12. . V . Alienation of dignity

17:20-21

Pharisees

"Kingdom of God within you"

 

17: 20-21 On being questioned by the Pharisees about when the kingdom of God comes he answered them and said  “The kingdom of God

does not come with obvious signs.  Nor will they say "Look it is here or there."  For the kingdom of God lies within you.”

 


13. . V . Predictability

17:22-37

Disciples

"2 men on a couch, one taken"

 

17: 22-37 He said to his disciples. "The days will come when you will long to see the days of the Son of man and you will not see them.  And they will say to you.  "Look there.  Look here."  But do not go away nor follow.  For as the lightning flashes in one part of the sky and lights up to the other part of it, so will it be in the day of the Son of man.  But first it behoves him to suffer many things and to be rejected by this generation.  And, as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of man.  For they were eating drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day when Noah went into the ark.  Then came the flood and destroyed all.  Likewise as it was in the days of Lot.  They were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building.  But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it

rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed all.  So it will be in the same way on the day when the Son of man is revealed.  In that day whoever is on the roof and has his goods in the house, let him not come down to take them.  Likewise for the one in a field.  Let him not turn back to the things left behind.  Remember Lot's wife.  Whoever seeks to preserve his life, will lose it.  Whoever will lose it will preserve it.  I tell you this very night there will be two men on the one couch.  The one will be taken and the other will be left.  There will be two women grinding together.  The one will be taken and the other will be left.  And so answering him (Jesus) they (the disciples) say.  "When Lord?"  And he said to them.  "Where the body is, there also the eagles will be gathered together."

 

C/f Reality Search  the kingdom is a framework of mind.  At the same time to move into this realm people are required to forego the sense of security that comes with over-emphasis on Law or the sense of security that comes with an over-emphasis on Order (c/f idealism) .  This is because each group is challenged to co-exist with an almost conflicting society that forms the 'hybrid' of Christianity.   Once again Luke develops a point in one paragraph then logically pushes it further in the next one. Again one hears echoes of the siege of Jerusalem in 70AD.

 

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