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Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."
Then He said to the disciples, "The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, 'Look here!' or 'Look there!' Do not go after them or follow them. For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
"In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left." And they answered and said to Him, "Where, Lord?" So He said to them, "Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together."
- Luke 17:20-37
Yesterday, we read that it happened as He went to Jerusalem that Jesus passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" So when He saw them, He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" And He said to him, "Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well."
Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." My study bible says that the kingdom of God is a spiritual reality that is present both within the believer and also within the community of the Church. Within you here, it suggests, can be translated also as "among you" or "in your midst."
Then He said to the disciples, "The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, 'Look here!' or 'Look there!' Do not go after them or follow them. For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." Jesus gives us a kind of narrative or grand scenario about what is to come. He warns the disciples first that in their lifetimes, they will highly long to see Him again. But the warning is clearly expressed as one against "secrets" or secret locations. He says very starkly that when He returns it will be apparent as the lightning that flashes out of one part of the sky and shines to the other. It will be something known, not hidden. But before that time, He will suffer and be rejected by the people, their contemporaries. My study bible says that the warning not to be preoccupied with worldly matters applies both to believers and to parishes.
"In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left." My study bible says that "Christ's second coming will entail a sudden revelation of judgment. One will be taken to heaven and the other left for eternal condemnation. The separation of the saints from the wicked will occur 'on the day when the Son of Man is revealed' (v. 30) and not, as some speculate today, at an event that occurs before His return."
And they answered and said to Him, "Where, Lord?" So He said to them, "Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together." The body, says a note, refers to Christ, while the eagles refer to the angels and the saints.
There are many different interpretations given as to what Jesus means by the "eagles" here. But clearly in my study bible's view on this passage, the center of everything is Christ. He is the body. And then we must also give pause to think about what the Body of Christ also means to us. This turns us back to the beginning words in today's reading, "the kingdom of God is within you." It's interesting how the things He points out to the Pharisees today "match up" with the events of the Second Coming. The kingdom doesn't come with ordinary perception of our senses: nobody is going to say, "Look over here!" or "Look over there!" The teaching that the kingdom is within you (and you is plural here, as He speaks to many people) is vague, just as it seems in interpretation, and, I suppose, deliberately so. It's read both "in you" as addressing each individual present, and also "within you" as in addressing a crowd. Whatever the meaning, there is no doubt that what Jesus teaches here is all about the voluntary nature of choosing and remembering this Kingdom. He will leave and we will be left, our daily lives now as then occupying our time and our thoughts. Just as the kingdom itself won't come by some sort of physical warning or indication in the same way we perceive worldly events, so also His return will not be apparent to us until the moment it happens. Then it will be seemingly known to all, from the description Jesus leaves us with -- the lightning that shines from one part of the sky and illumines the "other part." So the implication here is, we will be, more or less, on our own, so to speak, just as worldly conditions before His human presence seemed to them. And that's the key. We'll all be absorbed with our daily lives, the things we need to do, the every day life of making a living, trying to keep a household together, the stuff of our daily needs as we see them. But nevertheless, this will happen -- even as possibly we least expect it. Elsewhere (Acts 1:7) Jesus tells the disciples that it is not for them to know the dates and times God sets for such events. In other words, the warning is clear to all of us: it's up to us to remember "what time it is." This is a choice we make, a voluntary effort that requires vigilance and awareness, a mindfulness of just who we are and what our real circumstances are. It's up to us to continually "remember God." And this is a spiritual matter; it's about a kind of counterpart present to our worldly lives and perceptions, this is a kingdom within us and among us. You need a particular kind of understanding and awareness to know it, and this takes desire on our part. It is something we choose, and value, and pray to be a part of. That takes awareness and it takes effort and discipline. So, what do you know, what do you feel, what do you see? Are you prepared for a life without His physical presence, but conscious of His kingdom? Let us think about what it means to be aware of that kind of presence. My study bible suggests that "the eagles" that gather are the angels and the saints. Let us remember what an image of an eagle gives us, something majestic but also self-mastered, disciplined -- a true image of a leader. Let us remember that we are all called to aspire to this kind of leadership, the self-mastery of one who remembers God and the kingdom, who is capable of practicing such awareness even when He is away from us, not present in the flesh. This is who He calls us to become, what He gives us as an image to be "like."
