Hi everyone. This is The Logical Bible study podcast, and our goal here in this podcast is to take a look at the literal sense of the Gospel texts. What do they mean in their original context? What was Jesus trying to get it in certain circumstances? So we're doing an exegesis of the text and as always, we'll Start with the Gospel reading from today's mass. So it's Luke chapter 17 verses 20 to 25 Asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God was to come Jesus, gave them this
answer. The coming of the kingdom of God does not admit of observation, and there will be no one to say, look, here, look there for. You must know, the kingdom of God is among you. He said to the disciples a time will come, when you will long to see one of the days of the son of man and will not see it. They will say to you, look there, or look here. Make no move, do not set off in Pursuit for as the lightning flashing from one part of
Heaven, lights up the other. So, we'll be the son of man when
his day comes. But first, he must suffer grievously and be rejected by this generation So, as we get into today's text, it's worth pointing out that this one in particular, is one part of the gospels where Scholars are divided and it's, you're going to encounter different views depending on which commentary you read and that certainly acceptable for a Catholic, you really just need to look at the text do a bit of research and come to your own conclusions on.
What makes the most sense to you Scholars are divided on this? The church has no official interpretation on how to understand these texts and you'll particularly see with the second half of today's Text when Jesus starts to do predictions about what's going to happen on the days of judgment, there's different views amongst Catholics about what exactly is Jesus talking about. So, we'll offer one view in this podcast, but you're not bound to accept it.
We'll do our best though, to see if we can get at what Jesus might have meant. So, what's going on? What's the context here at this stage? Jesus is moving From Galilee up to Jerusalem for the final part of his ministry and he's speaking to the crowds doing things along the way. We get to verse 20 today. It says asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was to
come. So the Jews in Jesus time believe that the kingdom of God was going to come because the Old Testament predicts in lots of places that the kingdom of God will come. And God is going to pour out his blessings everywhere all over the Through the Jewish people, that was sort of the view of the Jews. In Jesus time, it's described in places like Isaiah and Ezekiel
and other places as well. There's constantly this idea that one day there will be a decisive victory Of God called the coming of the kingdom of God. So they understood it this way in Jesus time, they said that one day, God would dramatically and immediately bring his kingdom to Earth. That's how they saw the kingdom coming. They imagined that God would physically reign as king over the Earth, possibly through the Messiah, and when that happens, Israel would become the center
of the world. The Jews would be Vindicated, and their enemies would be wiped out. That's how they saw the kingdom of God coming. So they saw it as a sudden military Victory, basically. Now, in particular, it was believed that the Messiah would play a key role in bringing about the Kingdom. So it's possible that the Pharisees here are asking Jesus this in a sarcastic way. Maybe they're saying something.
Like, if you're really the Messiah, you would know, when the kingdom of God is coming, or maybe they genuinely mean it. Maybe they actually want to know. We think you might be the Messiah. Can you tell us when the kingdom of God is coming, particularly in the Gospel of Luke? Jesus meets several Pharisees that are open to the things of God. So that's certainly possible. But this is Jesus response. He says the kingdom of God does not admit of observation.
That's what our translation in the lectionary says, a lot of other translations say this the kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed. And I think this makes good sense of the text. The Jews expected the coming of the kingdom of God, to be sudden, dramatic and accompanied. By striking signs, may be in the form of Great Signs from heaven. And they thought that when that happened the Romans, I'll be defeated in a military way and I'll be all very dramatic and visible.
Jesus answer here, is that the kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed. So he's telling them. The kingdom of God is not going to come in the grand military way that you expect. It's going to be more subtle than that. So that's the first thing. He tells them, he corrects their skewed views about what the coming will look like. And then in verse 21, he says, there will be no one to say look here or look there.
So again, Jesus, She needs that when the kingdom of God comes there won't be big dramatic visible signs and now he's going to get more specific about when the kingdom of God will come. He says for you must know or you can translate that as behold the kingdom of God is among you. Now, this verse is much debated by Scholars because it can be translated different ways.
I'll give you three different translations of this same verse and these are all legitimate translations and I think you will see that depending on which word is use, it seems to bring about a different Kind of emphasis. So you can have the kingdom of God is among you, or the kingdom of God, is in the midst of you, or you can translate it as the kingdom of God is within you. So this verse or this phrase is much debated. Remember, Jesus is talking to
the Pharisees here. The kingdom of God is among you. What does Jesus mean? When he says to the Pharisees, the kingdom of God is among you one suggestion. And this is the suggestion. Most Scholars go with is, that Jesus is answering the question of He's correcting their views about when the kingdom of God is to come. And his basic answer with. The kingdom of God, is among you, is something like this, the kingdom of God, is in your midst
already. So, the teaching here would be the Jesus. Himself, has already begun to bring the kingdom in. He's the king, the kingdom of God, is already present in their midst in the person of Jesus. So he's telling them the kingdom of God is here, guys. You need to pay attention. It's not going to be dramatic signs in the future. It's already here. So that's one suggestion other Scholars.
Think that a better translation is the kingdom of God is within you, as in, this is a spiritual reality. And you'll often maybe here this on Retreats or in connection with spiritual theology, Jesus says to the Pharisees, the kingdom of God is within you. Maybe the teaching here is that every person has the kingdom inside them in a spiritual sense, we all have the image of God and the Holy Spirit wants to work in our souls. So maybe the teaching is the
kingdom. Everyone has the kingdom inside them. If We're willing to tap into it. So Jesus is telling that the Pharisees that the kingdom is within their reach, its inside them, if they're willing to be open to it. So in this case, it's more of a spiritual than a physical reality that would fit the context to scums some Scholars. Think that doesn't really make sense because these are Pharisees and Jesus typically thinks that they're outside the Kingdom.
So does it make sense for him to say that the kingdom of God is within them? Keep in mind, though the particularly in Luke Jesus, encounter several Fair. Jesus who are genuinely seeking for the Kingdom, so I don't think we can rule this interpretation out. I think it actually is a reasonable interpretation. He's telling the Pharisees that the kingdom of God is present within them if they're willing to tap into it into their souls.
But you could go with either interpretation here verse 22, he said to his disciples. So noticing now transitions to speaking to the disciples only and it's possible that this next bit was said on a different occasion that's possible. He's not going to talk about things that will happen at the end of time. So this is often called an eschatological Discord discourse eschaton. Basically means the end, this is the first of two eschatological
discourses. In Luke, there's two places where Jesus gives a big speech about the end of time. So Luke 17, which is what we're looking at today, and then he does it again in Luke chapter 21. Now Matthew, if you look at Matthews version of this, it's
called the Olivet discourse. A Matthew collects Both Luke 17 and Luke 21 and puts them together in the same part of his own Gospel. But in reverse order, so Luke 17. And Luke 21 are combined in Matthew's gospel and to Matthew, 24 and Matthew 25. So, what we have here is the same content as the Olivet discourse, but it's split up and it's arranged differently. It is really difficult to work out. The original presentation. When did Jesus say each phrase?
And when has the gospel author decided to rearrange things, And that is one of the reasons that interpreting these passages these predictions about the end of time, is particularly difficult when exactly? Did Jesus say it? When did he put certain sentences together? If we were sure of that, that would make it a bit easier. But let's have a go and see what he says here. He starts by saying a time will come or you can translate that as a day is coming, the days are coming.
So, Jesus here is making a prophecy the days are coming and he's going to describe here a time of great distress, which will I'm on the Jews, and it seems that his primarily referring to ad 70, he's referring to the destruction of the temple. So if we read the rest of the passage in that light, it will help make sense of it. He's telling his literal audience at the time, that many of them are going to be living through the difficult circumstances of AD 70. The days are coming.
It's a time of great distress. The jewish-roman war is when incredibly difficult time for the Jews. So let's keep in mind, he's probably thinking primarily of a decentralized Auntie, although some Scholars disagree with that, but even if we say that he's thinking of events that occur at his middle coming in ad 70, it's still possible. These foreshadow, the very end of the world which is still yet to come. We know that God works in
patents. So if we take the interpretation, that Jesus is primarily thinking of the jewish-roman war and the destruction of the temple in ad 70, it's still possible that some of what Jesus says here, could still apply to the end of time. Because God works in Patents. So many Catholic authors have taken it to refer to the end of time as well. So he says a time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the son of man, and will not see it.
So the teaching here apparently is he's talking about the coming of the kingdom of God. He sang you a long to see the coming of the kingdom of God, which he calls you the days of the son of man, the son of man is a figure in the Book of Daniel and it primarily is a reference to the Messiah. So, the days of the son of man would probably be a As to the time when the Messiah comes in his glory and that is certainly fulfilled in a way in ad 70. And we talked about this in
other places in the podcast. So, here Jesus is saying, there will come a day or those days will come. When you will long for the coming of the kingdom of God, you will long to see God's physical rain being set up, and you will long to see massive victory over your political enemies, and that makes sense. Because Jesus knows that the disciples in particular are going to suffer a lot in the coming years, they're going to be persecuted.
For their faith. So when he says to them, you will long to see the one of the days of the son of man and will not see it. He's probably thinking of when the disciples are going to long to see Jesus return.
They want to see themselves being Vindicated, they want Jesus to return and to wipe out their photos probably and to vindicate, the people who have been faithful to him, Jesus knows the Christians are going to be persecuted and he knows they're going to want him to come back, but you will not see it. He says now the reason he says The Christian disciples don't get to see the days of the son of man is because quite literally, they are not there,
when Jesus returns in 70 AD. As we'll see in chapter 21 when we get there, Jesus tells them as a prophecy. He says the days of the son of man are coming but you need to escape them. You need to flee the city before the destruction comes on the city and they actually do. They all the Christians? Evacuate Jerusalem, history tells us that there were no Christians in Jerusalem when it was destroyed because they all follow Jesus.
Ructions to get out. So it in a very real sense, although the temple was destroyed, although the coming of the son of man happened in a sense in 70 AD, the Christians did not see the days of the son of man because they weren't there. So that's an interesting take on this passage. Interestingly that same phrase days of the son of man, it's used later in Luke when foreign
armies besieged the city. So if you might be tempted to think that this interpretation doesn't make sense when Jesus says days of the son of man, he's Thinking of the second coming which hasn't happened yet? Maybe you think Second Coming makes more sense, certainly that's possible, but we have to compare it to how Jesus uses the same phrase elsewhere. This is a very technical phrase,
the days of the son of man. And in Chapter 19 Verse 43, he specifically says, the days of the son of man will happen when foreign armies besieged Jerusalem and that certainly seems to fit 70 AD if you're interested in Prophecy. It's really worth studying these texts and seeing if you can map out how How each text maps onto each other, and what they might be referring to? It's quite a fascinating study verse 23. Jesus says, they will say to you
look there or look here. So, Jesus warns his disciples that at that time, many Jews in 70 AD or around that time, many Jews will try to lead them astray by saying, look, the kingdom of God is coming. And we know that around the time of 70 AD. There were lots of pretended Messiahs in the time, leading up to the jewish-roman war, lots of false. Signs. So they're literally was people going around saying look, the kingdom of God is coming. Jesus prophecy, here is
accurate. His telling his disciples, don't fall for it. Inspect, in fact, he specifically says to them do not go do not follow them so he tells the disciples not to be led astray by these false preachers. When they arise verse 24, for as the lightning flashing, from one part of Heaven lights up the other, so will the son of man. When his day comes, Now, how do we understand this? Passage the lightning flashing from one part of Heaven lights up the other.
This seems to be a Jewish metaphor to basically mean it an obvious event. So Jesus teaches that one day there will be a visible obvious big manifestation when the son of man comes. So just as the lightning lighting up, the sky is big and obvious and everyone sees it. When the day of the son of man comes it's going to be big and obvious and everyone will see it. That seems to be the meaning. So in a sense, the Pharisees are Write what they said earlier about.
The kingdom of God is going to be accompanied by signs. Jesus says, well, that's partially true, particularly the day of the son of, man. This is a technical term, the day of the son of man, when Jesus is Vindicated in 70 AD, that will be accompanied by signs. And it will be a big obvious manifestation. So, the Pharisees are right, that the kingdom of God will involve signs, but they didn't quite have the time incorrect.
Now, again, when Jesus says for, as the lightning flashes, from one part of Heaven, lights up the other, so will the son of man be when his day comes, this could refer either to the destruction of the temple in 70 AD or you could say that these words sound more, like the second coming, which hasn't taken place yet. I think the context suggest that he is talking about 70 AD, he's basically saying the day of the son of man, the day of judgment on the city will be obvious.
It'll happen in 70 AD when the temple is destroyed. This is often called Jesus middle coming, and it's called that because one aspect of the destruction of the temple, and the jewish-roman war is it's God's punishment. On the Jewish people, for rejecting the Messiah. That might seem controversial, but that is actually the teaching of the New Testament, particularly Jesus himself in the gospels. He specifically says, because you've rejected the Messiah that the people, the temple will be
destroyed. And when that happens, the old Covenant is basically ended in a sense and the New Covenant, Don't starts. So it's a crucial time, 70 AD. It's the time of the son of man, when the rule of the, son of man
is visible. And when the rule of the church begins on Earth, if you're interested in all these themes about the kingdom of God and 70 AD, I've actually done a lecture Series going through the kingdom of God and what that phrase means and how it's understood by the Jews and Jesus time and how Jesus understood it. And that's available to you through the patreon page. If you give $20 a month or more, it's a six-part series. The kingdom of God.
So check that out if you kind of like what you're hearing here. He finishes in verse 25, You by saying this generation. So we need to talk about this phrase, this generation. It's a technical term that Jesus uses all throughout his ministry, to describe the evil generation in his own time.
Particularly the Jewish leaders. It's similar to the evil generation in the days of Moses, just as the people, in the days of Moses are described as an evil generation because they reject God. So the Jewish leaders are discussing scribed here as an evil generation. So here's the full sentence. But first, he must suffer grievously and be rejected by this generation. This is a fascinating teaching in many ways. Jesus says, the days of the, son of man will come.
It will be obvious. Everyone will see it. But first, he has to be rejected and suffered grievously. The teaching here is that Jesus? The Messiah cannot come in glory. He cannot come in judgment until he first suffers and is rejected by Use. Why is that? Well, we're not entirely sure. This is part of God's mystery of Salvation, where he allows Jesus to set up his kingdom in stages. And it has to first start with the cross. Maybe it's because part of God's
plan. Is that when the Messiah does come in judgment, it's going to be for the Jews as well. So maybe God has to allow the Jewish leaders to put Jesus to death as part of the justification for why the temple is destroyed. And that would certainly seem to be the case God wants it so that they're presented. With Jesus first and that they crucify him, so that when the temple is destroyed at all, makes more sense.
So Jesus, you teaches that the Messiah will come in glory, but he still has to suffer and be rejected before. He can come in Victory. That's the teaching Jesus has more to say about this. Eschatological discourse will look at this in the coming verses in the coming week days. So it's a fascinating passage, isn't it? You might have disagreed with some of the things you've heard and if you have love to hear from you, if you have Questions about the interpretation that's been offered here.
Feel free to send a question through two logical Bible, study at gmail.com, or you can record a voice message as well and that might get played on the podcast to all of the information for that is in the show notes. There's no catechism passages for us to look at today. So, we'll finish it there and I'll encourage you to definitely tune in again, tomorrow, as we continue this Escalade, eschatological discourse.
Jesus actually gets quite specific about things that are going to happen in the days of the son of Man. Please continue to keep this ministry in your prayers. Share the podcast around and hopefully we'll see you again tomorrow.