------------------------------------------------------------ Jesus and the Kingdom of God E-Mail Bible Study ------------------------------------------------------------ Week 4 - Luke 17:20-37 WHEN AND WHERE IS THE KINGDOM? Just when did or will the Kingdom come? ------------------------------------------------------------ Okay, dear friends. Get ready for some meat. Flex your Bible page-turning fingers, as we combine the lecture approach with e-mail discussion. I am inserting this topic here to make sure we include it in our series, which will now extend into the second week of September. This is a difficult, but very rewarding, lesson, as we discuss the when's and where's of the Kingdom. While we are touching on Bible prophecy here, I ask you to resist the temptation of going wild on prophecy speculations. What we are after is to understand FROM THE VERSES WHICH I INTRODUCE, when and where the Kingdom is coming. Some kinds of lessons can't be discussed productively without supplying considerable background information, so please bear with me with the extended comments. This is a WONDERFUL subject, so let's have fun as we let the Holy Spirit teach us! MONDAY ------ ------------------------------------------------------------ LEVEL 1: OBSERVATION QUESTIONS. WHAT DOES THE TEXT SAY? ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.1 Whom is Jesus instructing in this passage? What is the chief question is being discussed here? COMMENT: SON OF MAN "Son of Man" was Jesus' self-adopted title with regard to himself, probably deriving from Daniel 7:9-14, discussing the final judgment, especially vs. 13: "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven...." This Son of Man then receives authority, glory, sovereign power, worship, and an everlasting dominion, "and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed." Jesus probably used the title Son of Man because it was a bit ambiguous. (It is commonly used in Ezekiel, for example, to refer to Ezekiel as a man.) If Jesus had openly called himself the Messiah or the Son of God early in his ministry, with all the religious and political ramifications of these words, he would not have been able to complete his ministry of teaching and healing. The religious powers-that-be would have forced a much quicker conclusion to his ministry than occurred. But at the end of his ministry, Jesus openly acknowledges that these terms can all be used of him. In Mark 14:61-62 (= Matthew 26:63-64) at Jesus' mock trial, the high priest asks Jesus, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" Jesus replies, "I am; and you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." This title, Son of Man, has an apocalyptic context, that is, it is used in referring to God's sudden, unexpected, breaking into history with the final judgment at the end of time. Our passage here is certainly apocalyptic and centered on the Kingdom, if you take Jesus' repeated reference to the Son of Man in the context of its source in Daniel. 1.2 Vss. 22-35 contain various mentions of the Son of Man. What does each verse below tell us about the Son of Man? Vs. 22 Vs. 26 Vs. 30 1.3 Jesus gives four mini parables here. What is the main point of each (not all the points, only the main point): a. Lightning (22-25) b. Noah (26-27) c. Lot (28-29) 1.4 Vss. 30-35 contain three brief snapshots: (a) person on the roof of a typical flat-roofed Palestinian home, (b) two people in bed at night, and (c) two women grinding at the mill. What is the main point which ties all three snapshots together? Briefly! TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY --------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ LEVEL 2: INTERPRETATION QUESTIONS. WHAT DOES THE TEXT MEAN? ------------------------------------------------------------ COMMENT: HOW CAN THE KINGDOM BE WITHIN A PHARISEE? Luke 17:21 is one of the most widely quoted and most misunderstood verses in the Bible. KJV and NIV translate it "within you," while most others take another meaning: RSV is "in the midst of you"; NRSV, "among you"; NIV footnote "among"; Moffatt, "the Reign of God is now in your midst"; NASB, "in your midst". While there's no reliable way to get to Jesus' original Aramaic (all we have are Greek accounts of His words), the word translated "within" is Greek entos, an adverb of place. Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich, Greek-English Lexicon of the NT (2nd edition, 1979) says "in our literature [found] only as improper preposition with genitive, 'inside, within, within the limits of.'" On this verse they say the word may mean "'within you, in your hearts' (cf. Ps 38:4; 102;1; 108:22, though many prefer to translate, 'among you, in your midst,' either now or suddenly in the near future." How could Jesus say that the Kingdom of God was WITHIN Pharisee? They were asking WHEN (vs. 20) and Jesus is saying that the Kingdom has arrived already in his own person, i.e. "the Kingdom of God is in your midst [already]". He said a similar thing in Luke 11:20. The scribes and Pharisees attributed his miracles of exorcism to Beelzebul, the prince of demons. Jesus responds, "But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." The kingdom isn't far off in the future, it has come in the person of the King himself! Of course, this is right in line with a strong Old Testament theme which we will explore now, so get out your Bibles and let's go on an understanding-search! First, answer question 2.1 QUESTION 2.1 Numbers 2.1 - 3:39 describes the layout of the Israelite camp in the wilderness. What does Numbers 2.1-2 indicate about the relative location of the tabernacle (Tent of Meeting) in the encampment layout? COMMENT: KING AND KINGS, COVENANTS AND THRONE ROOMS There is a dominant theme in the Old Testament of God being the King of the nation. For example, see Psalm 24:7-10. Certainly God appointed/anointed kings for the nation, but this was an concession to the people's weakness. 1 Samuel 8:6-8 indicates the people's clamoring for a king wasn't essentially a rejection of Samuel's ministry as leader and judge: "It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me...." Samuel anointed Saul, and later David, under the explicit direction of God. There is the clear understanding that these kings reign not in their own right, but FOR the God who anointed them. He is the great king, they are lesser kings serving under him, as might an ancient suzerain-vassal relationship commonly found throughout the Near East. This is the significance of the phrase "King of kings, and Lord of lords." In fact, the whole structure of the Covenant spelled out in Exodus 19 - 23 patterns itself upon such suzerain-vassal treaties. In Exodus 19:5-6, God says through Moses, "Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." After the Covenant is ratified by the blood of the Covenant (Exodus 24:8), Moses goes up on Sinai and God appears in great glory as a consuming fire within the cloud on the mountain peaks. Moses receives detailed instructions to build a tabernacle: "Then have them make a sanctuary [miqdash--"holy place, hallowed part"] for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you" (Exodus 25:8). What is now constructed is an Near Eastern-style portable throne room where the King dwells in the very center of the Israelite camp. When it is completed, the cloud and the Shekinah glory of God fill the tabernacle, and then these manifestations of God lead the people in their travels to the Promised Land (Exodus 40:34-38). Many a Near Eastern throne room would have a table spread with food for the king, lamps lighting the room, a censer to make the room fragrant, and a glorious throne. Moreover, there were very strict rules about the sanctity of the king's person and who might approach the king, as we see in Esther 4:11, where Mordecai asks Esther the queen to intercede for the Jews before the king. She replies: "All the king's officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned, the king has but one law: that he be put to death. The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life...." Notice the sanctity of the king's presence? Notice the "inner court" mentioned here? Interesting when you compare these to concepts of holiness in the Tabernacle. 2.2 How do the parts and furnishings of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness correspond to parts of a throne room? You may want to draw on information in Exodus 25 -27, 30, 37 - 38, as well as Hebrews 9:1-12. But I don't want you to follow the theme of priesthood here, but the theme of royalty, since royalty is not commonly understood in this context. Holy Place Holy of Holies Pieces of furniture in the Holy of Holies Where is God's invisible presence localized in this Tabernacle? See Exodus 25:17-22 What does the portable gilded box or chest (that is what "ark" literally means) correspond to in a throne room? 2.3 Now to return to our original text (Luke 17:21), what does all this have to do with Jesus' statement, "... the kingdom of God is in your midst"? 2.4 Temple/Tabernacle is essentially a Kingdom theme and concept. How does this relate to our church being a temple in which God's Spirit lives? (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21-22) How does it relate to our bodies being temples (1 Corinthians 6:19)? THURSDAY -------- 2.5 Luke 17:37 is a difficult verse for us, since the ideas of vultures and carrion are repugnant to us. The question Jesus speaks to in both verse 37 and verse 21 is WHERE. How does the parable or simile of the vultures and carrion teach the same lesson as Jesus' teaching about the Kingdom being "in the midst of you"? ------------------------------------------------------------ LEVEL 3: APPLICATION QUESTIONS. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ME? ------------------------------------------------------------ 3.1 If God/Jesus/Holy Spirit "in the midst" is an essential concept of the Old Testament congregation in the wilderness, AND the church of the New Testament, what are the implications for our churches today? FRIDAY ------ 3.2 How can the kingdom be both present in the person of Jesus (Luke 17:21) and still come in the future (Luke 17:22- 37)? Does this make sense? Has the kingdom come yet? Why do we pray "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"? 3.3 If Luke 17:22-37 doesn't teach exactly WHEN the Son of Man/Kingdom is coming, what DOES it tell us about the essential nature of that coming? What should be our personal response? ------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 1997, Ralph F. Wilson, all rights reserved. Joyful Heart is a trademark of Joyful Heart Ministries. For reprint permission contact pastor@joyfulheart.com