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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Luke 17:20 - 17:25
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Concerning the Kingdom of God and the Coming of Christ.
Of the coming of the kingdom:
v. 20.And when He was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation;
v. 21. neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
v. 22. And He said unto the disciples, The days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of an, and ye shall not see it.
v. 23. And they shall say to you, See here; or, See there; go not after them, nor follow them.
v. 24. For as the lightning that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven shineth unto the other part under heaven, so shall also the Son of Man be in His day.
v. 25. But first must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
The resentful, peevish attitude of the Pharisees came to the front with increasing frequency. Here Jesus was approached by them with a question which was intended to make Him an object of ridicule. His continual reference to the coming of the Kingdom provoked the question. The Pharisees wanted to know when the kingdom of God would come. They wanted to know the time, they wanted visible evidence. For their idea of the kingdom of Christ or of the Messiah was that of the modern millennialists, of a visible kingdom, a physical entity, brought into being by a political or social revolution and upheaval. But Jesus corrected their foolish ideas, telling them that the kingdom of God does not come with observation, in a way or mode that everyone can see and measure it. It cannot be observed with the eye, it is not a vulgar, physical, visible body or realm. To attempt to fix its definite position, its limits, its boundaries in the world by the application of the senses, by sight, is foolish; for the kingdom of God is within, in the hearts of the believers. He that accepts the mercy of the King of grace is a member of the Kingdom of Grace, but by faith only, which is in the heart and cannot be seen by human beings. And all external signs of the presence of the Kingdom and its power in the hearts of the believers are not infallible, since these same signs may be feigned by such as are hypocrites. Upon this spiritual, invisible Kingdom the thoughts and minds of men Should be set. Only he that is a member of the Kingdom of Grace here will be a member of the Kingdom of Glory up yonder.
The disciples themselves were not at all clear in this matter, they were still battling with carnal ideas as to the kingdom of the Messiah, and therefore the Lord gives them a few signs of the deceiver's methods. For it was the Lord's Constant custom to support and comfort the minds of His disciples. Days will come when they would desire and wish for only one day of the revelation of the perfect glory of heaven, when just one day's experience of the bliss to be would give them new strength to bear the trials and persecutions of the world. But the final revelation will not come until the day fixed by the decree of God. Then there will be false prophets and false Christs Who will point and say: Lo, here is Christ; lo, there! See Mat_24:23; Mar_13:21. The believers must not permit themselves to be deceived by such talk, for it will be a temptation. a delusion, and a snare. As for Christ, His final advent will partake of the nature of the lightning. In one moment He will shine, with all the glory of His splendor, from this quarter under heaven unto that; He will be visible to all people of the earth. But before this glorious consummation there will be a long time of waiting and watching for the believers, with a sore trial for their patience. First of all the great obligation rests upon the Lord to suffer in the great Passion, to be rejected by the present generation. Christ must bear His cross first, and His Church, the members of His kingdom, will be. come partakers of this suffering, before the great day of glory dawns.