, but this is how you are, as servants in the kingdom of God. You should do do our duty. We should do the things that are asked of us, that are not even asked, that are commanded of us, the things that we ought to do, and we should do it as as unworthy servants who look simply. I think Sproul puts it really good. He says, Here's the point of the parable. Jesus directed his address at this point to his disciples, and therefore also to us. So he's speaking to the disciples, but we can hear the same also as disciples and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, We also, when we have done all the things that we are commanded to do, are to understand that we are unworthy servants, that we have only done what was our duty. So, what's that saying? It's saying, don't boast in the things that we're expected to do. Yeah, it's great to feel positive, to feel good about doing the things that you're commanded to do. It feels good when you've got a job and you go and you complete it well. But it's also what we're expected to do, is what we're commanded to do is to do it again as unworthy servants. We've only done what was our duty. This world goes on, we've added nothing to the asset side of the ledger. And I think that's the that's the key that we by doing our our duty, we don't we don't add things to the asset side of the ledger. If we've lived a life of perfect righteousness, if we've obeyed every commandment that God has ever given, which we haven't, Jesus said that all we've done is what we were supposed to do. So if we live perfectly, be holy as as I am holy. If in perfect righteousness, do not sin as I've commanded you. If we do that perfectly, which we haven't, but if we did, then we were only doing what we were supposed to do. Didn't our Creator make us in his own image? Didn't he call us to mirror and reflect his character? Didn't he say to us again, be holy. For I am holy. And we could see that in 1 Peter 1 16. Now we can see that in uh Leviticus 19 2, as we see it on both Old Testaments. Be holy, for I am holy. So you may take that and you think, man, what that seems like an unattainable standard. Well, yes, that's the point. Again, I'm I'm reminded of um my dear friend Steve, who's gone on to be with the Lord, but one of his favorite verses to quote was Micah 6.8. And it says, He has told you, O man, what is good, and what does Yahweh require of you? What does God require of you? But to do justice, to love loving kindness and to walk humbly with your God. And that can that can be to do justice to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. But that's a really comforting spot in Micah 6, 8. And if you if you haven't um read Micah or you haven't come across that scripture, take that one and store it. Because what does God require of you but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly, humbly with your God, be humble in humility. So again, we're called to have perfect obedience and perfect righteousness. We fail at that, and that's the need for the Savior in Christ. But again, when we do some of the things that we're called to, when we are when we do accomplish some of the things that are there, what are we doing but what we are called to do? But our duty. So um I think that's uh you know, he he he tells them don't uh don't boast in this way, don't see in this way. How should we be servants? How should we follow Christ? We should just do the things that we are called to do. We see another instance of this in Luke 12 35 and 37 when he gives gives somewhat of address. He says, Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. And here's in thirty-seven Blessed are those whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at the table, and he will come and serve them. So we see again be ready, be doing your father's business, be servants of the Lord each each day as we go. So you know, I think um as we kind of close out this parable because we've got a lot of ground to cover, I think one of the the interesting things is is to really understand that is we've got to understand this relationship of servants or slaves to the master. And we and we've got to think about it in that mindset. We think a lot in American culture because we're capitalist and we're we're um liberty and and this and we certainly have liberty in Christ, but we we must understand that he is master and we are servant. He is master and we are slave. He is king and we are servant. And so as as uh we're reading, we're unworthy slaves. I think really maybe the best choice of words here is that we're unprofitable slaves. Kind of like Sarol said in his deal, that we don't really add anything to the asset side of the ledger when we talk about the whole eternal kingdom. But we do our we each have a part, God has has parts and pieces for each person to do in his church, and we walk through those and doing our role and and and walking in the things that he's laid out before us, Ephesians 2 10, um, is what we're called to do, what we're expected to do. And we should do it humbly. But really, the unworthy slaves or unprofitable servants that that kind of I think fits fits really well of um saying that we're we're not worthless from the sense of of having no worth, but we're we're worthless from the sense of that we're only doing what we've been called to do. Our expectation also it shouldn't be looking for additional merit. Look what I've done. It should be with I've only done what was my duty to begin with, I've done nothing. I've only done what my master commanded me to do. And now you think about this just a little bit, and then the forgiveness passage that's just before that. You know, is is he is he driving that on home of of when we forgive? And we've talked about how hard it is sometimes. Last time we we played that clip that Nolan had our pastor on uh on forgiveness and the supernatural help that we get from the spirit to to truly forgive when we've been really wronged. And um so as we we talk about that in this light, he's just got through talking about forgiveness. And then he goes on and says gives this parable of doing the things that we're we're called to do, which we ought to have done. And so I uh I heard a story once, just to finally close this section out, and we'll move on to verse 11. But I heard a story once of a Christian family in the U.S., and they had had a Christian brother from another country come to the States, and while he was with him, he had some traveling to do, and he needed transportation. So he used their car to go and travel. The man never said thank you, how appreciative he was, or any of the common gestures that we'd come to expect him to say. I don't recall specifically how the rest went, to be honest with you, but the bottom line was that this family was a bit offended. Now they'd taken the man in, they'd housed him and agreed to that, but they wondered if the man wasn't grateful for the hospitality and generosity. I mean, after all, they'd provided him a vehicle to travel quite a distance, and not so much as a thank you was given. However, the man coming from the culture of believers that he'd come wasn't grateful or out of prechief. This was just the expected way. In his eyes, we're all brothers and sisters united in Christ. We're all on the same mission. We've all been given different gifts, different abilities, different material things to use for the same mission, to follow out the same commandments together. And as we see in Acts 2, 44 and 45, this man didn't presume to give additional merit to them for the use of something expensive. And what we would consider additionally meritorious, he saw the family just doing their duty, as he would, and as we are all called to do. Therefore, it never crossed his mind. It seems here Jesus is saying, serve in the same way, do what he's commanded, and realize that obedience is our duty, expected to be done, forgiveness, repentance, graciousness, mercy, rebuke, accountability, faithfulness, love, kindness, truthfulness, honesty, being a light, walking and conforming to every command he's given us for our good, simply doing what we ought to do. So as we move into chapter or verses 11 through 19, we see another parable here. And uh in in my Bible it's subtitled Jesus Cleanses the Ten Lepers. And so if you'll remember back, and you probably won't because I didn't, without looking back and seeing it, just as I was cross-referencing, but um back in January 6th of 2025, when we were in 4-16, man, we have been in this season a long time and in this book a long time, but uh about 12 chapters ago in Luke 5, 12 through 16, um, that that discusses the life of a leper. And so I kind of went back and um and looked back at some of my notes there from from Luke 5 and again episode 416. So if the if the leper thing's you know, something that you want to press into just a bit more, go back to 416 and um and check that out. So um but here we've got ten lepers, and and it happened that while he was on his way to Jerusalem, he was passing through Samaria and Galilee, and as he entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met him and they raised their voices saying, Jesus, master, have mercy on us. Now again, the life of a leper was was difficult. He's unclean, he must live alone outside the camp. As long as he does in the Old Testament, we read that that he he he lives lonely, he lives pretty much with other lepers. He's not allowed to come inside the camp because he has this disease. And we see this in in Leviticus uh 13 and 14 uh most clearly of um of the life of a leper. And I'm not gonna go through it all because we went through it all before. Um but go back to 4-16 episode or or go back and read Leviticus 13 and 14, and you'll see a lot of what it was kind of a picture of what it was like to have uh leprosy. Uh again, leprosy is a disease of the skin. It could be w once you were clean, then there was a process to go through with the priest, and we see here um in 14 that Jesus says uh when he saw them, he said to them, Go and show yourself to the priest. And it happened as they were going, they were cleansed. Now, to be to be clean from leprosy, once you're healed, has um there's a lot of steps after that in in uh the Levitical system. Um they must go to the priest, which is what Christ tells them to do here. They must be examined to be clean, and then they wait a week and be examined again, and there there's a whole process that has to be done. And so what's amazing here on the cleansing part is Jesus doesn't say, Come here, let me put my lay my hands on you. He doesn't say you want to be clean, he doesn't say any of these things. He simply says, Go turn around and show yourself to the priest. Now these guys know at least a few seconds before this, if not a few minutes before this, if not still the moment, that they're lepers, that they are unclean, that they have these issues, that they have this disease, and then upon being cleansed, upon being healed, upon it drying up, then they go to the priest to be examined. But he says, Go. They say, Have mercy on us, and he says, Go show yourself to the priest. And so we could think maybe at this moment are they healed. But we read the next part of the 14. He says, And it happened as they were going. They were cleansed. So he says, Go show yourself to the priest, they turn to go. Ten of them. And as they were going, after they had followed Christ's command, then they begin to be clean. And you can imagine being an outcast, being unable to come in, being unable to even live with your family, to be uh outside of the city, outside of the camp, how difficult all of these things are. The agony that comes with that, the loneliness that probably comes with that. And then as they turn and follow Jesus' command and begin to be healed or completely restored, what things must go through their mind? Now, one thing that's probably going through their mind, at least nine of them, is that he said go to the priest, which is what we have to do to be priests. Pronounced clean in the Levitical system. Once they're clean and they look down and they see that their sores are healed and that, still to be pronounced clean, they have to go see the priest. And then from there, then they can then go and go through the process again. Leviticus 13 and 14. But what's going through their mind? All the things that I can go do, all of the people that I can now see, I can be pronounced clean and free of this leprosy. But one turns back. Again, they'd already raised their voices, saying, Master, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. He tells them, Turn, go, and as they were going, they were healed. And one sees that he's healed and turns back again in a loud voice, glorifying God for this healing. And he fell on his face at his feet, giving thanks to him, and he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered and said to him, Were there not ten cleansed, but the nine, where are they? This one was so grateful and in such gratitude that he turned back to give glory to God, who was standing right in front of him in the flesh, who had healed him. Jesus says, Was there no one else turned back to give glory to God except this foreigner? And he said to him, Stand up and go, your faith has saved you. Now having been questioned by the Pharisees is when okay, so that's that's the end of the nineteen. Sorry, I shouldn't have read on to twenty just yet. But he says, Where are the nine? Again. They were cleansed, one turns back to praise and glorify God for this miraculous work. Does that mean the other ones were wrong? They listened to Jesus, they turned and went. They're still healed, as far as we can read in the text. How many times do we pray and then we see that prayer answered, and then we just continue walking or continue going? How many times do we do I not then thank and glorify God for his miraculous answer to my prayer? What I think about when I think about this is what what what what how often am I not grateful? Thankful. And I can look back and see, Father, I prayed for this to happen, or for this person to have healing, or for this person to be and you found it in your will and you answered my prayer. How grateful am I, Lord, forgive me, forgive us when we fail to show you proper glory in those times, as it seems nine of these did. But one we see turns back and gives glory to God. Let us do the same, let us be like that man. And so that brings us to verse twenty, and the the rest of the uh the chapter here in twenty through these next seventeen verses speak of the kingdom of God and the coming of the Son of Man. And and this is uh where I spent a lot of time over the last week of um exactly what's being said and and what the point is. And so as as we jump into it, I'll tell you on the front side, I don't know exactly what Jesus is meaning here in all of this. I've I've got my own opinions, I've got my own assumptions, um and I've also got some of my own uh still seeking God for knowledge here because um I think there's a couple of ways to look at it, and uh obviously there's one way that's correct. I'm just not confident in telling you that this is exactly um what uh what he means, what he's saying. But I can tell you this that that we can get the gist exactly of what he what he means and what he's saying, and with that have have somewhat of an understanding and and draw some conclusions there. And so I was comforted by this when I struggled to understand this. I I went and I listened to a few different guys that commentated or preached on these passages, and there's obviously lots, uh, but but one of them was uh was RC Sproul at his church at St. Andrews, and and he begins as as uh it was kind of funny. I was I was wondering, okay, Lord, is this the end of the Jewish age? Is this the end of time? Is this uh the coming and judgment upon Jerusalem? Uh, or is this the coming of judgment upon mankind at your return? And um I'm going back and forth and and and trying to understand, and so I thought I'll I'll listen to sprawl. And so he opens up and he and he reads uh he reads the the scripture and uh congregation sets and and he says, um, you know, it's never a positive thing. You're always taught any public speaking to uh certain certain rules and ways to go about it. He said, but you should never give away your credibility um by saying you don't know or something, something to that effect. And he made a joke, he said, Well, I don't have much credibility to lose with y'all anyway, so I am have no problem basically telling you that I am unsure of this passage and specifically what it means. And that's how he started his sermon. And so uh it gave me a little bit of comfort and also a little bit of of uh, I guess, frustration of uh that I wasn't gonna at least hear his take. And then then he goes to unfold the passage and and gives gives pretty much his take and and another. Um, but uh I love again in humility and honesty of this is not completely clear to me at this point. And um how many times have we come across scripture that we say I'm not completely clear on this, and then later the Lord reveals it to you as you continue to seek him? Um and and so you know, continue to press on and go. But as we start here in verse 20, it says, Uh, now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, so they ask him, Jesus, when is the kingdom of God coming? Now I thought that there was an interesting thing here of taking the time just to look into when they asked this question, or were they asking genuinely, or were they asking facetiously, because they just did that a lot, and what they expected him to say. So so I I did a little digging as to what did the Pharisees, when they said when is the kingdom of God coming, what did they have in mind, what did they think it was going to look for? And uh well, you know, when you ask certain questions, you have you have somewhat of an answer in your mind. Sometimes you ask questions and you literally have no idea. Sometimes you ask questions and you and you're seeing if you confirm the things that you think you already know, or at least the view that you have. And um, so when they ask when's the kingdom coming, I was wondering what what what do they have in their minds. So I did a little research here in my in my uh Bible study software program, and and um I just ask it within my so it's logos uh logos Bible study software, and uh they've got like everybody a new uh part of it, uh an AI part of it where you can ask a question and or type in just like you interact with any other AI, I guess. But um it will pull from all of the sources within the books that are in the the software, and so the way the software works, it's it's like having a great big library within your computer, essentially. And so it will pull from and it gives you the references of where they come from and that, and it kind of regurgitates it in uh in an answer form. So when I said what scripture or I I asked, what did the uh in Luke 1720 when the Pharisees asked, When is the kingdom of God coming? What was their expectation that it would look like when they came, when it came? That that was that was that was my question to the software. It says the Pharisees' question about the kingdom's timing reflects deeply rooted Jewish expectations about how God's intervention would manifest. The dominant hope centered on a Davidic Messiah, a descendant of King David, who would eliminate Israel's foreign rules, rulers, restore national independence, and establish eternal reign through justice and righteousness. Okay, and we we can kind of see that that they they thought there was going to be uh the messiah that would come, free Israel from, at this point, Roman oppression, rule physically, politically, militarily. They expected this to be when the kingdom would come. And you can think of of uh other times where the apostles, the disciples asked Jesus, is it now that you're restoring the kingdom to Israel? You know, they thought when the Messiah would come, uh rule all all comes, and and then the Jewish people are no longer in oppression. It says this widely shared vision involved a political messiah drawing primary on spiritual authority, yet nonetheless removing foreign reign, foreign occupation from Israel, and inaugurating the prophetic age of national restoration. The Roman domination of Palestine had intensified for a warrior king who would defeat Israel's enemies and return the nation to its former glory under David. When Jesus responded that the kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, he directly contradicts this framework. So now they ask, when is the kingdom coming? Jesus answered them and said, The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed. But he said it's not coming in ways that you can observe it. He says, Nor will they say, look here or there. For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. Now I want to read through what the Reformation State Bible says about the kingdom before we go any further into this. World history has witnessed a multitude of divergent forms of government. The most common types have been dictatorships ruled by military strength, republics ruled by law, democracies ruled by majority vote, and two types of monarchies: constitutional monarchies in which the monarch's powers are limited, and absolute monarchies in which the monarch's word is law. The kingdom of God is an absolute monarchy. God has no external constitution to bind him. He needs no consent from the governed to rule over them. He's not limited by referenda or by majority vote. His word is law, his rule is absolutely sovereign. In any monarchy, the virtues of honor and loyalty to the throne are exceedingly important. There is no monarchy where these elements are more vital than in God's kingdom. Yet the fundamental sin of the human race is grounded in our refusal to honor God as God, and in our disloyalty to the King of Kings. The theme of the kingdom of God is a central motif that runs as a thread through both Old and New Testaments. The theme ascends God's reign over his people. The coming Messiah is announced as God's anointed king who will be enthroned in heaven as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Old Testament points to the kingdom as coming in the future. The New Testament opens with the announcement of John the Baptist that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The historical situation is described in images such as the axes laid at the root of the trees and his winnowing fork is in his hand, both indicating radical nearness. It was the breakthrough in the history of God's kingdom that heralded the New Testament gospel. John's message that the king is coming signaled the urgency of the times. The accent of Jesus' own preaching also falls on the announcement of the gospel of the kingdom. He declares that the kingdom has come with power and is in the midst of his people. At his ascension, Jesus commanded his disciples to be his witness in the world. They are to witness the reign of Jesus as King of Kings. Jesus' current status as cosmic king is invisible. The world is either ignorant of his sovereignty or denies it. It is the task of the church to give visible witness to the invisible kingdom. Jesus inaugurated the kingdom of God. He has already been enthroned in heaven. But it is as though he is a king in exile with a few subjects. At his return, he will fully consummate his reign. The New Testament indicates that the kingdom of God is both present and future. There is an already and a no-yah to the kingdom. Both aspects must be understood and embraced by Christians. To view the kingdom either as already totally realized or as totally futuristic is to do violence to the message of the New Testament. We serve a king who has already been enthroned. Yet we await his triumphal return in glory when every knee will bow before him. So again, that's from the Reformation Study Bible about the kingdom of God, just what they've got here in this particular section. What we can learn from that is that the kingdom of God, just as Christ says here, he says, Look here, no nor will they say, Look here or there, for behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. Again, the kingdom is here. The kingdom is at hand. We see elsewhere and just uh a few chapters back in Luke 11, 20, Jesus says, But if I cast out demons by the finger of finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Says the same thing in Matthew 12, 28. The kingdom of God has come upon you. Early in the Gospels, and there were some of that in in uh in that study section from the Reformation Study Bible in Matthew 3 2, he says, Repent. This is John the Baptist, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Christ says the same thing a chapter later in Matthew 4 17. For at that time Jesus began to preach and say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. We see it again in Matthew 10 7. And as you go, he tells him preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. And he says the same thing here. He says, Behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. The kingdom of God has come upon you. So it's clear in the New Testament, like we read just a while ago, that there's an already and not yet to the kingdom. The kingdom was inaugurated. Christ came. We haven't got to the triumphal antry yet. We haven't got to the cross yet. But here he's saying repent. The axe is laid at the root of the trees, John the Baptist said, Be ready, repent now, for the king is come, the kingdom is here. So there's the already. There's also the not yet, because we know clearly that Christ is going to return. So the way the the big picture that I look at it, I I I see the fact of that that Jesus came. He inaugurated his kingdom just as it was prophesied that that a uh out of the line of David, the Messiah would come and and upon his throne that would last forever. Well, that's began. That began at Christ, and it's continuing right now. Jesus has ascended to the right hand of the Father, He's ruling and reigning today, now, already, and yet He will consummate his kingdom when he returns yet again. And so as we continue on through the rest of this chapter, it says, as he said to his 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. Now, we know looking back now that he's telling them uh elsewhere in the Gospels, he talks about that the the the wedding party will not fast while the bridegroom is with them. Um and uh but there will come a time when the bridegroom will not be with them, then they will fast. He's answering, uh, I can't remember who he's answering there, but why his disciples don't fast like John's disciples fast, and then the Pharisees fast, and he says that I'm here. How can how can the wedding party how how can they fast while the bridegroom is amongst them? But there will come a time when the bridegroom will not be there. So Jesus is saying the day's gonna come when you will long to see one of the days, plural, of the Son of Man, the time that Jesus is there amongst them. And obviously that time comes. Jesus goes to the cross, he's buried, he's in the tomb three days. They wish that he was amongst them there. He raises, he walks with them forty days, and then he ascends, and again, they are out to proclaim the gospel message on the king's behalf go out, and he is not physically amongst them. He goes on, and they will say to you, Look here, look there, look here, do not go away, do not run after them. For just like 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. But he must serve first suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. So he's saying, There's gonna come a day when I'm not gonna be with you, and you're gonna wish that you would you were gonna long to see me, but I won't be there. And they're gonna say, Look here, look there. Do not go away and run after them. This is where I start to get to where the again, the already and not yet, maybe it's both. Um, and he says, Don't run after them. He says also in Matthew, he says, Don't they'll be false messiahs, they'll be imposters, there'll be deception, don't fall for it. That's what he says in Matthew. Be be on guard. And he's saying that to them here. You're gonna long to see me and they're gonna say, Look here, look there, but don't go away, don't run after them. And he says, For like lightning flashes in one part of the sky, it's visible in the other part of the sky. That's how the Son of Man will be in his day, he will be visible to all. Okay. But before that happens, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. So that that sounds in 24 and 25 to me like 24 is after. He's gonna suffer many things and be rejected by this generation first, and then there will be his return. Okay, that makes sense because we know that he's gonna go very soon, where we're at in Luke, that he's gonna get over that. So, well, we'll we'll continue on. 26 through 29, he makes the reference to Noah, and he said, just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will also be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating, and now again, that's the days of the Son of Man, the plural days of the Son of Man, the days that the Son of Man, as I take it, is on the earth currently, just as in the times of Noah it's gonna be now. They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Okay. So in the days of Noah, Noah's preaching righteousness, preaching repentance, building the ark as God commands him, warning of a flood to come, and then all the people ignore it, and what happens? The judgment comes upon the people who didn't want to hear from the king, and they didn't want to hear from God, they didn't want to hear Noah and his warnings. So all were were washed away, other than A. Okay, it will be the same in the days of Lot, he says. They were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building, carrying on normal day life. But on that day Lot went out from Sodom, and it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Now Genesis 19, we see that that Abraham um speaks with the th with the two angels and and with um the son of God, in my opinion, but the three angels there, and um looks down upon Sodom and he goes back and forth um with God and he says, uh what if there's what if there's forty-five or forty or thirty, or what if there's five, and he says, There's if there's so many righteous, I won't destroy it. Well, obviously we we know that that ends up, but he sends the two angels and they they get Lot and his family out of the city before it's before the before again before the judgment. There's there's the warning, the righteous come out, and then the judgment. So in Noah's time, there's the warning, the righteous are put in the ark, and then there's the judgment. And Lot's time in Genesis, so that's Genesis six and seven, and Lot in Genesis nineteen, there was warning of the sodomy of the sin and and unrighteousness and filth of the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. The righteous were removed, and then there's the judgment. Okay? So he makes that just as just as it was in those days, it will be in the days, the days of the Son of Man. Not the day of the Son of Man, but the days of the Son of Man. So that's interesting. And then in 30, he says it will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. Now I'm not trying to be confusing, I'm just trying to work through it with you the same way I've been working through it for a week here. So now we see the day of the Son of Man is revealed. This judgment that comes is going to be on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. So now that's going to happen still futuristically from today. When Christ returns, the dead will be raised and judged at the great white throne. The righteous will be found righteous. They will be judged for their deeds, um, for rewards, but there will be no condemnation for those in Christ. The second death has no power over them. Um all these things. That's coming. But that also came in the first century in AD 70 to the Jewish people. A similar kind of like uh uh Sodom and Gomorrah, that he makes the comment. There's a judgment also coming that he warns of in Matthew 24 and potentially here of the Judaic Aeon, the Judaic Age. And if you don't know anything about AD 70, just look it up and do some research of how Jerusalem was destroyed and the temple was destroyed, and no stone was left upon another, so on and so forth, as Jesus predicts in Matthew 24. Um, that happens in AD 70. So it'll be just the same on the day of the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, the one who's on the housetop and whose goods are in the house. Now, this is where it becomes to get fairly specific. Um, and again, he's speaking to them in their culture and their time, so obviously it's going to be specific. On that day, the one who's on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out. Okay, they had flat top houses, they they dried vegetables up there, they prayed up there, they hung out up there, they spoke to their neighbors up there, they did a lot on the housetops, they had an outside ladder or something that get up on the flat top roof of the house, and that's where they did a lot of things. So now the one on the housetop whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out. Okay, so there's a pressing hurry here at this time. Likewise, the one who's in the field must not turn back. If you're in the field, don't go back into the city. Remember Lot's wife. Again, read Genesis 19. You can see what happened to Lot's wife when she looked back to Sodom and Gomorrah that she was told not to and turned to a pillar of salt. He's saying, Don't look back, run. And he goes in 33. Whoever seeks his life, seeks to keep his life, will lose it. And whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed, one will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding grain at the same place. One will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field, one will be taken and the other will be left. Okay, now this is commonly at a first reading, uh, what what many would think this is this is like the rapture that uh um that um the one taken is is taken in the rapture, the other one's left behind. I don't think that that's what what what he's saying here, and and um I'll tell you why, because just just before that, in these other instances, the ones taken are taken in judgment. And you can see that in verse um, if you look at it in Matthew 24, he says, Um, they didn't understand until the flood came and took them all away. So will the coming of the Son of Man be. So in Matthew 24, verses 39, 40, and 41, right in there, he says, They didn't understand until the flood came, speaking of Noah and the flood, and took them all away. So will the coming of the Son of Man be. Just as in Noah's day it took them. This clearly is a reference, I think, to the being taken in judgment. So there'll be two women grinding at the same place, one will be taken in judgment, the other one will be left. And if you look back up to the context, the one who's on the housetop doesn't go down. Now, another thing of 8070 that could tie in here, again, I firmly believe that Christ is coming back and there's going to be an ultimate judgment, and those that are unrighteous that will be raised and stand before judgment, and that's happening. That's that's fact. If you don't believe that, then you don't believe Christianity and you don't believe in the coming king of the Bible, in my opinion. Um, but here also, speaking specifically to those on the housetop, what what did they do in that time but revert back to the city when when things got uh got a little rough? Well, what did the Christians do historically in AD 70s? The Roman armies are surrounding, and when we get to Luke 21, we'll talk about this some more, so I'm not gonna go on on it too much longer, but the Roman armies begin to surround. Normally they would they would revert to the city because the city walls were safety. But Christ tells them, don't do that, run, don't go back into the um house, don't don't go back, the one in the field, don't turn back. Just as then in Lot and and and his wife, um get out of Sodom and Gomorrah, don't look back, don't turn back. It kind of feels the same here. And so um the one that's left will be taken in judgment. And the Romans surrounded Jerusalem and they destroyed it, and all who ran it after a siege that took uh three and a half years, and um if my memory serves me, and and there's so much that you can read in in history of how that went down. Uh the that Josephus, uh a Jewish historian, r takes in in record of of the madness and craziness things that happened in this siege that then ultimately ends in the destruction completely of Jerusalem. So we'll finish up in 37. He says, Now, answering they said, Where, Lord? And he said to them, Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered. Now every time I read that, I think, what in the world does that mean? Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered. They say, Where, Lord? He says, Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered. Now different commentators take this um in lots and lots of different ways. And um some interesting things to me. If you if you take the 8070 route and you see that there was lots of of death and corpses, and you look back to the city and you see where the where the bodies is, there the vultures are gathered. Okay, there's there's one thing. Now, if you're reading the New King James, I believe, that says where the body is, there also the eagles will be gathered. Another 80-70 possibility. The Roman symbol that's on top of all the armies is is the eagle. And so when you see that the eagles will be gathered, uh you you can see that a similar deal of the of the Roman Roman armies when you look for death. Now, another point, same point is made on Christ's future return, the judgment that's gonna come. He talks about the lightning, east and the west, and be able to see clearly. Um the uh the eagle carcass imagery here also speaks of the judgment that will accompany his return, is what MacArthur says. He says in Revelation 19, 21, and the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of him who sits on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. Okay, now again, it depends on on your the way you see that, but um it's a lot, it's a lot to think about. It's it's an interesting passage that Jesus is speaking specifically to the disciples, but that also uh that meant something them to them that means something then that can mean something of the coming of the Son of Man. So um I'll finish it up with the same way. I I see the already, not yet of the kingdom pretty clear here. Maybe not pretty clear, but I see that that's the possibility that it's already the kingdom has been inaugurated, not yet. There's still the coming, the consummation of the kingdom to come, and there's a judgment, just as Christ said in AD 70 upon the Jewish people and the Jon, and then the going out of the gospel, and uh continuing to that still to this day. And so to summer up, I think very clearly we can all agree that the king is ruling and reigning at the right hand of the Father now, and the king will return just as he said he would, and there will be the final judgment. And just as was said here earlier in the Gospels, and it's said today repent, for the kingdom is at hand, and the king is coming. So hopefully that didn't get too confusing. Um, but it's interesting. Again, we'll talk about it more as we get to Luke 21, then we'll see some other instances. Awesome teaching. It's one of those things, though those kind of questions always get me excited. Of when is the kingdom of God coming? And it presses in, and you think, okay, what what what's being asked? What's being answered? What does it mean? Because these are the realities of us as we walk through life, as we walk through um our Christian life, as we look forward to the coming of our Savior, we look forward to going and being with him in the eternal state. And uh, yeah, it's exciting. It gets me kind of pumped up. So thank you all again. Um, as we kind of wind down here to Luke 17, and uh hope you enjoyed uh this episode. And as always, I want to thank you for listening to the momentary podcast.