Gospel Meditation

Luke 17:20–37

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         Pharisees ask Jesus as to when the kingdom or reign of the Messiah would begin, and Jesus says that it will come but without it being seen.

2.         Instead, the kingdom of God was already present, and indeed, was right in front of them.

3.         Then to His own disciples, Jesus says that they will desire to see the Son of Man, meaning Himself, but they will not see Him, thus referring to the ascension, His return to heaven.

4.         But others will come claiming to be the Christ; these are to be rejected. A day is coming however when they will see Him. Yet, before that time, He will be rejected, meaning the cross.

5.         In fact, life will go on as normal, but as in the days of Noah and Lot, speaking of the great flood and Sodom being destroyed, He will return or be revealed as the Messiah.

6.         People will seek to preserve their lives meanwhile, but they will lose them, yet those who will lose their lives, by means of following Jesus as the Christ, these will live. Here is an allusion to the reality of heaven and hell.

7.         Indeed, life on the planet will continue, and it will be clear and plain when the Kingdom of God does in fact appear.