Luke 17:20-25 ; "Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you." And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation."p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 26.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #000000}
In this passage we see Jesus talking to his disciples, or apostles, about the coming of the Kingdom. He warns against the Pharisees who falsely claim “Look here!” Or “Look there”, indicating the coming of God. From prior knowledge of the Pharisees, we know they are very self- absorbed. Matthew 6 warns us against being like the Pharisees who would pray to be seen, bringing to glory to themselves, rather than to God. They broadcasted their faith for the sole attention to themselves.
Back to Luke 17, Jesus is telling us of the Pharisees who falsely warn of his coming. Jesus stresses to us to not follow the Pharisees, but to follow Him.
The most important thing I want you to take away from this passage is the last verse. But first he must SUFFER many things and be REJECTED by this generation. I think "suffer" and "rejected" are the two words we really don’t want to hear Jesus use to describe His life. After all, he is our Lord and Savior, so if His life is rough, how will ours look?
Not only does Jesus foreshadow His own life in this verse, but He describes how ours will be as well. There is a huge misconception that the life of a Christian is comfortable and easy, but it is not and it will always be so far from that.
We, as Christians, are different. In 1 Peter 2:9, Peter describes us as a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and most importantly, a PECULIAR people. Our moral choices place us in conflict with the world’s way of living. We will be rejected. We will not have a comfortable life.
One of my favorite, if not my favorite, verses that encourage me whenever I'm going through something is Hebrew 11:25; "choosing rather suffering affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.”
We must choose God. God has already chosen us and paid the ultimate sacrifice, so it is our duty to glorify Him, honor Him, and walk with Him, in His favor.
Psalms 34:10 — “The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” God even tells us, seek Him and we will not lack any GOOD thing.
To end this, I want to remind you all that we will suffer, and we will be rejected by the people of the world, but know that as the world hates us, it hated Him first. I challenge you today to find new ways to chose Him, seek new ways to glorify Him, and encourage others along the way. Our journey will not be easy, but it is our duty to help those around us, so we can all enjoy heaven together. The journey will be rough, but Heaven will be worth it!
