THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU

Luke 17:20-37

Key Verse: 17:20b, 21

“The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is, or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”

            In today’s passage Jesus tells us how the kingdom of God comes to us. In living in a troubled world, people’s hearts are weighed down with burdens and distress and look for the kingdom of God from outside. However, in this passage Jesus tells us that the kingdom of God does not come with careful observation because if is within a person’s heart. In this passage Jesus also says that in order to fulfill God’s will for world salvation, he must suffer many things and be rejected by people.

I. The kingdom of God is within you (20-21)

            Look at verse 21a. “Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come,…”  One day, the Pharisees approached Jesus to ask him when the kingdom of God would come to the world.  Historically, the people of Israel had longing for messianic earthly kingdom because they had to go through many hardships and sufferings. And as a result of living a harsh life, they formed the habit of waiting for earthly kingdom which they though would be established when their messiah comes. When their messiah comes, he would destroy all the evil nations of the world and make their country as the superpower nation. However, this was only their human idea. It was not based on Biblical truth because the Bible clearly predicts the coming of the Messiah as the spiritual king. In Matthew 1:20-21, an angel came Joseph, the fiancé of Mary, and said to him, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is form the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

            When Jesus was on the earth to carry out the Messianic ministry, the people of Israel were under Roman oppression and most religious leaders compromised with Roman authority in order to maintain their own faith. They also had habit of waiting for the earthly kingdom. So some of the Pharisees came to Jesus and asked him when the kingdom of God would come.

            How did Jesus answer them? Look at verse 20b and 21. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is, or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”  Here Jesus speaks of God’s truth regarding the coming of the Kingdom of God very clearly. Jesus said that it would come with one’s careful observation. We know that doctors try to find the cause of their patient’s sickness by careful observation. But Jesus said that it did not work that way for the kingdom of God. According to Jesus, the kingdom of God first starts within a person. This is true. The kingdom of God starts in a person’s heart when he repents his sins and accepts Jesus as the Lord and Savior. In Mark 1:15, Jesus said, “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” Also in John 3:3, Jesus said to Nicodemus, a Jewish ruler and a Pharisee, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”  When Jesus said “see the kingdom of God”, it is the same meaning as “The kingdom of God is within you.” It is because those who see the spiritual reality through repentance can experience heavenly joy and happiness. But Nicodemus did not accept Jesus’ word because he was proud and spiritually ignorant.

            Likewise, the Pharisees who came to Jesus to ask about the kingdom of God were exactly like Nicodemus; they were earthbound and unspiritual. In their hallucination, they wished that their earthly messianic kingdom would come someday. But Jesus said to them, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is, or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”

            Here we must know that the kingdom of God comes within a person when he believes in Jesus. In the Bible there are many examples of those who saw the kingdom of God and obtained the qualification of entering the kingdom of God. Once there was a woman whose sin was so great. This woman had divorced five times and was living with a boyfriend when she met Jesus at Jacob’s well in Sychar in Samaria. She was an immoral woman. And because of her  immoral life, all her town's people despised her. Jesus loved this woman and despite her sins, he wanted to help her. Jesus opened her wounded mind by asking her a favor. “Will you give me a drink?” Jesus also said to her,  "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13,14)  When this woman met Jesus, she became so happy and joyful and she felt like she was dreaming. Then, she began to tell the good tidings of great joy to many people. Leaving her water jar, the women went back to her town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" (Jn 4:29)

            There is another story, a story of a Roman centurion, in the gospel. According gospel narratives, this man was possibly the captain of the solders who were appointed to execute Jesus on the cross. In the world of solders, “order” is everything and this centurion was ordered to execute Jesus on the cross. So humanly speaking, he was the one who nailed our Lord Jesus on the cross.. But through dying Jesus, this centurion saw the Son of God. Especially, he heard the divine voice of God as he heard Jesus’ prayer on the cross, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk 23:34). Then in Luke 23:47,  this man exclaimed, “Surely this was a righteous man.” It meant that surely Jesus was God who died on the cross for the sin of the world. This Roman centurion saw God’s righteousness in Jesus; he saw the kingdom of God in Jesus. Humanly this man was a tough solder. But he had spiritual eyes to see the Son of God as well as the kingdom of God. So Jesus said to the Pharisees, . “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation,…the kingdom of God is within you.” May God open our hearts and minds widely so that we can have the kingdom of God newly in our hearts.

II. But first he must suffer many things (22-37)

            Look at verse 22. “Then he said to his disciples, ‘The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. ‘”  After speaking to the Pharisees, now Jesus turned his attention to his disciples. And said, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. ” In this verse, the word, “the time” refers to the time of tribulation according to gospel narratives. As we know well, the disciples were the ones who would carry the gospel work after Jesus’ ascension and they would undergo unbearable hardships and sufferings. Then they would long for the day of Jesus’ Second Coming. But Here Jesus clearly told them that the kingdom of God comes at God’s time according to God’s salvation plan and his disciples were not privileged to see the coming of the kingdom of God because Jesus would come to the world later.

Look at verses 23 and 24. Jesus said,  “Men will tell you, 'There he is!' or 'Here he is!' Do not go running off after them.”  When the world is extremely evil, most people despair and become fearful. And out of their fear and despair, they long for Messiah’s coming. Then clever people disguise themselves and claim to be messiahs. They say that even in North America, there are thousands of self-proclaimed messiahs. Jesus warns them and us that by saying “Do not follow them.” As Jesus taught us, we should not listen to the worlds of false prophets even though they say,  “There he is!” or “Here he is!”

 Then how our Lord Jesus will come to this world as the Savior and Judge? Look at verse 24. Jesus said, “For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.”  Jesus would not to this world secretly as some false teachers say. Jesus will come like lightening. On that day all people will be able to see his glorious coming. They say that the lightening moves 300,000 kilometers per second. Therefore, when Jesus comes to this world, all people of the world will see him.

Look at verse 25. Jesus said, “But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.”  This verse contains a deep and profound gospel truth in it. This verse indicates that before the coming of the kingdom of God, God’s will for world salvation must be fulfilled as was promised. For this, Jesus must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation first. In Mark 8:31, Jesus said,  “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.” Jesus predicted his glorious Second Coming. But before his Coming, there was something he should do first. It was that he would undergo hardships and sufferings as the Lamb God. As God’s Paschal Lamb, Jesus would be mocked; he would be tried and tortured and finally crucified by sinful men. Now Jesus was on the way to die on the cross for the sin of the word. But even in such a time, Jesus had God’s will for world salvation in his mind. The time was evil and wicked. Still Jesus saw the world and the people with God’s hope and vision. Jesus wanted to fulfill God’s will through his death and resurrection. In Mark 13:10 this Jesus said, “And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.” In Matthew 24:14, he also said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

            Here from Jesus we learn that we as God’s children, we must love the cross of Jesus as God’s children. When we think Jesus’ words, “he must suffer many things,” we learn that as God’s children, we also must suffer much in order to proclaim the gospel of salvation to the whole world. And when we do so, we receive many rejections and persecutions instead of receiving human honor and recognition. Therefore, we should not despise Jesus’ cross but love the cross of Jesus.

            In verses 26-37. Jesus taught his disciples with what kind of attitude they should live as God’s children by telling them the things that would happen in the day of Jesus’ coming.  Look at verses 26-27. "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.”  Here Jesus taught them that the proclamation of the gospel of salvation will not be easy because the people of the world they serve are extremely evil and wicked as the people of the time of Noah and Lot. The people of the time of Noah and Lot did not listen to gospel of salvation through Noah and through angels. Instead, they enjoyed physical pleasures until the day of God’s punishment. Also In time of Jesus’ Second Coming, the salvation will be personal. Look at verse 34-35. Jesus said, “I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left."  When we put work or study in this world, we are often evaluated in group. However, when Jesus comes to this world, each person will stand before Jesus personally. Therefore, we must pray to God that we may grow in personal faith in him.    

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU

Luke 17:20-37

Key Verse: 17:21

“...nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”

1.   Read verses 20-21. What did the Pharisees ask Jesus? Why did they ask this?  How did he answer? What did Jesus mean by “careful observation”?

2.   What does it mean that the kingdom of God is within us? How does the kingdom come within us? How does this challenge the thinking of the Pharisees?

3.   Read verses 22-25. What did Jesus tell his disciples? What does it mean that they will long to see one of his days but not see it? Why must we not follow those who say “here he is” or “there he is”?

4.   How will the world know when Jesus comes again? What must Jesus do before he comes again in glory?

5.   Read verses 26-32. What did the people of Noah’s time and Lot’s time have in common? How suddenly will the day of the Lord come? Why should we remember Lot’s wife? What should we learn from these examples from the past?

6.   Read verses 33-37. How do people seek to keep their lives? What makes the difference between those who are taken and those who remain? What does it mean to be taken and what does it mean to remain?