Luke 17:20-25
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
The Coming of the Kingdom of God. 20 [a]Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he said in reply, “The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed,(A) 21 [b]and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’(B) For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.”
The Day of the Son of Man. 22 Then he said to his disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ [or] ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.(C) 24 For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be [in his day].(D) 25 But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.(E)
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- 17:20–37 To the question of the Pharisees about the time of the coming of God’s kingdom, Jesus replies that the kingdom is among you (Lk 17:20–21). The emphasis has thus been shifted from an imminent observable coming of the kingdom to something that is already present in Jesus’ preaching and healing ministry. Luke has also appended further traditional sayings of Jesus about the unpredictable suddenness of the day of the Son of Man, and assures his readers that in spite of the delay of that day (Lk 12:45), it will bring judgment unexpectedly on those who do not continue to be vigilant.
- 17:21 Among you: the Greek preposition translated as among can also be translated as “within.” In the light of other statements in Luke’s gospel about the presence of the kingdom (see Lk 10:9, 11; 11:20) “among” is to be preferred.
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