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From: Luke 17:20-25

The Coming of the Kingdom of God

[20] Being asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God was coming, He
(Jesus) answered them, “The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be
observed; [21] nor will they say, ‘Lo, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the King-
dom of God is in the midst of you.”

The Day of the Son of Man

[22] And He said to His 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. [23] And they will
say to you, ‘Lo, there!’ or ‘Lo, here!’ Do not go, do not follow them. [24] 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. [25] But first He must suffer many things and be rejected
by this generation.”

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Commentary:

20-21. Like many Jews of their time, the Pharisees imagined the establishment
of the Kingdom of God in terms of external, political authority; whereas Jesus tea-
ches that it is something eminently spiritual, supernatural, which has been happe-
ning since Jesus’ coming, although its climax will be after His Second Coming or
Parousia at the end of the world; its effect is to be seen, above all, in men’s
hearts, although it is also something visible and external, just as the Church has
a visible dimension.

The presence of the Kingdom of God in each soul is something one perceives
through the affections and inspirations communicated by the Holy Spirit. St.
Therese of Lisieux says this about her own experience: “The Doctor of doctors
teaches us without the sound of words. I have never heard Him speak, and yet
I know He is within my soul. Every moment He is guiding and inspiring me, and,
just at the moment I need them, ‘lights’ till then unseen are granted me. Most of-
ten it is not at prayer that they come but while I go about my daily duties” (”The
Story of a Soul”, Chapter 8).

22. After the Apostles receive the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost they will
devote their whole lives to preaching boldly the message of Jesus Christ, and
winning all people over to the Lord. This will lead them to experience many
severe contradictions; they will suffer so much that they will yearn to see even
“one of the days of the Son of Man”, that is, one of the days of the victory of Je-
sus Christ. But this day will not arrive until the Lord’s Second Coming.

23-36. These words of our Lord are a prophecy about the last coming of the Son
of Man. We should remember that prophecy often involves events on different le-
vels, many symbols, a terminology of its own; the “chiaroscuro” which they cre-
ate gives us insight into future events, but the concrete details only become clear
when the events actually occur. Our Lord’s last coming will be something sudden
and unexpected; it will catch many people unprepared. Jesus illustrates this by
giving examples from sacred history: as in the time of Noah (cf. Genesis 6:9-19:
7) and that of Lot (cf. Genesis 18:16-19:27) divine judgment will be visited on
men without warning.

However, it is useful to recall here that everyone will find himself before the divine
Judge immediately when he dies, at the Particular Judgment. Thus Jesus’ tea-
ching has also a present urgency about it: here and now a disciple should scru-
tinize his own conduct, for the Lord can call him when he least expects.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.