The Gospel of Luke 17:20-37

Luke

17:20-37

The teachings of messiah, 9:51-19:44

5. The Great Reversal, 16:14-18:14

iv] A caution to those who wait

Synopsis

A question by the Pharisees concerning when the kingdom of God will come, prompts Jesus to not only answer their question, but to address his disciples on the issue of the coming day when the Son of Man will be revealed in all his glory. The coming day lies in the future, but when it comes, it will be immediate and catastrophic - "there will be no time to get prepared, one must be prepared", Ellis.

Teaching

The children of the kingdom must be prepared for the revealing of the Son of Man.

Issues

i] Context: See 16:14-31. The caution to those who wait, 17:20-37, is the fourth episode of six dealing with Jesus' teachings on The Great Reversal, 16:14-18:14, episodes which reveal, in the presence of the coming kingdom, the condemnation of the "righteous" (self-righteous) under the law, in contrast to the blessing of the humble (repentant) under grace. Having confirmed the reality of the Great Reversal, Jesus warns his disciples of the danger of trying to progress their holiness for blessing by obedience to the law, and then goes on to illustrate the one law that must be obeyed for the full realisation of the promised blessings of the covenant / salvation, namely, faith in Jesus. Now, the importance of persevering in faith is emphasised, given that, on the day of the revealing of the Son of Man, a believer will have no time to prepare.

ii] Background: The eschatology of Jesus

Ellis reminds us that the parousia was an issue of much debate in the early church and that this has likely influenced the retention of Jesus' teachings on the subject, and the selection of that teaching for the synoptic gospels. The errors facing the early Christians were that Jesus may not return, that he is about to return at any moment, that he has returned and they missed him.

In the synoptic gospels, the now of the kingdom is realised in the person and work of Jesus, and in the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The not yet of the kingdom is realised in the parousia, "coming, presence, arrival", of the Son of Man. In linear-time terms, this involves the suffering of the Son of Man followed by an interim of complacent disregard for the divine, culminating in the coming of the Son of Man.

There have been many divine parousias, comings / revealings, usually involving judgment, eg., The flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. The coming of the Son of Man will similarly be associated with a primeval catastrophe. The identification of this primeval judgment, this coming / revealing of the Son of Man, is a matter of some debate. Particularly in Matthew and Mark, Jesus seems to oscillate between the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world, such that the catastrophe befalling Jerusalem (AD 70) serving as a paradigm for the catastrophe awaiting human habitation. When referring to the end of the world, the parousia of the Son of Man involves a coming, not to earth, but to the Ancient of Days for the exercise of his reign - a cosmic apokalulyiV, "revealing" before heaven and earth in the age to come, cf., Dan.7:13, 22.

When in prophetic mode, Jesus tends to take the stance of the Old Testament prophets, directing his words to an immediate coming / revealing, which event serves as a paradigm for an ultimate coming / revealing. As if viewing a mountain in the foreground and another in the background, the following diagram seeks to illustrate the prophetic perspective where the immediate divine coming in judgment, here upon Jerusalem in AD 70 (the yellow hill), is framed by the final judgment, Jesus' coming at the end of the age (the red hill).

[prophetic perspective]

The following diagrams seeks to illustrate the kingdom of God in the history of Israel. The scriptures are held together by a constant unfolding of manifestations of the coming Kingdom of God and by a constantly repeated pattern of events that finally leads to the realization of that Kingdom.

In the New Testament the different modes of the Kingdom may be represented in time terms as a PRESENT inaugurated reality experienced in the Christian church, and as a future HEAVENLY reality which is yet to be realized. The present reality is a fading reality as the church moves toward the great falling away / the tribulation and the coming of "the new heaven and the new earth."

Jesus' ministry inaugurated the kingdom of God as a PRESENT reality, a now reality made real to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So, as a worshipping community, we await the final consummation of the kingdom, the not yet, where, in the presence of all his disciples throughout the ages, Jesus will be enthroned in the HEAVENLY kingdom, bringing to an end the world as we know it.

The final mouse-over diagram seeks to illustrate, that although we experience the present kingdom as an inaugurated reality, a now, with the heavenly kingdom a future reality, not yet, there is a sense where the heavenly kingdom is also, at the same time, realised, now. This simply relates to the fact that we are time-bound creatures; time for us is linear. Yet, God is not time-bound, and this because he created time, cf., Psalm 90:4. The cross and empty tomb proclaim Jesus' victory; he is now ascended to heaven and has come to the Ancient of Days with his elect, and is at this moment seated in glorious splendour upon his throne, with all the powers of this age bowed before him. The kingdom is now, not just inaugurated, but also realised, such that "God has raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus", Eph.6:2.

The thief on the cross, like all of us, awaits the day of resurrection, but it was that evening when he was with Jesus in paradise, 23:43.

iii] Structure: A caution to those who wait:

A question concerning the coming kingdom, v20-21:

"the kingdom of God is in your midst."

The coming / revealing of the Son of Man, v22-37:

Long days of waiting, v22-25;

"longing to see the days ...."

"as lightning flashes and lights up the sky so ....."

"first, he must suffer many things ...."

Long days of preparation; being ready, v26-33;

"the days of Noah ...."

"the days of Lot"

"so it will be on the day when the Son of Man ...."

"don't turn back. Remember Lot's wife."

"whoever loses their life will preserve it."

Immediate judgment, v34-37:

"one will be taken, the other left."

"there the vultures will gather."

iv] Interpretation:

The opening question posed by the Pharisees sets up the subject of this episode, namely, the coming kingdom. In the perspective of this set of sayings, the kingdom's coming is still in the future; it is not yet. There is a period of "eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage" between the suffering and rejection of Jesus, and the full realisation of the coming kingdom. During this interim period, disciples will epiqumew, "desire, long", to experience that coming day. Some will even claim that it has already happened, but the coming kingdom will involve the coming / revealing of the Son of Man, a moment of divine judgment that will be dramatic, sudden and visible to all.

When the Son of Man does come, it will happen unexpectedly. Normal life just rolling on as it did in the days of Noah and Lot, will be immediately and unexpectedly interrupted by a divine act of judgment. A person sunning themselves on the flat roof of their home, won't have time to come down and get something out of the house. Someone working in the fields won't have time to rush back home. If a person hesitates, they will be caught out, just like Lot's wife. Only those prepared for the day will get to keep their life. In that day, it will be one taken and one left behind for the vultures.

As Bock puts it, the concern of this episode is "to warn the disciples of the nature of the time and to encourage them to endure the interval." Enduring this interval is specified in a classic cross-bearing discipleship saying of Jesus - it is those who lose their life who keep it, v33. As the notes on v33 indicate, the action involved in the verb apollumi, "to lose", is variously interpreted, but it is probably all about identification with Christ, the one who gave up his life on our behalf. So, the action of enduring the interval is most likely that of persevering in faith.

As for the prophetic catastrophe in mind, in the immediate context it is likely that Jesus is referring to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 (a divine coming in judgment), but for Jesus, this event serves as a paradigm of his coming at the end of the age as the judge of the universe. See "Background" above.

v] Synoptics:

See 3:1-20. The opening question by the Pharisees is unique to Luke, v20-21, although there are versions of it in the gospel of Thomas.

Luke then notes that the rest of the eschatological / prophetic sayings are intended for Jesus' disciples. The attached saying, v22, is unique to Luke, possibly even a Lukan editorial comment / topic-heading for this unit of eschatological sayings - "one" = "first"; "the first of the days of the Son of Man when he comes to the Ancient of Day to reign" = "the coming / revealing of the Son of Man."

The next saying touches on delay, v23-24, and is paralleled in Matthew 24:23, 26-27, and for v23, Mark 13:21, Q source, although as with all the sayings in this episode, it would, by now, be commonly shared within the oral tradition of the early church. Verse 25 presents as a reworking of the suffering Son of Man saying, 9:22, and serves to bracket the delay": suffering - delay - coming.

The next saying on the days of Noah, v26-27, is paralleled in Matthew 24:37-38. Luke goes on to parallel the days of Noah with the days of Lot. Although not recorded by Matthew, it was not uncommon to link the situations faced by Noah and Lot, so it is likely original; usually classified as a Q source. The two sayings are rounded up in v30 in similar fashion to Matthew 24:39b, "So shall the coming of the Son of Man be." Luke's next saying, don't look back, v31, is similar, but not parallel, to Mark 13:15-16; usually identified as L source. It attaches to the saying on the days of Lot by allusion, reinforced by Luke's editorial note, "Remember Lot's wife!", v32.

The saying on losing one's life, v33, is paralleled in Matthew 10:39, Mk.8:35, and repeated by Luke in 9:24. For more detail, see Marshall, p666.

The saying on one taken, one left, v34-35, is paralleled in Matthew 24:40-41, and the concluding saying / proverb, v36, is paralleled in Matthew 24:28.

Text - 17:20

A caution to those who wait, v20-37: i] A question concerning the coming kingdom is used by Luke to introduce the topic of the sayings covered in this episode, v20-21. For a religious Jew, the restoration of the nation of Israel and of God's reign over his people, primarily involved the appearance of a Davidic deliverer, the messiah, who as a warrior king, will set about to destroy Israel's enemies and restore the kingdom. They believed that apocalyptic signs would herald this coming day. Jesus makes the point that such parathrhsiV, "observable apocalyptic signs", are not the way a person can discern the coming kingdom. In fact, their understanding of the kingdom in nationalistic terms will soon be turned to dust by the armies of Rome. For the nation Israel, and its religious institutions, it's not a coming kingdom of peace, but a day of judgment, a coming of the Lord to those who preach "peace, peace, when there is no peace", Jer.6:14, 8:11.

How the kingdom is discerned is explained in v21, but due to the unclear nature of the preposition entoV, it remains a matter of some debate; see entoV below for suggested options. If Jesus is speaking of the kingdom realised / now, then it is "in the midst of you" in the person and work of Jesus. If he is speaking in the terms of its inauguration / not yet, then it will, in the future, be revealed "within" human society as "an unheralded and universal manifestation", Caird. Of course, both are true.

de "-" - but/and. Transitional, indicating a step in the narrative.

eperwthqeiV (eperwtaw) aor. pas. part. "once on being asked" - he was being asked. The participle is adverbial, probably temporal, and a touch causal; "On being asked by the Pharisees", Moffatt.

uJpo + gen. "by" - by [the pharisees]. Expressing agency.

povte "when" - when [comes the kingdom of god]. Interrogative particle, temporal. For "kingdom of God" see tou qeou, 4:43.

autoiV dat. pro. "-" - [he replied] to them [and said]. Dative of indirect object. "Replied, answered, ..." is somewhat redundant, but with "said" serves to introduce direct speech; Semitic in form.

meta + gen. "[that can be observed]" - [the kingdom of god is not coming] with [observation]. The preposition here is adverbial, modal, expressing manner, or even instrumental, "by observation." It is unclear what the phrase meta parathrhsewV actually means.

•iGrundmann suggests "the eschatological night of Passover", a rabbinic notion.

•iLeaney suggests "legal observation", another rabbinic idea, namely that the people's law-obedience will usher in the kingdom.

•iMeyer suggests that the sense is that the kingdom will not come visibly, but mysteriously.

•iMost likely it "alludes to general apocalyptic signs, so prevalent in early Jewish eschatological speculation", Bock.

It won't come "in such a way that its rise can be observed", Thompson. "Watch as you may, you will not see it come", Rieu.

v21

gar "because" - [nor will they say, behold, here it is, or there it is] because [behold]. Introducing a causal clause explaining why people don't say "here it is, or there it is."

entoV + gen. "[is] in [your] midst" - [the kingdom of god is] inside, within = among [you]. Adverb, serving here as a spatial preposition. The sense of the prepositional phrase "within you" is unclear.

•iZerwick suggests "in your hands / in your power of choice"; Fitzmyer agrees.

•iPossibly with the sense "inside you", as an inward spiritual experience, but Jesus is speaking with Pharisees so it would have to mean people in general.

•iPossibly with the sense "among you / in your presence / before you", ie., taken as an erratic translation of an Aramaic preposition. "Thus it refers to the presence of the kingdom in the eschatological powers manifested in Jesus' person and acts", Ellis, so also Marshall, Danker, Bock, ....

•iAlthough not widely accepted, it is possible that Jesus is speaking of the final realisation of the kingdom entoV, "within", human society as "an unheralded and universal manifestation", Caird.

v22

ii] The coming / revealing of the Son of Man, v22-37. This set of sayings is addressed to disciples. The sayings focus on the interim between the suffering of the Son of Man and the final coming / revealing of the Son of Man. During this time, a disciple must be ever ready, prepared for the parousia, cf., v33.

Saying #1. Longing to see the days of the Son of Man, v22. During the interim, prior to the parousia, disciples will experience a longing for "one of the days of the Son of Man." Most commentators suggest that this phrase refers to the parousia, "coming / revealing", of the Son of Man at the end of the age. Jesus' disciples will long to see the day of his enthronement, but they will not be alive to see it. Evans stands out from the crowd, suggesting that the disciples "will hanker, not after the future, but after a return to the past." See options below

proV + acc. "to [his disciples]" - [but/and he said] toward [the disciples]. Used to introduce an indirect object instead of a dative.

oJte "when" - [days will come] when. Temporal conjunction introducing a temporal clause. The phrase "the days will come" is commonly used of an apocalyptic "coming of the Lord" to bless, or curse, whichever is due.

idein (oJraw) aor. inf. "to see" - [you will desire, long] to see. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "to desire", but it may also be classified as introducing an object clause / dependent statement of perception expressing what is desired, namely, "to see one of the days of the Son of Man."

twn hJmerwn (a) gen. "[one] of the days" - [one] of the days. The genitive is adjectival, partitive. It is possible that mian, "one", means "first" here, "the first of the days", so Plummer, but see below. The term "days of", aligns with "days of Noah / Lot" = period of, era of. A number of periods of time / days have been suggested, see Bock:

•iA period of time before the coming of the Son of Man, so Manson;

•iThe period of time between Easter and the parousia;

•iThe Son of Man's / Jesus' days on earth, so Evans;

•iThe glorious manifestations of the Son of Man prior to his coming, so Leaney;

•iReferring to a general period of time, so Conzelmann;

•iEquivalent to "the days of Messiah". The phrase "one / first of the days" produces two possible meanings, although the sense may just be "the time when":

•iA point of time - the parousia, the coming of the Son of Man to the Ancient of Days to reign; "the return of the Son of Man", Bock;

•iA period of time - "one of the days of the new age after the Son of Man has been revealed", Creed.

tou uiJou (oV) gen. "of the Son" - of the son [of man]. The genitive is adjectival, idiomatic / temporal; "the days when the Son of Man reigns" For "Son of Man", see oJ uiJoV tou anqrwpou, 5:24.

kai "but" - and [you will not see it]. Here best read as adversative. The phrase "will not see it" is somewhat unclear. Stein suggests the following, with the last option the best of the three:

•iHe will never come;

•iIt cannot be seen;

•iYou will no longer be alive.

v23

Saying #2, v23-24. A saying on the overt nature of the Son of Man's coming. The Son of Man does not come secretly, mysteriously, rather, his coming will be visible to all, as a flash of lightning fills the sky. So, there is no need chasing after shadows, of claims of coming messiahs, for the coming of the Son of Man will be unmistakable clear to all.

uJmin dat. pro. "you" - [and they will say] to you. Dative of indirect object. "The sentence structure, a statement followed by an imperative, is tantamount to a condition", Marshall; "If people say to you 'Look, there he is', or 'Look, here he is', don't take any notice of them."

mh apelqhte (apercomai) aor. subj. "do not go running off" - [behold, there he is, or here he is] do not go [after them nor pursue them]. Subjunctive of prohibition.

v24

"The reason why the disciples need not be taken in by pretenders is that when the Son of Man appears on his day, there will be no mistaking the fact any more than one can mistake the occurrence of lightning which is universally visible", Marshall.

gar "for" - because. Introducing a causal clause explaining why the disciples need not go after sightings of the coming Son of Man.

en + day. "in [his day]" - [the son of man] in [the day of him]. Temporal use of the preposition. The temporal phrase "in his day" is a variant reading, with a sense parallel to "the day of the Lord" - the day of the Lord's coming, a coming best viewed as a cosmic coming to the Ancient of Days for enthronement and the enacting of judgment, cf., Daniel 7:13. There have been many pre-emptive comings / days that serve as paradigms of the final day of judgment, eg., the flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, through to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

wJsper ...... ouJtwV "... like ..." - as, just as [the lightning flashing shines from the under the heaven to the under the heaven] so also, in this way [will be the son of man in the day of him]. A coordinate comparative construction; "For like lightning that flashes from one side of the sky to the other, so will the Son of man be on his own day", Moffatt.

astaraptousa (astraptw) pres. part. "which flashes" - flashing. The NIV takes the participle as adjectival, attributive, limiting "lightning", so Moffatt above. Adverbial is possible, temporal, "like the lightning when it flashes out", Rieu.

ek + gen. "from" - from, out of. Expressing source / origin.

thV "-" - the [under the heaven to the under heaven]. As with the article thn, this article serves as a nominalizer, turning the prepositional phrase "under heaven" into a substantive; "shines from the one part under the sky into the other part under the sky." "As lightning flashes from one end of the sky to the other", Berkeley.

v25

Saying #3, v25. A saying on the suffering Son of Man. This saying serves to bookend the interim: the passion - the interim - the coming. This, the fifth passion prediction in Luke, is the second shortest of the six suffering Son of Man sayings in the gospel; see 9:22.

de "but" - but/and. Transitional, indicating the next saying.

paqeiV (pascw) aor. inf. "suffer" - [first it is necessary him] to suffer [many things and to be rejected]. Along with the infinitive "to be rejected", this infinitive serves to form the subject of the impersonal verb "it is necessary"; "for him to suffer many things and to be rejected by this generation is necessary." For a complementary classification see grayai, "to write", 1:3. "Him", auton, serves as the accusative subject of the infinitive. The verb "it is necessary" implies divine compulsion.

apo + gen. "by" - from [this generation]. The preposition is used here instead of uJpo, expressing agency; "by this generation."

v26

Saying #4, v26-27. A saying on the days of Noah. In Noah's day it was eat, drink and be merry - "the comfortable rhythm of life", Nolland - and then, all of a sudden, the flood came. So it will be with the coming / appearing of the Son of Man, a sudden and unexpected divine termination of everyday life, and this "at a time when you least expect it", 12:40. The comparisons of Noah and Lot both serve as "types of total destruction in which they and their families were the sole survivors", Evans. As in the notes above, The eschatology of Jesus, when Jesus is in prophetic mode, the immediate judgment in mind is most likely the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, which event serves as a paradigm for an even greater catastrophe, the destruction of the world as we know it.

kaqwV ..... ouJtwV "as ..... so also ..." - [and] as, just as [it became = was in the days of noah] so also, in this way [it will be and = also]. Comparative coordinate construction.

en + dat. "in" - in. The preposition is adverbial here, temporal.

tou uiJou (oV) gen. "of the Son [of Man]" - [the days] of the son [of man]. The genitive is adjectival, attributive, idiomatic / temporal, limiting "day". "The days of Noah / Lot" = "when Noah / Lot lived", and "the days of the Son of Man" = "when the Son of Man comes / appears = apokaluptetai, "is revealed", v30.

v27

hsqion (esqiw) imperf. "people were eating" - they were eating, [drinking, marrying and being given in marriage]. The imperfect is used to express how it was at that time; customary.

acri + gen. "up to" - until. Temporal preposition, time up to.

h|V gen. pro. "-" - [the day] which [noah entered into the ark and came the flood and it destroyed everything]. The relative pronoun introduces an attributive relative clause, idiomatic / temporal, limiting "the day"; "the day when Noah entered the ark ....", ESV.

v28

Saying #5, v28-29. A saying on the days of Lot; "So also when Lot was alive. They were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot left Sodom, the Lord rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed them all."

kaqwV "it was the same" - [likewise] just as [it was in the days of lot so also it will be in the days of the son of man.. they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting and building]. Introducing a comparative coordinate construction where the comparison introduced by ou{twV, "so also, in this way", is assumed.

v29

hJmera/ (a) dat. "the day" - [but/and] in the day. The dative is adverbial, temporal; "but on the day", ESV.

h|/ dat. pro. "-" - which [lot went out]. The relative pronoun introduces an attributive relative clause, idiomatic / temporal, limiting "day"; "on the day when Lot left Sodom", Rieu.

apo + gen. "-" - from [sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed everything]. Expressing separation; "away from." Nolland suggests that "fire and sulphur" is a hendiadys, "burning sulphur."

v30

Saying #6, v30. "That is how it will be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed", Phillips. "Luke sees deliverance as well as judgment imaged in his two similitudes; it is only when Noah and Lot have been taken out of the firing line that the others find that they have been left to the ravages of judgment", Nolland.

kata + acc. "it will be just like [this]" - [it will be] according to [the = these things]. Here expressing a standard, "in accordance with, corresponding to"; "in accord with these things" = "in the same way" - "following this same pattern", Thompson. It will be like this for Jerusalem in AD 70, and for human habitation at the end of the age, Armageddon.

h|/ dat. pro. "-" - [on the day] which = when. As for h|/ v29.

apokaluptetai (apokaluptw) pres. "is revealed" - [the son of man is] revealed. The verb is used to refer to "the glorious manifestation of the Son of Man at his coming (revealing, appearing, coming)", TH, ie., equivalent to parousia, so Fitzmyer. Most often translated "revealed", but possibly "Appears", Goodspeed, CEV.

v31

Saying #7, v31. A saying on flight, without looking back. Like Noah and Lot, faced with the coming catastrophe, disciples must be prepared for "their own immediate removal if they are not to be engulfed in the judgment to fall", Nolland. At the eschaton / "the abomination of desolation", Mk.13:14, someone on the roof of a typical Palestinian mud-brick home, with its stairs on the outside, will not have the time to come down the stairs and enter the home to pack. In Mark's version of this saying, escape from Jerusalem before its destruction is the immediate context. Just before the Roman assault on Jerusalem, the Christian community did indeed up and leave, moving as a community to Pella. Luke is likely aware of this understanding of the prophecy, but sees its prime focus on the parousia at the end of the age. It is unclear what being prepared for flight amounts to, but it probably comes down to being packed and ready in the terms of v33 - persevering in faith is surely the key, although Bock sees it in the terms of living lightly with this world's things; "attachment to possessions might lead to disaster; since one might not wish to flee", Bock. It all amounts to "the renunciation of earthly possessions", so Creed.

en + dat. "on" - in [that day]. Adverbial use of the preposition, temporal, as NIV; "At that time", CEV.

o}V nom, pro. "[no] one who" - the one who [will be on the roof and the property of him in the house, let him not come down]. This relative pronoun introduces a relative clause which serves as the subject of the negated imperative "to come down."

arai (airw) aor. inf. "to get" - to take [them]. The infinitive is adverbial, final, expressing purpose, "in order to get them."

oJ "[no] one" - the [in the field, likewise, let him not turn back]. The article serves as a nominalizer, turning the prepositional phrase "in the field" into a substantive, "the one in the field."

eiV + acc. "for [anything]" - into [the back, behind]. Rather than spatial, the preposition is possibly expressing purpose / end-view, as NIV; "don't take time to go home to gather your possessions", Junkins. The article ta serves to nominalise the adverb "behind"; "the things behind."

v32

Saying #8, v32. Remember Lot's wife! Usually viewed as an editorial comment by Luke, serving "to warn those who have been saved against the danger of falling back into worldliness and sin and hence into judgment", Marshall. The image of Lot's wife being drawn back to Sodom, yearning for Sodom, is a powerful one, and indeed, the things of this world are distracting. For this reason, a disciple needs to look unto their faith, to persevere, for the coming of the Son of Man will be in an instant, and there will be no time to reassess our commitment to Christ in that day.

thV gunaikoV (h koV) gen. "wife" - [remember] the wife [of lot]. Genitive of direct object after the verb "to remember."

v33

Saying #9, v33. A saying on losing one's life to preserve it. This saying is a typical cross-bearing discipleship saying which is often interpreted in the terms of doing, rather than receiving, eg., "dispossession of one's goods", Nolland; "one who identifies with God will suffer for it", Bock; "hostility to earthly possessions", Evans; "Everyone who selfishly tries to seek fullness of life and happiness in earthly things and consequently lives estranged from God and denies Christ will never find true life or happiness", Geldenhuys; "Life as constructed by identification with the present world, with its orientation toward the twin securities of status and possessions, attracts calamitous disaster in the end", Green; a "warning against trying to turn one's life into a possession", Leaney, so also Johnson.

Danker nicely pinpoints the sense of this saying as "There can be no divided allegiance." There is always a place for our imitation of Christ's cross-bearing, but if we are to preserve our life at the eschaton, then it is only our identification with Christ, and his cross-bearing on our behalf, that will save us. If we try to acquire life for ourselves, as if buying a product through our own actions, we will ultimately lose life, but if we lose our life in the one who lost his life for us, then we will possess life, life eternal. Rather than turning back, a disciple must always press forward, persevering with faith in the faithfulness of Christ. See Cross-bearing discipleship, 9:18-27

oJV ean + subj. "Whoever" - whoever. As with oJV ... an + subj. in the second clause, this construction forms an indefinite pronoun which serves to introduce an indefinite relative clause, subject of the verb "to lose"; "whoever seeks to preserve their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life will keep it", ESV.

peripoihsasqai (peripoiew) aor. mid. inf. "[tries] to keep" - [seeks] to acquire, preserve [the life of him will lose it, but/and whoever loses it will save, keep it]. Middle voice, "acquire for oneself", a word often used in a commercial context, although only here in the NT. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "to seek."

v34

Saying #10, v34-35. A saying on the taking of one person, and the leaving of another, at the eschaton. At the final revealing of the Son of Man, it is unclear where the advantage lies. It is usually assumed that "one will be plucked away to be with the Master", Junkins (the rapture), but the one taken may be taken off to judgment, so be careful what you pray for!!! Either way, judgment involves separating the sheep from the goats, one to blessing, one to cursing. The use of the masculine for the two in bed is unclear, but if the sense is of the male either taken, or left behind, then the other person could be female, in which case, they are a married couple (we can only hope!). The image "is that of a farmer and his wife still in bed while the members of the household are beginning their daily tasks", Marshall.

uJmin dat. pro. "[I tell] you" - [i say] to you. Dative of indirect object.

th/ nukti (x toV) dat. "on [that night]" - in [that night, there will be two in one bed, the one will be taken and the other will be left]. Temporal use of the preposition, as NIV; "On the night that the Son of Man returns", Junkins.

v35

esontai ... alhqousai (alhqw) pres. part. "will be grinding" - [two women] will be grinding. The present participle with a future verb to-be forms a periphrastic future construction, possibly emphasising aspect.

epi + acc. "[together]" - upon = at [the same place, the one will be taken, but/and the other will be left]. Spatial use of the preposition with a nominalised pronoun, to auto, "the same", giving the sense "together", as NIV.

v37

Saying #11, v37. A saying on the gathering of vultures. The Pharisees had asked "When?" and got an indefinite neither "here" nor "there" answer. Now the disciples ask "Where?", and it looks as if they get a similar indefinite neither "here" nor "there" answer (They may have assumed somewhere like the Mount of Olives, cf., Zech.14:4). The intended sense of the saying is unclear, but the following are worth considering, cf., Bock:

•i"The days of the Son of Man will ... inevitably be revealed", just as "the eagles will inevitably show up where the carrion is", Fitzmyer, so also Marshall. This interpretation aligns the saying / proverb with the lightning allusion, an approach supported by Matthew's alignment of both allusions, Matt.24:27-28;

•iHumanity will in no way miss out on judgment, just as vultures never miss a dead body; "Where there is spiritual decay, judgment will follow relentlessly and assuredly", Geldenhuys, so also Plummer.

•i"The judgment will operate wherever it is called for," just as vultures deal with a dead body, so Creed;

•i"The disciple must be so prepared that he is never like carrion waiting to be devoured by an eagle or vulture", Danker. Danker notes that the saying may be alluding to the Roman eagle. The armies of Rome served as God's hand of judgment upon Jerusalem, and the people of Israel. So, the warning is possibly quite pointed; a bit like Mark's "let the reader understand" when referencing the abomination of desolation being set up where it should not be, Mk.13:14. If this is the case, the "Where?" is Jerusalem, which then serves as a paradigm for the world / universe at the end of the age.

•i"The swiftness and suddenness of the coming day of the Son of Man" will be like the swift way a vulture moves in on its prey, so Manson.

•i"Judgment will be visible, universal and permanent", just as "vultures gather to feed off the dead bodies", Bock, so also Stein;

•i"The gathering to the Son of Man of those to be delivered" will be like "eagles / vultures to the pray upon which they feast", Nolland. As with eagles, vultures were viewed as noble birds at this time, and not as we view them today.

apokriqenteV (apokrinomai) aor. pas. part. "they asked" - [and] having answered [they say to him, where lord]? Attendant circumstance participle, redundant; see apokriqeiV, 1:19.

autoiV dat. pro. "-" - [but/and he said] to them. Dative of indirect object.

kai "-" - [where the body is, there] and = also [the eagles, vultures will be gathered together]. Adjunctive; "also". Eagles may be the birds intended, but vultures seem more likely because they tend to feed on carrion together. "Where the corpse is, that is the place in which the vultures gather together", Cassirer.

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