Life of Christ 135
In just a matter of
days, Jesus will come to the crisis point of Calvary. At the moment, however,
He is avoiding the more settled regions of Israel, and He is traveling through
the remote region along the border between Samaria and Galilee.
On His travels He is
accosted by a group of Pharisees (Luke 17.20-37). These men were well
acquainted with Jesus' claim on the messiahship of Israel, and of His offer of
Himself to Israel as her rightful King. They also well knew that by now they
had won the struggle for the soul of Israel, and that she had practically
turned her back on her Christ. Knowing this, they taunt Him. 'He was demanded
of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come' (Luke 17.20).
His response is
two-fold, and justifiably so, for the kingdom of God is two-fold. The phrase
'kingdom of God' is simply but well defined as the rule of God, and there are
two different ways this rule is emphasized by Christ. First, as the rule of God
in your own heart, and second, as His own direct governmental rule over the
entirety of humanity on Earth.
The first one is not
something that can be seen to happen. It takes place inside of us, in our
heart, and it is not observable by people. 'And when he was demanded of the
Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The
kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here!
or, Lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you' (Luke 17.20-21).
Jesus will spend the
rest of today's story explaining to His Apostles how to recognize the imminent
arrival of the second, but it is the first that the Pharisees, and Israel,
needed so desperately. Their opposition to Christ was not logical. We have seen
this illustrated already (see Life of Christ 54 and 55), and most recently in the
Sanhedrin's appalling reaction to the resurrection of Lazarus. No, their
opposition to Christ was emotional. It was pure cussedness, to use an
old-fashioned term. It was pure hardness of heart. They needed to yield
themselves to the claims of Christ, and to the rule of God, and that yielding
must needs start in the heart.
If I have said it once
in preaching I have said it a thousand times: God is after your heart. Somebody
sits on the throne of every man's heart. Sometimes it is an idol. Most of the
time it is himself. What he must needs do is step down from that throne, and
yield to Christ's claim of occupancy.
Yes, the kingdom of God
is coming to this sin sick world no matther how much they scoff and sneer at
the thought. But if that Second Coming of Christ is to be met with joy by you,
and not by grief, then the kingdom of God must come first within you. You must
yield to His rule.
The Pharisees would not.
Israel did not. Have you?
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