“Are we there yet?” 

“How much farther?”

“What time will we get there, in five more minutes?” 

“I am not at maximum comfort!”  (One of our kids came up with this one. As a new reader, she “sounded out” the words maximum comfort written under the switch to control the air conditioning flow.  We wished she had a switch to control her demands for comfort! Ha!)

Whether traveling to a vacation spot, to grandparents’ house, to the park, zoo, or merely to the store, the backseat gang would shout these phrases with whiny, anxious voices as they grill their parents with these questions.  Kids want to know exactly how much time it will take to get to their final destination.  And seriously, what is “time” to a child?  Bunch a Pharisees…

Luke 17, The Message

When the Son of Man Arrives

^20-21 Jesus, grilled by the Pharisees on when the kingdom of God would come, answered, “The kingdom of God doesn’t come by counting the days on the calendar. Nor when someone says, ‘Look here!’ or, ‘There it is!’ And why? Because God’s kingdom is already among you.”

^22-24 He went on to say to his disciples, “The days are coming when you are going to be desperately homesick for just a glimpse of one of the days of the Son of Man, and you won’t see a thing. And they’ll say to you, ‘Look over there!’ or, ‘Look here!’ Don’t fall for any of that nonsense. The arrival of the Son of Man is not something you go out to see. He simply comes.

^24-25 “You know how the whole sky lights up from a single flash of lightning? That’s how it will be on the Day of the Son of Man. But first it’s necessary that he suffer many things and be turned down by the people of today.

^26-27 “The time of the Son of Man will be just like the time of Noah—everyone carrying on as usual, having a good time right up to the day Noah boarded the ship. They suspected nothing until the flood hit and swept everything away.

^28-30 “It was the same in the time of Lot—the people carrying on, having a good time, business as usual right up to the day Lot walked out of Sodom and a firestorm swept down and burned everything to a crisp. That’s how it will be—sudden, total—when the Son of Man is revealed.

^31-33 “When the Day arrives and you’re out working in the yard, don’t run into the house to get anything. And if you’re out in the field, don’t go back and get your coat. Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you’ll lose it, but if you let that life go, you’ll get life on God’s terms.

^34-35 “On that Day, two men will be in the same boat fishing—one taken, the other left. Two women will be working in the same kitchen—one taken, the other left.”

³⁷ Trying to take all this in, the disciples said, “Master, where?”

He told them, “Watch for the circling of the vultures. They’ll spot the corpse first. The action will begin around my dead body.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The Pharisees want to know more about the Kingdom of God from Jesus.  But their motivation for knowing more is more about how they can control the Kingdom. To say they obeyed the Law is questionable for themselves.  The Pharisees, religious teachers and scribes were immersed in every detail of The Law.  They debated with each other over each detail and argued over who was in perfect obedience of The Law.  Why?  Because in their thinking, perfect obedience to The Law bought them a place in the Kingdom of God! 

Who judges human “perfection”?  The Pharisees and others “in charge” and in control influentially, politically, and powerfully!  God was a minor consideration while His Law became their major focus.  To make matters worse, they added to The Law to make it more perfect in their thinking.  Wow.  The enemy of God was having a good time as he led these leaders to focused on condemnation, judgement, punishment with fines while using God’s Law as a powerful tool to oppress and control God’s people who were living under the oppression of the Roman government.  Two oppressions in one! 

Then Jesus comes and walks into their neighborhoods.  Jesus changes everything.  Jesus answers their grilling questions explaining who the Kingdom of God is with who is truly “in charge and in control.”  This new information does not appease, resolve, or delight the Pharisees in the “backseat of government” who are trying to control the lives of God’s people, gain power for themselves, while politically maneuvering the Roman leaders over them.  In fact, this new information from the Son of God infuriates the Pharisees!

The disciples ask with trusting hearts, renewed minds and hungry souls committed to hanging on every word Jesus says. So, having answered the Pharisees, Jesus then turned to His disciples to instruct them about the coming of the kingdom. He warned them not to become so obsessed with His return that they ended up doing nothing else but trying to track Him down.

This is a good warning to believers who do nothing but study prophecy. Certainly we should look for His return and long to see Him come, but at the same time, we should be busy doing His work when He comes. 

The Gospel According to Luke concludes where Acts begins, namely, with Christ’s Ascension into heaven. Luke, according to most Biblical scholars, also wrote the book of Acts.  In this passage, the resurrected Jesus gives his beloved disciples His “last words” of instructions before leaving earth for heaven.  This is a reminder to all believers then and now of the work to be done:

“When they were together for the last time they asked, “Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?”

He told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”

These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. Suddenly two men appeared—in white robes! They said, “You Galileans!—why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly—and mysteriously—as he left.”  Acts 1:6-11, MSG

Jesus IS coming back, you know.  Time is not as important as being ready with joyful anticipation.  We are not perfect but we are perfectly forgiven.  Believe and be saved.

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”  Zephaniah 3:17, NIV

Lord,

Thank you for these words the fill our hearts, renew our minds, and refresh our souls as we offer our lives to you in full this morning as a pleasing sacrifice back to you for all you have done for us. 

In Jesus Name, Amen

Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life,
Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life;
Words of life and beauty teach me faith and duty.

Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life,
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.