Week 35 Certain to Come

Video is normally posted early Sunday Afternoon.

Text: This week we’re covering Luke 17:20- 8:8 where in these two sections we hear Jesus answering questions about what we call the end times. He is asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come and his answer was not what they were looking for. Then Jesus speaks to his disciples about what is necessary going to happen in the meantime and what it will be like when he returns. Then in 18:1-8 we have a parable about a persistent widow seeking justice that perhaps we should see is a different light.

Other passages to read: We encourage you to read "horizontally" in these passages that are parallel or provide background information to our text from Luke 17:20-8:8.

·           Coming of the Kingdom of God: v. 20-21, 32-38; 12:39-40;  Matthew 24:; Acts 1:6-8;

·           Jesus to be rejected: v. 25; 13:33; Matthew 16:21-22; 17:22-23; Mark 8:31

·           The days to come : v. 22,31, Acts 1:6-8, Matthew 24:17-28; Mark 13:5-13

·           The coming of the Son of Man (Jesus’ return): v. 26-30; Acts 1:9-11; Matthew 24:36-44; Mark 13:32-37

·           Saving or losing your own life: v. 32; Matthew 16:24-27; 10:39; Genesis 1916-26;

·           Parable of the widow and the unrighteous judge: 8:1-8; Revelation 6:9-11; Hebrews 10:35-38

Points to ponder: In your study this week, you might want to think about one of these questions:

·           What is the Kingdom of God? Why can’t it be observed by signs?

·           What does Jesus mean in v. 21 when he says the kingdom of God is “among you” or “within you”?

·           What is the parallel between the three “the days of” that Jesus talks about? Are there differences?

·           What does “Lot’s wife” have to teach the disciples?

·           How do we reconcile 8:8 with apparent delays in answering prayer for justice? 

We try to answer these questions on the Jesus4Everyone blog in the next week’s post.

Questions to ask ourselves: The following questions are intended to help us move towards greater application of what we learn about Jesus…

·         What are we expecting that the Kingdom of God is like? Is our view so narrow that we are in danger of missing it?

·         Are there situations where we thought God wasn’t doing anything in our lives but later we realized he had been working unbeknownst to us? Have you thanked him for those times recently?

·         Is there something that we keep wanting to “go back into the house” to get instead of following Jesus? Is there something we need to repent of in this regard?

·         How persevering are we in prayer? For what long-term issues are we contending in prayer?

·         When Christ returns, “will he find faith on earth” in us or are we in danger of turning back or falling asleep?

·         Take time to pray for God’s justice to be established in the world in at least three specific ways.

Pastor Randy’s Sermon Notes: The Coming Judgment

Read Luke 17:20-37

1.            The Coming Kingdom and the justice of God

·          Certainly – it will happen

·          Suddenly – it will be unexpected

·          Clearly – it will be obvious

Read Luke 18:1-8

2.            The Prayers Of The Saints And The Justice Of God

·         God is interested in your prayers because He is interested in you.

·         Two-fold purpose in prayer: Move God’s hand; Mold our hearts

·         Persistence + Patience = Perseverance.

·         The Saints will have “their day in court”

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.”   (Revelation 6:9-11)

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”  (2 Peter 3:8-9)

Quotes and Commentary:

“Luke has here some sayings found only in this Gospel and some shared with Matthew 24. This passage stresses the certainty of judgment and the importance of being prepared. “ (Morris, Luke, 283)

Joel Green in NICNT series’ The Gospel of Luke, outlines this section as follows:

A   Disciples will ask, “Where?” (v. 22-24)
    B   Jesus: repudiation and suffering (v. 25)
        C   Readiness in anticipation of calamitous judgment (v. 26-30)
    B’  Disciples: abandonment of life (v.31-35, esp. 33)
A’  Disciples ask, “Where?” (v. 37)

Recognition of this design is beneficial on three counts: (a) it helps to locate primary emphasis on the urgency of readiness (vv 26-30); (b) it interprets the character of their readiness by juxtaposing the rejection of Jesus (v. 25) and the cost of discipleship (vv 31-35) in a way that is reminiscent of earlier teaching in Luke (e.g., 9:21-26); and (c), as we will see, it helps us to interpret the sense of the enigmatic proverb of v. 37. (Green, Gospel of Luke, NICNT, 632)

Section 1 Spoken to the Pharisees (v. 20-21)

The Pharisees' question about the kingdom  initiates this new cycle of Jesus' teachings This includes

(1) a saying about the coming of the kingdom that is unique to Luke's Gospel (vv. 20-21),
(2) the discourse on the coming of the Son of Man (vv. 22-37), and
(3) a parable of encouragement for those who wait for vindication when the Son of Man comes (18:1-8). (Liefeld, EBC vol. 8, Zondervan, 996)

v. 20 The kingdom is not coming… it is already here and it is a person…Jesus Christ. You can’t see it coming by observable symptoms or signs.

v.21 “within you” is not favored by most, especially since Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees. There are about 4 meanings considered by most commentators: within you, among you, in the midst of you, and within your grasp. N.T. Wright likes the last one as he comments,

“The phrase is more active. It doesn’t just tell you where the kingdom is; it tells you that you’ve got to do something about it. It is ‘within your grasp’; it is confronting you with a decision, the decision to believe, trust, and follow Jesus. It isn’t the sort of thing that’s going to happen, so you can sit back and watch. God’s sovereign plan to put the world to rights is waiting for you to sign on. That is the force of what Jesus is saying. The warnings of Jesus came true in ad 70. But the promise of the kingdom remains.” (N.T. Wright, Luke for Everyone, 210-211) 

Section 2 Spoken to the Disciples (v. 22-37)

v. 23-24 “People will think they see the coming of the Son of man and will call on the disciples to see it their way too. The implication is that the kingdom is present in some secret, unexpected way. Jesus flatly rejects this. Such peering into corners will not be necessary, for when the Son of man comes his coming will be as obvious as the lightning.” (Morris, Luke, 284)

v. 25-29 “Those people of old were so taken up in the ordinary affairs of life that they took no notice of Noah. The result was that they were overtaken in the destruction they might have avoided….The Christian message is not for those who think that they deserve a better fate than their neighbors, but for those who, in the midst of universal indifference and complacency, realize the desperateness of their situation and ask, ‘What must I do to be saved?’” (Morris, Luke , 285)

“People will be condemned not because they are sinners above all sinners, but because they are self-centered…the self-affirming life of the people of Noah’s day and of Lot’s day (26-29) will prove self-destroying when the Son of man comes.” (Morris, Luke, 285-6)

v. 37 You can tell where the road kill is by the circling birds. When Jesus comes back it will be at least as obvious as that. In essence he is telling them not to worry about “where” as that will be obvious. The more important question is, “Will we be ready to meet him or turn back because of divided loyalties?”

Section 3—The Parable of the Persistent Widow (8:1-8) also spoken to the Disciples.

·         While this is most often taught only as an encouragement to pray, it is actually spoken by Jesus in the context of eschatological endurance.
v. 1 "This parable must be interpreted with reference to the eschatological theme in chapter 17, as v. 8b makes clear. The story is not intended to apply to prayer in general, as though one needed to pester God for every need until he reluctantly responds. The theme is that of the vindication of God's misunderstood and suffering people, as v. 7 states." (Liefeld, EBC vol. 8, Zondervan, 999)

·         Are we contending for the kingdom of God to come (Luke 11:2) 

v. 2 “As regards the judge in the parable, people cannot appeal to him saying, "for the sake of God," because he does not fear God. Nor can anyone plead, "for my sake," because he does not care what anyone thinks about him. He possesses no inner sense of honor to which supplicants can appeal. In the Middle East these two approaches are the standard ways to appeal to someone for help. But with this judge neither appeal will be successful, and thereby the widow's situation appears hopeless.” (Kenneth E. Bailey. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes,  264).

v. 7 What do the elect cry out about? (See Rev. 6:9-12; 8:1-5)

 We also see 2 Peter 3:9 is in play here in terms of “delay”.

“In this case the thought is that God delays the vindication, probably for a gracious purpose in strengthening his own as they endure hardship.” (Morris, Luke, 288)

Previously on Ponderables:

·         Is temptation itself sinful? Where does it come from? No. Sometimes people think that as Christians they should be free from temptation but that is not the case. Being tempted is not sin, entertaining the temptation and acting on it is.  Temptation may come from the devil, or it can come from our own desires (James 1:14-15), but we also may be the source of temptation for others. As Christians we need to think about how our lives are impacting others. We don’t want to be the source for temptation…ever!

·         What does the first section (v. 1-4) teach us about God? God takes it seriously when his children are tempted, he remembers, and he will deal with it in a weighty manner.

·         What should we do when someone asks us for forgiveness? Forgive them. Why? Because we have been commanded to do so; because our own forgiveness is tied to our forgiving others (Matthew 6:14-15 and 18:21-35;  Luke 6:37; James 2:13). It is just a normal daily requirement of a disciple of Christ…we are merely doing our duty to forgive others.

·         Why would someone want to pull up a mulberry tree and throw it into the sea anyway? This was answered in the commentary section of the blog two weeks ago…did you catch it? If you didn’t here is Leon Morris’ comment: Jesus’ answer turns them from the thought  of a less and a more faith to faith’s genuineness. If there is real faith…then effect follow. It is not so much great faith that is required as faith in a great God. The mustard seed was proverbial for its small size. It is uncertain what tree the sycamine was, but most think of the black mulberry. The rabbis held that the roots of the tree with this name would remain in the earth for 600 years…Jesus is not suggesting that his followers occupy themselves with pointless things like transferring trees into the sea. His concern is with the difficulty. He is saying that nothing is impossible to faith: genuine faith can accomplish what experience, reason, and probability would deny, if it is exercised in God’s will. (Leon Morris, Luke, IVP, 280)

·         What does the parable of v. 7-10 teach us about discipleship? This too was answered in a quote two weeks ago.          “In a message transparently designed to [warn] his disciples over against a Pharisaic mind-set, Jesus opposes any suggestion that obedience might be construed as a means to gain honor, or one might engage in obedience in order to receive a reward. Remembering those in need with justice and compassion, working for the restoration of the sinner into the community of God’s family (vv 1-4)—practices of this nature are simply the daily fare of discipleship. Extraordinary in no way, neither do they provide the basis for status advancement within the community.” (Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke, Eerdmans, 614-615)

·         What does third section (v. 7-10) have to do with the first (v. 1-4)?  The things talked about in v. 3-4 especially (paying attention to how your life affects others, correcting sinners, forgiving even repeatedly,  are just the normal duties of the disciple. God doesn’t owe us any special favors because we do what we should.

·         What does the failure of the nine lepers to return to Jesus say about them? That they were too focused on reentering society to go back and give thanks to the one who had healed them. To them their healing was very self-focused. The one who returned put the focus back on Jesus Christ and as a result was made well by his faith that the others weren’t.