Luke 17:20-37
Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty.
“Notice what you notice.” The “Kingdom of God” and the “days of the Son of Man”… Two concepts, quite distinct in time and place. Jesus told the Pharisees that the “Kingdom of God” was within their midst. He may have meant Himself, that he represented or that He was the Kingdom and they missed it, or he may have meant that He had established the Kingdom with His coming and they did not see that either.
But the question that the Pharisees asked about the coming of the Kingdom prompted Jesus to speak directly with His disciples about His second coming, the coming of the “Son of Man”. Clearly the disciples must have been confused with this language because He had not yet departed. Jesus had spoken often of His coming death, but it seems that this talk of His death was never really clear to the disciples. So talk of a second coming was even less clear to them. However, to those of us on “the other side of History”, Jesus’ words are crystal clear! Don’t worry about the future, about Jesus’ second coming, just be ready for it whenever it comes!
It’s always an interesting discussion to talk about the rapture, the notion that “…one will be taken, the other left” (v. 35b) – the idea that one of us could be walking with a non-Christian friend and all of a sudden, we’re gone! Or horrors of horrors, that we’re walking with a friend and all of a sudden, THEY’RE GONE and we’re left behind!! As I said above, just be ready. No one knows the day or time.
Have you noticed that you are missing verse 36 in your ESV, NIV, or NASB translation? The NKJV has it: Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left. Intriguing that the other translations acknowledge the missing verse by leaving room for it but not including it. FYI, just that…!
Slava Bohu!