Jesus warned his disciples against those who will say that the Lord is hiding in a room somewhere. Luke 17:22-25
Okay, let's look at these verses:
And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. - Luke 17:22
The implication here was that those particular disciples would not live unto Jesus’ Kingdom. It has taken almost 2,000 years to select the elect class who will eventually deal with billions of people. God knows exactly how much time is required. The “days of the Son of man” would be the days of Jesus’ Second Presence.
And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. - Luke 17:23
This verse is a second witness to Matthew 24:24-26. Jesus was warning,
“If there is a seeming visual representation of me, believe it not.” “See here” and
“see there” indicates a geographic location of something visual. In Matthew 24, Jesus admonished his followers not to look for him in a seance (“
secret chambers”) or in the “
desert.” There have been false Christs all down the age, but a special test will occur at the end of the age. Some will say, “Come here. We will show you Christ.” DO NOT FOLLOW THEM. Jesus warned us to be wary of a misdirection or a false representation. We should not be too hasty to follow what purports to be truth.
For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. - Luke 17:24
“Lightning” (Greek
astrape) is the bright shiner, that is, the sun. Luke 11:36 mentions the “bright shining” (
astrape) of a candle. A candle lightens—it is a bright shining in a dark room. Hence
astrape is a bright shining whether referring to the sun or to a humble candle.
Where Luke 17:24 has from “one part under heaven ... unto the other part,” the companion text Matthew 24:27 has from “the east ... unto the west.” Matthew 24:27 reads,
“For as the lightning [astrape]
cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming [parousia, presence] of the Son of man be.” This text refers to the light of the sun rather than to the sun itself. At dawn, the sun lightens the whole world. In this future “light” of the Second Presence, no one will be able to point to the specific presence of the Son of man, for his presence will be everywhere, worldwide, universal in its influence.
Matthew 28:3 states,
“His countenance was like lightning [astrape], and his raiment white as snow.” The angel’s countenance was not like jagged light. Rather, a radiance, or luminescence, beamed from his face. If the intended meaning were “literal lightning,” the woman could not have seen the angel’s facial features.
Revelation 11:19 is another pertinent text:
“And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen ... lightnings [astrape],
and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.” However, not all lightning is jagged; for example, heat lightning is an exception. Thus the thought is of bright light, which represents startling revelations.
Luke 10:18 reads,
“And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” As a bright shiner, Satan fell from heaven. Lucifer, a brilliant intellectual being, descended like a bright light falling into the abyss. This is another instance where
astrape does not mean jagged lightning. The angelic host would have been awestruck that such a brilliant one could fall. Satan’s wisdom was so great it went to his head—conceit, ambition, and pride entered in. Jesus’ disposition was the opposite.
But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. - Luke 17:25
Before the Kingdom could come, Jesus had to be rejected and crucified.
RR
