The Coming of the Kingdom

20 And having been asked by the Pharisees, When is the kingdom of God coming? he answered them and said, The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor shall they say, Lo here, or, Lo there; for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. 22 And he said to the disciples, Days are coming, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and shall not see [it]. 23 And they will say to you, Lo here, or Lo there; go not, nor follow [them]. 24 For as the lightning shines which lightens from [one end] under heaven to [the other end] under heaven, thus shall the Son of man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected of this generation. 26 And as it took place in the days of Noe, thus also shall it be in the days of the Son of man: 27 they ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all [of them]; 28 and in like manner as took place in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from heaven, and destroyed all [of them]: 30 after this [manner] shall it be in the day that the Son of man is revealed. 31 In that day, he who shall be on the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not go down to take it away; and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. 32 Remember the wife of Lot. 33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose it shall preserve it. 34 I say to you, In that night there shall be two [men] upon one bed; one shall be seized and the other shall be let go. 35 Two [women] shall be grinding together; the one shall be seized and the other shall be let go. 36 [Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be seized and the other let go.] 37 And answering they say to him, Where, Lord? And he said to them, Where the body [is], there the eagles will be gathered together.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Luke 17:20-37

Commentary on Luke 17:20-37

(Read Luke 17:20-37)

The kingdom of God was among the Jews, or rather within some of them. It was a spiritual kingdom, set up in the heart by the power of Divine grace. Observe how it had been with sinners formerly, and in what state the judgments of God, which they had been warned of, found them. Here is shown what a dreadful surprise this destruction will be to the secure and sensual. Thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. When Christ came to destroy the Jewish nation by the Roman armies, that nation was found in such a state of false security as is here spoken of. In like manner, when Jesus Christ shall come to judge the world, sinners will be found altogether regardless; for in like manner the sinners of every age go on securely in their evil ways, and remember not their latter end. But wherever the wicked are, who are marked for eternal ruin, they shall be found by the judgments of God.