Luke 17:20–37

Verse 20. When the kingdom of God should come? or when is it to come? when will the Messias come? The Pharisees might say this in a mocking and an insulting manner, to signify that he could not be their true Messias.—The kingdom of God cometh not with observation; that it, so as to be observed; not with great marks of temporal power, as you imagine. Witham.—The Pharisees expected a Messias powerful according to this world, a conqueror, a monarch, a revenger of the injuries of Israel; one who would restore them to liberty, and bless them with temporal goods and prosperity. In Jesus, they saw nothing, which corresponded to these magnificent hopes; and therefore asked him, by way of insult and reproach, when this kingdom of God would come, which he so often talked of and announced to his disciples. He answers them, that the manifestation of the Messias, and the establishment of his kingdom, shall not be effected in a conspicuous, splendid manner. It shall be brought about insensibly, and the accomplishment of the designs of the omnipotence of our Lord shall appear a casualty, and the effect of secondary causes. You shall not see the Messias coming at the head of armies, to spread terror and desolation. His arrival shall not be announced by ambassadors, and so forth every thing in the establishment of my kingdom shall be the reverse of temporal power. Calmet.

Verse 21. Is within you. It is with you; your Messias is already come.—He standeth in the midst of you, as John the Baptist told you. John 1:26. Witham.

Verse 22. To see one day, and so forth Hereafter, when I shall be no longer visibly among you, you shall heartily wish for one day’s conversation with me. Witham.—This verse is addressed to the disciples. He insinuates that he will take from them this corporeal presence, and they shall be exposed to persecution and affliction: then they shall wish to see one day of the Son of man, and shall not be able to obtain it. They shall wish ardently to see him, to entertain themselves with him, and consult him, but shall not have that happiness. This was meant to excite the disciples to profit more of his presence whilst they enjoyed it. Calmet.

Verse 24. For as the lightning, and so forth See Matthew 24:27. Witham.—Christ here alludes to the glory with which he shall appear when he shall come to judge the world, surrounded by his angels, and so forth when he will appear like lightning, that shall penetrate the inmost recesses of our souls, and shall suffer no crime, not even the slightest thought of our souls, to pass unnoticed. This is the time when he will manifest his glory, and not on his entry into Jerusalem, as the disciples imagined: for he informs them, that he will then have to suffer a cruel death. Ven. Bede.

Verse 27. After having compared his second coming to lightning, in order to shew how sudden it will be, he next compares it to the days of Noe and Lot, to shew that it will come when men least expect it; when, entirely forgetting his coming, they are solely occupied in the affairs of this world, in buying and selling, and so forth He only mentions those faults which appear trivial, or rather none at all, (passing over the crimes of murder, theft, and so forth) purposely to shew, that if God thus punishes merely the immoderate use of what is lawful, how will his vengeance fall upon what is in itself unlawful. Ven. Bede.

Verse 31. When you see war lighted up in Judea, lose no time, but betake yourselves to flight for safety. Indeed the Christians, forewarned by these predictions, and other prophecies of the apostles, according to Lactantius, (lib. iv. chapter 21.) fled from the danger beyond the Jordan, into the states of Herod, to Pella and the neighbouring villages. See Eusebius. Eccles. Hist. lib. iii. chapter 5.

Verse 32. As Lot only escaped destruction by leaving all things, and flying immediately to the mountain, whereas his wife, by shewing an affection for the things she had left, and looking back, perished; so those who, in the time of tribulation, forgetting the reward that awaits them in heaven, look back to the pleasures of this world, which the wicked enjoy, are sure to perish. Saint Ambrose.—Τα οπισω επιλανθανεσθαι, τοις δε εμπροσθεν επεκτεινεσθαι. Philip. 3:13.

Verse 34. By these different examples, Christ wishes to insinuate that good and bad men will be found in every state of life. By those in bed, are understood the rich, by those in the mill, are understood the poor; whilst those in the field designate the pastors of his flock, who are labouring in the vineyard of the Lord. S. Cyril and Saint Ambrose

Verse 37. To the question of his disciples in the preceding verse, our blessed Saviour only returns this enigmatical answer, which seems to mean, that where-ever there are guilty Jews, there shall their enemies pursue them and find them out, not only in Jerusalem, but in all the cities of Judea, Galilee, and so forth every where the vengeance of the Lord shall follow them, and overtake them. For the interpretation of other parts of this chapter, see S. Matt. chapter 24. Calmet.—If we observe some discrepancies between the precise words of our Lord, as given by S. Matt. and Saint Luke, as in S. Matt. chapter 24 verse 40, and in Luke 17:34, and alibi passim, we can reconcile those apparent variations, by supposing that our Lord, in the course of his conversation, made use of both expressions. A.