ACC ~ Luke 17 v20 - 37

OVERVIEW:

The question of the Pharisees about the “when” of the kingdom of God shows how much they and the crowds did not understand that the kingdom had come already now in the person of Jesus and in his ministry of release to the captives. It comes through the spread of the gospel and therefore is received within us by faith (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). It comes through supernatural knowledge by the grace of God through faith alone (ISAAC OF NINEVEH).When the kingdom of God is within you, there is righteousness, peace and joy, and there is no room for the kingdom of Satan (JOHN CASSIAN). If we are servants of the Lord, then we will know that we are partaking of his kingdom (AMBROSE). Jesus speaks about the coming of the Son of man in order to prepare his disciples for the persecution they will experience (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). If one knows what the signs are for the Lord’s coming in judgment, then one will know when the end is about to come (AMBROSE). The order of the kingdom is this: first the Son of man must suffer and enter his glory, and then the end will come (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

The signs that will accompany the day of the Son of man will be not only clear but sudden, for there are great similarities between the days of Noah and Lot and the days of the Son of man in the suddenness of God’s judgment (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). For the flood that came upon Noah and his family was like baptism, bringing salvation to those in the ark but death to those outside. Those on the rooftops are not to come down from the roof, that is, from a life that is spiritual into one that is carnal (AUGUSTINE). They may be the rich who desire to be seen by all but will be tempted to return to their possessions in the house when the end finally comes (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Those in the field are to stay where they are, for they are sowing the Word of God (AMBROSE). They are to persevere in the work of the kingdom and not take their hands off the plow (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Remember Lot’s wife, and do not look back. She looked back at Sodom, where all her possessions perished, and she lost her life (AMBROSE). Lot represents the soul that resists the temptation to look back, whereas his wife represents the flesh that returns to her possessions (ORIGEN). To resist the temptation to look back is what it means to lose your life in order to save it (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

Christ will come at night because it will be the time of darkness because of the Antichrist (AMBROSE). The man taken from the bed may be a rich man if he led a charitable life by making friends for himself with his wealth. Both women come from poverty, but only one has lived a virtuous and righteous life (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). One woman represents believers; another unbelievers (AMBROSE).

The disciples will recognize the coming of the kingdom because it will be abundantly clear to them, as clear as it is when one is looking for a dead body marked by the vultures hovering over it. This will find fulfillment when Jesus’ body is nailed to the cross and he is surrounded by his faithful followers like the women who gather at his tomb. The gathering place of the kingdom is the body of Christ, and it will remain so in the age of the church—the body of Christ where his saints gather around the sacrament of his body (AMBROSE).

17:20-21 | The Kingdom Is Present Now

THE KINGDOM OF GOD COMES BY FAITH

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: These miserable men ask in mockery, “When will the kingdom of God come?” This is like saying, “Before this kingdom of which you speak comes, cross and death will seize you.” What does Christ reply? He again displays his longsuffering and incomparable love to humanity. Reviled, he does not revile again. Suffering, he does not threaten. [1] He does not harshly scold them, but because of their wickedness, he does not stoop to give them an answer to their question. He says only what is for the benefit of all people: that the kingdom of God does not come by watching. “Behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” He says, “Do not ask about the times in which the season of the kingdom of heaven will again arise and come. Rather, be eager that you may be found worthy of it. It is within you. That is, it depends on your own wills and is in your own power, whether or not you receive it. Everyone that has attained to justification by means of faith in Christ and decorated by every virtue is counted worthyq of the kingdom of heaven.” COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 117. [2]

[1] 1 Pet 2:23.

[2] CGSL 467-68**.

FAITH GIVES SUPERNATURAL KNOWLEDGE

ISAAC OF NINEVEH: “The Kingdom of the Heavens is within you,” and you should not hope to find it in a place, nor does it come in observation, according to the word of Christ. ASCETICAL HOMILIES 53. [1]

[1] AHSIS 264.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE AND JOY

JOHN CASSIAN: If the devil has been driven out and sin no longer reigns, then the kingdom of God is established in us. As it is written in the Gospel, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation, nor will they say, ‘Lo here,’ or ‘Lo, there.’ Truly I say to you that the kingdom of God is within you.” The only thing that can be “within us” is knowledge or ignorance of the truth and the affection for righteousness or sin by which we prepare our hearts to be a kingdom of Christ or the devil. St. Paul described the nature of this kingdom in this way: “For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” [1] If the kingdom of God is within us and is righteousness, peace and joy, then someone that remains in these is surely within the kingdom of God. Someone that remains in unrighteousness, conflict and the melancholy that kills the life of the spirit is already a citizen of the devil’s kingdom, of hell and of death. These are the signs whether it is God’s kingdom or the devil’s. CONFERENCE 1.13. [2]

[1] Rom 14:17.

[2] LCC 12:202-3**.

TO PARTAKE OF THE KINGDOM

AMBROSE: Asked by the disciples when the kingdom of God would come, [1] the Lord said, “The kingdom of God is within you,” through the truth of grace and not through the slavery of guilt. Let those that would be free be servants in the Lord. [2] As we share in service, we also share in the kingdom. He said, “The kingdom of God is within you.” He would not say when it would come. He said there would be a day of judgment, so that he instilled in all terror of the judgment to come, [3] and he did not add the guarantee of its postponement. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 8.33. [4]

[1] Acts 1:6.

[2] See 1 Cor 7:22.

[3] See Mt 24:30-31.

[4] EHG 343-44**.

17:22-25 | The Son of Man Must Suffer

JESUS PREPARES HIS DISCIPLES FOR PERSECUTION

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: He now speaks to the holy disciples as his true companions. He says, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and will not see it.” … He would have them prepared for all that can cause people grief. He wants them ready to endure patiently so that approved they may enter the kingdom of God. He warns them that before his coming from heaven at the consummation of the world, tribulation and persecution will precede him. They will wish to see one of the days of the Son of man, such as those when they were still going around with Christ and speaking with him. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 117. [1]

[1] CGSL 468**.

ONE WHO KNOWS THE SIGNS KNOWS THE END

AMBROSE: He who knows the signs of the coming judgment also knows the end. Why would he not know? He is like flashing lightning, since as the Light, the Son of God [1] illumines the inner part of the heavenly mystery. “In that hour,” it says. He also knows the hour, but he knows it for himself, he does not know it for me. He then suitably asserts that the cause of the flood, fire and of the judgment proceeded from our sins, because God did not create evil, but our actions devised it for themselves. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 8.35-36. [2]

[1] :1–24:53 PRELIMINARY REMARKS | ON THE GOSPEL

[2] EHG 344-45**.

JESUS WILL COME IN GLORY LIKE LIGHTNING

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: At the end time of the world, he will not descend from heaven obscurely or secretly, but with godlike glory and as dwelling in the light which no one can approach. [1] He declared that his coming will be like the lightning. He was born indeed in the flesh of a woman, to fulfill the dispensation for our sakes. For this reason, he emptied himself, made himself poor, and no longer showed himself in the glory of the Godhead. [2] The season and the necessity of the dispensation summoned him to this humiliation. After his resurrection from the dead, ascension into heaven, and enthronement with God the Father, he will descend again. He will not descend with his glory withdrawn or in the lowliness of human nature. In the majesty of the Father with the companies of the angels guarding him, he will stand before him as God and Lord of all. He will come as the lightning, and not secretly. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 117. [3]

[1] 1 Tim 6:16.

[2] Phil 2:7.

[3] CGSL 468-69**.

THE KINGDOM MUST COME THROUGH SUFFERING BEFORE IT COMES IN GLORY

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: That they might know that he was about first to undergo his saving passion, abolish death by the death of his flesh, put away the sin of the world, destroy the ruler of this world, ascend to the Father and in due time appear to judge the world in righteousness, he says that he must first suffer many things. [1] COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 117. [2]

[1] Ps 96:13 (95:13 LXX).

[2] CGSL 469**.

17:26-33 | The Examples of Noah and Lot

JUDGMENT WILL COME SUDDENLY

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: To show that he will appear unexpectedly and with no one knowing it, the Lord says that the end of the world will come and be as it was in the days of Noah and Lot. He says, “They were eating and drinking, and were taking wives and being made the wives of men. They were selling and buying and building,” but the coming of the waters destroyed the one, while the others were the prey and food of fire and brimstone. What does this signify? It signifies that he requires us to be always watchful and ready to make our defense before the tribunal of God. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 117. [1]

[1] CGSL 469**.

THE FLOOD WAS BAPTISM FOR BELIEVERS, DEATH FOR UNBELIEVERS

AUGUSTINE: In the days of Noah this preaching to them was futile because they did not believe when the patience of God waited for them for many years in which the ark was built. Its building was in a sense a kind of preaching. In the same way today, their imitators do not believe. They are shut up in the darkness of ignorance. They are like in a prison, looking in vain on the church being built throughout the whole world. Judgment threatens them as did the flood in which all the unbelievers perished. The Lord says, “As in the days of Noah, so will it be also in the days of the Son of man. They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” Since this signified a future event, the flood also signified baptism for believers and death for unbelievers. There is also a symbol in what was spoken and not done, where it is written about the stone that signifies Christ. Two effects were foretold. It is a stumbling block for unbelievers and a building for believers. LETTER 164. [1]

[1] FC 20:393**.

LEAVING A SPIRITUAL LIFE FOR A CARNAL ONE

AUGUSTINE: Regarding the saying, “He that is on the housetop, let him not come down to take anything out of his house, and he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat,” it can be suitably taken in a spiritual sense. In all our trials, each one must take care not to be overcome or to come down from a spiritual height to a carnal life. He who had progressed should not look back by turning toward the past or failing to reach out to the future. This is true of every trial. How much greater care must be prescribed in a trial such as that foretold for the city as “Such as has not been from the beginning, neither will be”? How much more this is true for that final tribulation which is to come on the world, that is, the church spread through the whole world? LETTER 199.32. [1]

[1] FC 30:381-82**.

THE RICH ARE THOSE ON THE ROOFTOPS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The Savior … was speaking of the last day, that is, the end of this world. … Strengthening them to recall the last day and the end time, he commands them to disregard all earthly and temporary matters and look only to one end, the duty of everyone saving his soul. He says, “He that is on the housetop, do not let him go down to the house to carry away his goods.” In these words, he apparently means the one who is at ease, living in wealth and worldly glory. Those that stand on the housetops are always conspicuous in the eyes of those who are around the house. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 118. [1]

[1] CGSL 470**.

THOSE WORKING IN THE FIELD ARE SOWING THE WORD OF GOD

AMBROSE: “He that will be on the housetop, do not let him go down. He that will be in the field, do not let him turn back.” How may I understand what is the field unless Jesus himself teaches me? He says, “No one putting his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.” [1] The lazy person sits in the farmhouse, but the industrious person plants in the field. The weak are at the fireplace, but the strong are at the plough. The smell of a field is good, because the smell of Jacob is the smell of a full field. [2] A field is full of flowers. It is full of different fruits. Plough your field if you want to be sent to the kingdom of God. Let your field flower, fruitful with good rewards. Let there be a fruitful vine on the sides of your house and young olive plants around your table. [3] Already aware of its fertility, let your soul, sown with the Word of God and tilled by spiritual farming, say to Christ, “Come, my brother, let us go out into the field.” [4] Let him reply, “I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my vintage of myrrh.” [5] What is better than the vintage of faith, by which the fruit of the resurrection is stored and the spring of eternal rejoicing is watered? EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 8.43. [6]

[1] Lk 9:62.

[2] Gen 27:27.

[3] Ps 127:3 LXX.

[4] Song 7:11.

[5] Song 5:1.

[6] EHG 347*.

PERSEVERE IN THE FAITH

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: He says, “Even if anyone is in the field, in the same way, do not let him turn back.” That means if anyone is found devoted to work and occupied in labor, earnestly desiring spiritual fruitfulness and gathering the wages of virtuous toil, let him hold firmly to this diligence. Let him not turn back. As Christ himself has again said somewhere, “No one that puts his hand to the plough and turns back is fit also for the kingdom of heaven.” [1] It is our duty to maintain our religious exertions without wavering and to persevere in them with undaunted wills or else we may suffer the kind of fate that befell the woman at Sodom. We take her as an example because he says, “Remember Lot’s wife. For when she was rescued from Sodom, but would afterward have returned, she became a pillar of salt.” That means she became foolish and stonelike. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 118. [2]

[1] Lk 9:62.

[2] CGSL 471.

LOT’S WIFE LOOKED BACK AT HER POSSESSIONS

AMBROSE: For this reason, the Lord says, “Remember Lot’s wife,” who because she looked back, lost the function of her own nature. [1] Satan [2] and Sodom are behind. Flee excess and shun extravagance. Know that not everyone can flee to the mountain. Remember that the one who did not return to his old pursuits, as if to Sodom, [3] escaped because he came to the mountain. [4] She, who was weaker since she looked back, could not come to the mountain. She remained, although her husband’s help supported her. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 8.45. [5]

[1] Gen 19:26; Wis 10:7.

[2] See 1 Tim 5:15.

[3] Gen 13:10.

[4] Gen 19:30.

[5] EHG 348**.

THE SOUL GOING TOWARD SALVATION MUST NOT LOOK BACKWARD

ORIGEN: “The law is spiritual” [1] and the things that happened to the ancients “happened figuratively.” [2] Let us see if perhaps Lot, who did not look back, is the rational understanding and the courageous soul. His wife here represents the flesh. The flesh always looks to vices. When the soul is going toward salvation, it looks backward and seeks pleasures. Concerning this, the Lord also said, “No man putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.” He adds, “Remember Lot’s wife.” The fact that “she became a little statue of salt” appears to be an open indication of her foolishness. Salt represents the wisdom that she lacked. HOMILIES ON GENESIS 5.2. [3]

[1] Rom 7:14.

[2] 1 Cor 10:11 Vulgate.

[3] FC 71:114**.

TO LOSE YOUR LIFE YOU SAVE IT

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Whoever loses his life shall certainty save it. This is what the blessed martyrs did, enduring conflicts even to loss of blood and life and placing on their heads as their crown their true love for Christ. Those who, from weakness of resolution and mind, denied the faith and fled from the present death of the body, became their own murderers. They will go down to hell to suffer the penalties of their wicked cowardice. The judge will descend from heaven. He will call those who with all their heart have loved him and earnestly practiced a completely virtuous life, saying, “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundations of the world.” [1] He will pass a severe and overwhelming sentence on those who have led careless and unrestrained lives or have not maintained the glory of faith in him, saying to them, “Depart, you cursed, into everlasting fire.” COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 118. [2]

[1] Mt 25:34.

[2] CGSL 471**.

17:34-35 | Some Taken, Some Left Behind

CHRIST COMES AT NIGHT

AMBROSE: He fittingly said, “night,” because the Antichrist is the hour of darkness. The Antichrist spreads darkness in the hearts of people, when he says he is the Christ. … Christ, like flashing lightning, [1] scatters the spheres of his light throughout the world. He does not wander through the desert. He is not enclosed in some other places, because the Lord says, “I fill heaven and earth.” [2] He shines with the light of his splendor, so that we may see his glory in that night of the resurrection. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 8.46. [3]

[1] Mt 24:27.

[2] Jer 23:24.

[3] EHG 348-49**.

A CHARITABLE LIFE

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: By the two who are in one bed, he seems to hint at those who live in rest and plenty. They are equal to one another, as far as being possessed of worldly affluence. The bed is the symbol of rest. He says, “One of them will be taken, and one will be left.” How is one taken? Not all those who are possessed of wealth and ease in this world are wicked and merciless. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 118. [1]

[1] CGSL 472**.

ONLY ONE IS RIGHTEOUS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: He says, “Two women will be grinding at a mill. The one will be taken, and the other left.” By these he again seems to mean those who live in poverty and labor. Even in these, he says that there is a certain vast difference. Some have carried the burden of poverty courageously, honoring a serious and virtuous way of life. Others have been of a different character. They are planners for every wicked practice and all shamefulness. There will be even in their case a full and exact investigation of their manners. The good will be taken, and he that is not good will be left. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 118. [1]

[1] CGSL 472**.

BELIEVERS AND UNBELIEVERS

AMBROSE: Two people in this world, which is very often compared with a field, [1] are believers and unbelievers. One will receive the reward of their merits; therefore the faithful one is taken, but the faithless is left. [2] EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 8.52. [3]

[1] See Mt 13:38.

[2] Mt 24:40.

[3] EHG 352**.

17:37 | The Signs Will Be Clear

THE EAGLES ARE THE WOMEN WHO GATHER AROUND CHRIST’S BODY AT THE TOMB

AMBROSE: “Answering, they said, ‘Where, Lord?’” The disciples asked this. The Lord predicted where they must flee, when they must stay, and of what they should be wary. He summarized everything in a general definition, saying, “Wherever the body will be, the eagles will be gathered together there.” Let us first speculate what the eagles are, so we may determine what the body is. The souls of the righteous are compared with eagles, because they seek the heights, [1] leave the depths behind, and reportedly reach a great age. David also says to his soul, “Your youth will be renewed like that of an eagle.” [2] If we understood the eagles, we cannot doubt concerning the body, particularly if we remember that Joseph received the body of Christ from Pilate. [3] Does it not seem to you that the eagles around the body are Mary of Cleopas, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of the Lord, [4] and the assembly of the apostles around the Lord’s tomb? EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 8.54-55. [5]

[1] Obad 1:4.

[2] Ps 102:5 LXX.

[3] Jn 19:38.

[4] Jn 19:25.

[5] EHG 353**.

THE SAINTS GATHER AROUND THE SACRAMENT

AMBROSE: He says concerning this body, “My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.” [1] Around this body, eagles fly on spiritual wings. Around the body, eagles believe that Jesus has come in the flesh, because every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. [2] Where faith is, there is the sacrament and the dwelling place of holiness. The body is also the church, in which we are renewed in the spirit [3] through the grace of baptism, and the frailties of old age are restored for ages of new life. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 8.56. [4]

[1] Jn 6:55.

[2] 1 Jn 4:2.

[3] See Eph 4:23.

[4] EHG 353-54**.