Curious Minds Want to Know

Text: Luke 17:20-25

It seems from today's text that fascination with end times is nothing new. It is reasonable to assume that it wasn't just the disciples who wanted to know about God's rule--the continuing popularity of prophecy books and conferences attest to that same curiosity today.

What Jesus says in response to the disciples is highly instructive, not only for them but for us and for any who come after us. "When will the Kingdom of God come?" It's the same questions some of Jesus' contemporaries asked, and it's one people have asked ever since. In reply Jesus makes a distinction between two concepts; in so doing he changes the focus drastically. We should pay heed. The kingdom is one concept; the coming of the Son of Man is another. The first is virtually imperceptible; the second will be unmistakably apparent. The first demands our action; the second is entirely dependent upon God.

The kingdom is the rule of God, the place where his will is done. It is not the final event of history, but the manner in which His people live until then. It's not a specific territory, marked by boundaries, guarded by armed forces. It encompasses the area of the human hearts wherein his rule is accepted and lived. It's among us, even as we conduct our lives in the world that resists such rule, preferring its own. It is a submission which anticipates the coming Son to authenticate, vindicate, and redeem our kingdom actions.

We need not look for signs, verify rumors, listen to reports, or become anxious about missing the kingdom; its presence is among us. The question is whether we will live in and under it today and repent of resisting it yesterday. Its duties and responsibilities are more than sufficient in a world that rejects its Christ.