Instructions Provided

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Jesus still committed to his mission is most certainly aware of the crucifixion he will endure – and also the victory he will secure.  While He taught the disciples that we can not know in advance the day He’ll return, He also gave clear instructions as to what we should be doing until that day and the Holy Spirit to empower every believer in that endeavor. Don’t let fear drive our away from today’s message but let the love of Christ and for others compel you to faithfully fulfill your calling in step with the spirit and others.

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Section 120b | Instructions regarding the Son of Man’s Coming

Traveling through Samaria and Galilee
Luke 17:22-37
22 He said to the disciples,¹  “The days will come,² when you will desire to see one of the days³ of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 They will tell you, ‘Look, here!’ or ‘Look, there!’ Don’t go away, nor follow after them,⁴ 24 for as the lightning, when it flashes out of the one part under the sky, shines to the other part under the sky; so will the Son of Man be in his day.⁵   25 But first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 As it was in the days of Noah, even so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ship, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, even as it was in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from the sky, and destroyed them all.⁶ 30 It will be the same way in the day that the Son of Man is revealed. 31 In that day, he who will be on the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away. Let him who is in the field likewise not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife!⁷ 33 Whoever seeks to save his life loses it, but whoever loses his life preserves it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two people in one bed. The one will be taken, and the other will be left. 35 There will be two grinding grain together. One will be taken, and the other will be left.” 36 “Two will be in the field: the one taken, and the other left.”⁸ 37 They, answering, asked him, “Where, Lord?”⁹ He said to them, “Where the body is, there will the vultures also be gathered together.”¹⁰

Group Dialog:

1. What question was asked of Jesus in vs 20? How is this teaching similar/different from His answer to the Pharisee?
2. To what natural phenomena, timing, and past events in Biblical history does Jesus’ compare His Second Coming?
3. What happened in Noah’s day? Lot’s day?
4. How good are you at holding on to hope? Are character and promises enough? Share a time when you held out in hope and rejoiced after a long period of waiting, or even suffering.

Study Notes:

1. Though Thomas and Gundry have separated this verse from the preceding section 120a it appears as though this teaching is a followup lesson based off the question the pharisee asked in vs 20. The prophet Daniel prophesied (Daniel 9:25) about when the Messiah would come (Download: Prophesies fulfilled by Jesus Christ). The well read pharisees would have clearly understood that the time was upon them, that sufficient signs had were available. The Greek word Jesus used in his response to the Pharisee translated “careful observation” is parateresis, is to “to watch with hostility” – that is Jesus understood that the Pharisees wanted a military Messiah who would liberate the people Israel from the Roman Governance – and that was not Jesus’ intent. The transformation and kingdom would be established in the heart, by faith not force. Instead of being something externally visible, the kingdom would be established by the transformation of our lives as we honor Jesus as the Messiah, relying on his substantiation and power to protect us, submitting to his Lordship in all things, and being infilled by the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish that which he will call on us to do. This is what he will reiterate to his disciples in Section 149 (John 14:6), “I am the way and the truth and the life…” using the word Zōē – our life-force. Still, hope has a powerful foe in fear and the issue is in all such circumstances, you must believe one or the other.
2. Speaking of his second coming, this is not the first or the last time he tried to explain his mission, fate, and reason for faith – CR Section 48: Mt 9:15, Lk 5:35, Mk 2:20; Section 96b Jn 7:33-36;  Section 99a Jn 8:21-24; Section 121 Lk 18:8; Section 130a Jn 12:35;  Section 147 Jn 13:33; Section 150c Jn 16:5-7; Section 150d Jn 16:16-20; Section 151 Jn 17:11-13.
3. That you will look back wishing that we were still together.
4. Warning against false teachers and those who would lead you away from following only Jesus or place ritual or law above absolute surrender to and dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is so concerned that he warns his disciples yet again on the Mt of Olives (Tuesday of Holy Week) – CR Section 139b Mt 24:4, Mk 13:5-6,21-23, Lk 21:8; Section 139c Mt 24:23-26, Mk 13:21-23.
5. It will be a dramatic day and the natural events should leave no one unaware – CR: The same from the Old Testament Mal 3:1-2; 4:1-2 then as taught by Jesus again in: Section 139c Mt 24:27, Section 139g Mt 25:31, and Section 155 Mt 26:64, Mk 14:62; and also the teaching of the Apostles: 2Pt 3:10, 1Ths 4:16 5:2, 2Ths 1:1-12; a right response Jms 5:8 – grow up in the faith safeguarding your heart and mind from being so easily led astray while remembering and treasuring your first love – the Lord Jesus; and duty as disciples as in the Great Commission Section 181, clearly expressed again in Eph 4:11-16.
6. Both Noah and Lot were among the righteous people of the Old Testament recognized in Heb 11:7 and 2 Peter 2:7. They lived for God even when their neighbors were focused more on external pleasures and evil (Gen 6:5), with little or no concern for righteousness and the will of God. Unfortunately, by the time their neighbors were ready to heed, the disastrous events were already upon them and there was no escape  (Gen 7:13-14, 19:1-29).
7. Lot’s wife didn’t heed the angel, but chose to look back. Reminding them of this he was telling his disciples not to look back on their old life, or even the good times they had enjoyed together, but to be prepared, equipped, and vigilant to carry out the mission.
8. Jesus is trying to impress on his disciples the utter importance and weight of their duty. The imperative is so great that he teaches them the same again on Tuesday of Holy Week the story of the bridegroom who shut the door ready to begin the wedding feast (Section 139f  Mt 25:12-13) CR: Section 64d Mt 13:30 and Section 139g Mt 25:32-33. The Apostles joined by Paul grew to understand the importance and imperative choice imploring his readers when he wrote, “now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2Cor 6:2).
9. Where is the Kingdom? It is similar to the question the Pharisees asked in Lk 17:20
10. Christ’s enemies will flock like birds of prey as he hangs on the cross and lies dead in the tomb. The Kingdom is born the moment he rose from the dead, and on its throne is Jesus who defeated death and all the forces of hell.