Thursday 11 November 2010

Background

The faith of the first Christians was what we today call'eschatological'. This means that they believed they were living inthe midst of the last event of history, the final act in God'sdrama of redemption. They expected that these days would come to anend in the very near future when Christ would return inglory.

To appreciate this is to begin to understand today's reading, andwhy the Gospel-writer Luke wrote this way.

But in another sense, says Jesus, the kingdom of God has alreadycome God's kingly power has been revealed in the person of Jesushimself and perhaps verse 21 means 'the kingdom of God is withinyou'. The Pharisees (the teachers of the Jewish Law) could not seethis. As they had literally known Jesus in the flesh, how couldthey know anything about the kingdom in the future?

The disciples, on the other hand, had the discernment to see both'comings'. They had accepted, and indeed been sent themselves topreach the present reality of the kingdom (Luke9:2, 10:9), so Jesus can now go on to tell themsomething about "the days of the Son of Man" (verse 22). This isthe future event when he will return and the kingdom will come inits fullness.

To Ponder

In your opinion, how was God's kingly powerrevealed in Jesus?

What does it mean to you for Christ to return inglory?