[Matt's Messages] "Jesus and the Coming Kingdom"

“Jesus and the Coming Kingdom”
Certain of Jesus:  The Gospel of Luke
November 14, 2010
Luke 17:20-37

If there was a short list of our Lord Jesus’ favorite topics of conversation, the Kingdom of God would be near the top.

Our Lord Jesus loved to talk about the Kingdom of God.

He loved to teach about the Kingdom of God.

Luke has already used the words “The Kingdom of God” twenty times so far in the first 17 chapters of his gospel, and Jesus spoke most of them.

The Kingdom of God.

Well, the Pharisees have heard Jesus talk about the Kingdom of God and talk and talk and talk, so they begin to press Jesus for more details about this kingdom.

And in today’s passage, they want to know when it would come.

“When will the kingdom of God come, O Teacher?”

Well, that’s a question of eschatology.  That’s a question about the end-times.  The end of the world. The fulfilment of prophecy.

And, even though it comes from the Pharisees, it’s a pretty good question.  At least, it’s one that we all want to know about.

When will the kingdom of God come?

Well, I don’t know about you, but I find eschatology to be one of the trickiest parts of biblical doctrine to figure out.

For one thing, it hasn’t happened yet.  So, you can’t go back like history and just piece it together.  It’s still future, so that makes it kind of tricky.

And there are a lot of eschatological (end-times) details to harmonize.  The Bible talks a LOT about future events and however you put them together, they all have to fit together.  So that makes it a complex job.

And there can be several different ways of putting together the prophetic information that makes some sense of it.  So very good, very godly scholars and pastors can sometimes come to very different conclusions on some of the more debatable points.  And that makes it kind of tricky, as well.

I’ve had 12 years of formal theological education, and I’ve been a pastor for about 15 years, but I don’t have all of my questions answered yet about eschatology.

However, there are some things that I think are crystal clear.

And three of them are right here in our passage for today.

Jesus teaches on the coming of the kingdom of God.

#1.  THE KINGDOM HAS COME.
The kingdom of God has already come.  Let’s see how Jesus teaches this in verses 20 and 21.  V.20

“Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation [now, I think that means, “You guys are looking in the wrong place.”  V.21] nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is [footnote: among] you.’”

There is no need to hunt for the kingdom of God because the kingdom of God is among you.  The kingdom is here.

The kingdom has come.

Now, if you have the NIV or the KJV, verse 21 says, that the kingdom is “within you.”

Now, that’s one way to translate the Greek words, but I don’t think that’s what Jesus meant.  Why?

Who is he talking to?

The Pharisees!

The aggressive, unbelieving, hostile Pharisees.

Do you think that Jesus would tell them that the Kingdom of God is inside of them?

I don’t think so.

I think the footnote of the NIV is much better.  As is the English Standard Version and the New American Standard Version, and the New Living Translation...and I found out this week, the newest revision of the NIV which is available now online and will be soon in print translates v.21, “the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

What is Jesus’ point?

How is the kingdom of present?

What is in their midst? 
WHO is in their midst?  Who is among them?

Jesus is.

The king has come, so the kingdom has come!

And the Pharisees are, as usual, missing it!

Don’t ask, “when is the kingdom of God going to come?” Don’t go running around saying, “Here it is. Oh, I think there it is!”  No.

“The kingdom of God is right here because I’m right here.  I’m the king.”

BELIEVE.

See the kingdom in the king.

The presence of the king means the kingdom is present!

I almost titled this message, “Jesus IS the Kingdom.”

The Pharisees were willfully blind to this.   Everything pointed to it.  But they would see it.

And most today are missing it, too.

Jesus is the King, and He has come, so the Kingdom has come, at least in part.

Believe.

Now, the second thing we’re going to see here is going to seem contradictory.

But stay with me.

#2.  THE KINGDOM HAS NOT COME.

Not the way it will.

There is a sense in which the kingdom has arrived with the first arrival of the king, but there is a sense which the kingdom has not yet arrived.  Not in its consummation.

The Kingdom of God is ALREADY and NOT YET.

The kingdom has not come.  Listen to verse 22-25.

“Then he said to his disciples [Note the change of audience.  He isn’t talking to the Pharisees here now.], ‘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.  Men will tell you, 'There he is!' or 'Here he is!' Do not go running off after them.  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.  But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.”

The Kingdom of God has not (yet) come.

For one thing, Jesus still has to go to the Cross.

At this point, the New Covenant, the New Deal of the Kingdom of God hasn’t been enacted yet because Jesus hasn’t gone to the Cross. V.25

“But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.”

Jesus knows what’s coming.

There is no Crown without the Cross.

First the Cross, then the Crown.

The King will die to purchase His Kingdom!

But even after that, the Kingdom will not come right away. Look at v.22 again.

“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 [the kingdom of God], but you will not see it.”

You’re going to long, to yearn, to ache for the Kingdom of God.

And it won’t be here yet.

You (disciples, remember?  Not Pharisees.  You) will “long to see one ofthe days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.”

One of the things that Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God is that there would be some kind of a delay before it came in its fullness.

Now, we don’t know how long that delay will be.  It’s been about 2,000 year so far.  And that makes some people laugh at the idea of living an expectant and ready life waiting for His return.

But that’s what Jesus said was going to happen.  It’s not like it was a surprise!

Jesus taught that there would be some considerable delay.  He didn’t say how long, and He said to stay ready (we’re going to see that in just a second), but He also said to stay patient.

BE PATIENT.

Long for the return of Christ and long for the Kingdom of God but keep waiting.

It’s not here yet.

Now, that’s hard to do.  But Jesus didn’t say it was going to be easy.

Right now, we long for the days of the Son of Man.

Don’t you long for the days of the Son of Man?

Don’t you long for the fulfillment of all of God’s promises?

The longer I live, the more I want the Kingdom to Come.

The easier it is to say, “Thy Kingdom Come!”

But it’s not here yet.  And I need to be patient.

In the meantime, there will be lots of people trying to tell you that the end-times are here.  There will be lots of date-setters and time-setters and those who have their charts and their television programs who lay out why they think that the kingdom is going to come this year or soon or whatever.  V.23

“Men will tell you, 'There he is!' or 'Here he is!' Do not go running off after them.  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.”

Don’t worry.  If you long for the coming of the kingdom of God, then don’t worry about missing it.

You won’t miss it.  It will be obvious.  It will be like the lightning, which no one can miss.

Don’t go running after those who have their little secret Jesus to sell you.  His second coming will not be hidden.

Be patient.  Don’t worry about missing it, if you long for the coming of the kingdom of God.

However, if you do not long for the coming of the kingdom of God, then you should worry about missing it!

#3.  THE KINGDOM WILL COME.

But the ungodly won’t be expecting it.  V.26

“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.  It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.  But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.  It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.”

The kingdom of God is coming. And it is coming in judgment.

Jesus likens it to the days of Noah and the days of Lot.

And there are two points of comparison.

One is that both of those days were proverbially ungodly.

They were ungodly days ripe for judgment.

But also they were ordinary days.  V.27 “People were [doing ordinary things] eating, drinking, marrying, being given in marriage...”  V.28, “eating, drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.”

Those are very ungodly people doing very ordinary things.

And they weren’t ready.

They weren’t prepared.

They were pre-occupied with their little lives and unconcerned about God and indifferent to His kingdom, and they were swept away in judgment.

BE READY!

Are you ready?

I think that this is one of the clearest things that Jesus taught about the end-times–the need to be ready for His return.

I don’t understand all of the details, but this comes through loud and clear.

Are you ready for Jesus’ return?

Part of being ready means resisting the pull of possessions.

It means turning your heart towards the Lord NOW so that that it’s not tempted to turn back THEN.  V.31

“On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything.  Remember Lot's wife!”

Do you remember Lot’s wife?

She loved Sodom, the city doomed to destruction, and she turned around and was reduced to a pillar of salt.

My kids were recently at a life-sized museum of Bible people and they said that Mrs. Lot was there and she was turning around and it was really gross.  Ewww.

But it really happened.

And Jesus wants us to remember it.

He wants us to love the King and the Kingdom so much that we would not be tempted to turn back.  “Remember Lot’s wife!”

Don’t go back.

There won’t be time.  V.33

“Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”

Don’t love this life.  Prepare for the next one.

Be ready.

Because the judgment is coming. It will hit unexpectedly and it will bring a final division of the human race.

There will be a separation of those who love Jesus and those who do not.  V.34

“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.  ‘Where, Lord?’ they asked. He replied, ‘Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.’”

Gruesome, eh?

The judgment that is coming will be gruesome...and just...and sudden...and permanent.

There are only two sides.

And we have to choose now.

There won’t be time then for choosing.

The time for choosing sides is now.

You can’t sit on the fence.  There is no fence.

There are those who belong to Jesus and those who do not.

Are you ready to face Him?

The Kingdom will come.  Are you ready for it?

Most of the Pharisees were not.

They couldn’t even see that the Kingdom had been inaugurated with the coming of the King.

They didn’t long for the kingdom to come.

They were rejecting Jesus and were going to send Him to the Cross.

Do you long for the Kingdom of God?


Messages So Far In this Series:

Certain of Jesus
The Back-Story of Jesus
The Birth of Jesus
Jesus - A Very Special Child
Preparing the Way for Jesus
Jesus Is the Son of God
Jesus in Galilee
Jesus and the Sinners
Jesus Brings Real Joy and Rest
Jesus' Followers Are Different: Part One
Jesus' Followers Are Different: Part Two
Jesus' Followers Are Different: Part Three
Jesus' Followers Are Different: Part Four
Amazing Jesus
Disappointed with Jesus
Loving Jesus Much
Jesus' Real Family
Jesus Is Lord
Who Is Jesus?
Following Jesus
Sent By Jesus
Q&A With Jesus
Sitting at Jesus' Feet
Jesus Teaches Us to Pray 
Jesus Is Stronger Than Satan
More Blessed Than Jesus' Mom
Jesus and the Judgment to Come
Being Real with Jesus
Jesus and Our Stuff
Be Ready for Jesus' Return
Jesus and Tragedies
Set Free By Jesus
Jesus and the Surprising Kingdom
Jesus and Jerusalem
Jesus at the Party
The Cost of Following Jesus
Jesus and the Lost: Part One
Jesus and the Lost: Part Two
Jesus and the Lost: Part Three
Jesus on Money
Sneering at Jesus
Jesus and the Great Chasm
Jesus Said to His Disciples...
Thanking Jesus

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[Matt's Messages] "Thanking Jesus"

“Thanking Jesus”
Certain of Jesus:  The Gospel of Luke
November 7, 2010
Luke 17:11-19

This is one of my favorite stories about Jesus.

And I’m especially glad that we’ve reached this story in November just a few weeks before Thanksgiving, because this story is all about “Thanking Jesus.”

I was kind of hoping that this story would fall on the Sunday right before Thanksgiving, but this is the day that God has given for us to study it, and I also think it goes really well with Communion.  So, I’m glad that it’s today.

Thanking Jesus.

We live in an age of ungratefulness.

Now, I don’t know that there ever was an age of thanksgiving, but I do know that people in our society are increasingly ungrateful.  We just expect to be given good things and the words “Thank you” are not nearly enough on our lips.

And Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, should be the most thankful people on planet Earth.

This is a story about one man who was very thankful to Jesus.

He was an unlikely candidate.  He was a leper, an outsider to all human society because of his skin disease and unclean status.  And more than that, he was not a Jew. He was not one of Jesus’ race.  He was a despised Samaritan.

But he was thankful. And he had every reason, as we will see, to be thanking Jesus.

I want us to look closely at the two main characters: Jesus and the Thankful Leper.
Before we get to the thankful leper, I want to us think about Jesus here in this story.  What is revealed to us about Jesus?

Remember, our series is called “Certain of Jesus.”

What do we learn here in this story about Jesus?

Well, first of all, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.  You see that in verse 11?

“Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.”

This is the third time that Luke has mentioned that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.

And it’s not really that geographically Jesus is nearer to Jerusalem.  He’s been nearer in previous chapters.  But Luke is making a different point.

He’s saying that Jesus is set on going to Jerusalem.  Jesus knows where He is headed.

He is headed to the Cross.

He is headed to passion week.  He is headed to suffering. Being betrayed, being arrested, being tried, being mocked, being scourged, being killed.

Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem.

And He knows it.  And it must be weighing on Him.
But still He goes.  And...still He stops to show mercy and compassion to these lepers.

V.12

“As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, Master, have pity on us!’”

It’s really sad that they had to stand a distance.  That was normal. That was the law. If anyone got close to them, they were supposed to shout, “Unclean! Unclean!”

But they did more than that.  They called, “Help!  Help us!  Jesus, Master, have pity on us.”

And Jesus does.  We can’t miss the compassion of Jesus here. Even though He is on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus is full of compassion.  He is moved by their plight and by their appeal.  And He does something.

He sends them on a cleansing mission.

Notice that Jesus doesn’t just heal them.  He requires faith and obedience.

He requires them to trust Him and obey Him.  Sound familiar?

He is going to cleanse them.  He is going to heal them.  But He is actually calling to more than that.  He is calling them to discipleship.

He asks them to trust Him and to obey Him.  V.14

“When he saw them, he said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’”

He doesn’t say, “You are healed.”  He says, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”

Why is that?

Well, back in Leviticus 14, the law said that if someone was healed of an infectious skin disease (and that would be pretty rare!), they were supposed go show themselves to the priests, who would certify that they were now clean.

And after an 8 day ritual that included sacrifices, the cleansed leper would be able to be restored to society–especially to his family!

And Jesus says, “Go do it.  Trust me. Go see the priests.”

Trust and obey.  There is no other way to be happy with Jesus than to trust and obey.

And they do.  We don’t know what was running through their minds, but they take Jesus up on His command, and they go.  V.14 again.

“When he saw them, he said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed.”

I love that.

Last month, the speaker at our Pastors and Wives Retreat, Jeff Youell, spoke on this story, and he asked the question, “Have you ever wondered how many steps it took before they were healed?”

“Was it 5 or 10 or 200?”

“...as they went, they were cleansed.”

The skin disease was reversed!

Unhealthy skin became healthy again.
Uncleanness was washed away and became clean.
Perhaps festering body parts that were wasting away were regenerated and grew back on their faces, on their extremeties.

We don’t know exactly what happened, but we know that it was amazing!

This is a miracle.

And Jesus did it.  What do we learn about Jesus here?

He is not only determinately on His way to Jerusalem and full of compassion for the suffering, and requiring faith and obedience.

He is full of power!  Wonder-working power!  Miracle-working power.

That’s Jesus.  Wow!

We’re supposed to say, “Wow!”  When we read verse 14.  “They were cleansed.”

Wow!

And we’re also supposed to say, “Thank you.”

And only one of them does.  V.15

“One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.  He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him–and he was a Samaritan.”

Thanking Jesus.

We’re going to talk about this guy in a just a second.

But for now, I want us to keep looking at Jesus.

What do you see here about Jesus?

Do you see Jesus accepting thanksgiving and even worship?

This man throws himself at Jesus’ feet and thanks Him.

Can you imagine what that would have been like?

Have you ever thrown yourself at someone’s feet?

It looks a lot like worship!

Now, it may be that this man was just treating Jesus as a great king and not yet as his God.  He might not know yet Who Jesus really is.

But Jesus doesn’t say, “Get up.  I’m just a man.  I’m just a tool of God.”

No, He accepts this man’s reverence and thanksgiving.

And He actually expects more!  He asks three follow-up questions.  V.17

“Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?  Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’”

Here’s something to see about Jesus.

He is disappointed.

One out of ten?  10 percent?  That’s the only return?

10% thankful?

It’s disappointing to Jesus.

‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?  Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’”

Jesus isn’t whining.  But He’s not impressed either.

Only 10% of the cleansed lepers were thankful.

And Jesus cares.  He wants the cleansed lepers to be thankful–to give praise to God!

We can be certain Jesus cares about that.

Now, let’s turn to the other main character–the one we’ll call the Thankful Leper.

We don’t know his name.  We’re never told.

And of course, he’s not a leper any more.  But the “Thankful Former Leper” sounds dumb.

So, let’s think about him for a few seconds.

Of course, in this story, he’s the one more like us, right?

Or at least, the one we should be like.

Sometimes, we’re like the other 90%, aren’t we?

Three things about this guy:

#1.  HE IS LOVED.

This man has every reason to be thankful, doesn’t he?

He was a Samaritan (and remember, the Jews and the Samaritans basically hated each other).  He was despised.  He was rejected.  He was unclean.  He was “outside.”  He was outcast.  He was alone.

Probably the other 9 lepers were Jews.  That’s why Jesus is surprised in verse 18 that only the foreigner came back.

He’s not complaining about the foreigner.  He’s complaining, He’s disappointed in His kinsmen according to the flesh.

But this Samaritan leper has been brought near.

He has been cleansed.  He has been accepted.

He has been made whole.

He has been loved.

And that is the chief reason for us to be thankful people, ourselves.

We have been loved by Jesus.

We who were rebel sinners are now seated at His table.

“Jesus, Thank You!”

We have been loved.

Do you feel the love of Jesus today?

I want you to feel it.

I want you to know how much the Lord loves you.

Do you feel like an outsider?

Like a leper?

The social equivalent of this is probably someone with HIV.

Or someone who is of a different and despised race.

Do you feel like someone on the outside looking in?

Jesus loves you!

He has compassion for you.

He died for you!

He set His face towards Jerusalem for you!

And He didn’t stop until He achieved His goal.

Jesus loves you.

He is full of power.  And if you belong to Jesus, then you are no longer unclean but clean.

No longer unforgiven but forgiven.

No longer unacceptable but accepted.

No longer far away but near.

No longer an outsider but an insider–a family member, a son or daughter of God!

You have been loved.

You are loved.

And therefore you should be thankful.

Number two:  The former leper was thankful.

#2. HE IS THANKFUL.

Verses 15 and 16 are the best this story.  Let’s read those again.

“One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.  He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him–and he was a Samaritan.”

I love that “loud voice” in verse 15.

The Greek words are basically “mega” and “phone” where we get our megaphone from.

This guy was shouting!  “Wahoo!  Praise God, I’m healed!”

And he’s so physical.  He throws himself at Jesus’ feet and thanks Him.

This guy “got it.”

He understood what had happened to him, and he was truly thankful.

This is why we sing at church and not just speak in a regular voice.

Because some things need song.

And some things need shouting.

If you shout at a football game, then you should shout in thankful worship.


We say, “Yes!  Yeah!”

We can’t help but praise. We can’t help but be moved by some feat at sports.

At least men do.

We should be so moved when being thankful.

That’s what it means to be a part of the 10% who are truly thankful.

Are we thankful?

Do our lives show it?

Not just, are we loud.  But do our lives show that we “get it.”

We have been loved with a great love, so great should be our thankfulness.

Christians should be the most thankful people in the world.

And here’s the biggest reason why.

Because we’re saved.

#3. HE IS SAVED.

The leper was saved, not by works, but by faith.

Look at the tag line at the very end of the story.  V.19.  Don’t miss this.

“Then [Jesus] said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well.’”

And you might have a footnote for that last phrase, “made you well.”

It could also be translated, “your faith has saved you.”

It’s the same word we often see for salvation, “sozo.”

It can also mean healed.  And that’s the basic idea here.

But, I think there is something more.

Because this man “got it” and had faith in Jesus and praise God and wanted to be thankful, Jesus is saying that he is healed in a bigger sense than just physically.

He is saved.

Not by works.  But by faith in Jesus.

And Jesus alone.

And the same is true for you and me.

If we have faith in Jesus then we are saved.

And there is no greater reason to be thanking Jesus.

Messages So Far In this Series:

Certain of Jesus
The Back-Story of Jesus
The Birth of Jesus
Jesus - A Very Special Child
Preparing the Way for Jesus
Jesus Is the Son of God
Jesus in Galilee
Jesus and the Sinners
Jesus Brings Real Joy and Rest
Jesus' Followers Are Different: Part One
Jesus' Followers Are Different: Part Two
Jesus' Followers Are Different: Part Three
Jesus' Followers Are Different: Part Four
Amazing Jesus
Disappointed with Jesus
Loving Jesus Much
Jesus' Real Family
Jesus Is Lord
Who Is Jesus?
Following Jesus
Sent By Jesus
Q&A With Jesus
Sitting at Jesus' Feet
Jesus Teaches Us to Pray 
Jesus Is Stronger Than Satan
More Blessed Than Jesus' Mom
Jesus and the Judgment to Come
Being Real with Jesus
Jesus and Our Stuff
Be Ready for Jesus' Return
Jesus and Tragedies
Set Free By Jesus
Jesus and the Surprising Kingdom
Jesus and Jerusalem
Jesus at the Party
The Cost of Following Jesus
Jesus and the Lost: Part One
Jesus and the Lost: Part Two
Jesus and the Lost: Part Three
Jesus on Money
Sneering at Jesus
Jesus and the Great Chasm
Jesus Said to His Disciples...

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EFCA Today

The newest issue of EFCA Today has hit the digital newsstands.

This is the first all-digital issue--EFCA Today is no longer going to be a print magazine.

Fun!  I get to have a hand in the creation of this magazine--check out the "About Us" tab.

This issue include a round-up of book reviews on Christ Castaldo's book Holy Ground.

The first article is by our friend, Mark Petras! Enjoy.

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Ed Welch on Sleep (overvalued, and while driving)

Good thoughts (as usual) to ponder here. 

My favorite quote (not as deep as the rest, but pretty funny):

"Some of the sleep deprivation studies suggest that, though our bodies can tolerate sleep deprivation from the neck down, our brains don’t fare as well. The problem with these studies, however, is that they didn’t study insomniacs so much as they studied people who were aggressively deprived of sleep. Most of us don’t have someone blowing horns and shaking us every time we nod off, unless we are driving."

Read the whole thing.

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