Luke 17:37 Vultures

Luke 17:37 “Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

The nature of God’s kingdom is very different from the nature of earthy kingdoms. The normal ways of kingdom building and kingdom power have many outward signs that demonstrate the presence of a new kingdom. The old emblems that told of the history of the previous kingdom are torn down, especially if the previous kingdom was an oppressive one.

When Nazi Germany lost the Second World War, all the buildings were stripped of the Nazi symbols. They were torn down and destroyed. The same thing happened when Saddam Hussein was topped from his position of power. His statues that he erected celebrating his greatness were pulled down by the very people he oppressed.

Kingdoms, the entities we usually call governments these days, build buildings, create power structures, enact laws, celebrate official holidays, change the currency, write songs celebrating the greatness of their kingdom. These are all outward signs that there is a new kingdom active in the land.

Not so with God’s Kingdom. Earlier in out chapter Jesus said that the kingdom of God is not something that has these outward signs. It is an inward thing. It doesn’t act like other kingdoms in that way it conquers.

People will be going about their daily lives and the Kingdom will come. Lives will be changed. Floods come. Fire and sulfur fall from the sky. Both these events demonstrated that when people don’t want God’s involvement in their lives, God can choose to remove His protection from them and the natural results of sinful behavior happens.

Then the disciples as this question in our text. “Where, Lord?” They are wondering if the judgment that happened to the pre-Flood world and on Sodom was coming to them. They want to make sure they aren’t in town when it happens. “Where, Lord?” I don’t want to suffer their fate.

Then Jesus gives them His answer. If you see vultures, you know there is a dead body. You might not see the body, but if you see the vultures circling overhead, you know there is a dead body there. The vultures provide a visible sign that death has happened.

God’s Kingdom won’t look like an earthly kingdom. God’s kingdom is only seen indirectly. Like seeing the vultures, you can only see the results of the kingdom, and not the kingdom itself. There will be visible signs of His Kingdom’s arrival, but we must be looking for them in order to see them.

Following our text, Luke goes on to share several parables which reinforce this idea. The first is that we must be persistent, even if we don’t see the results we expect. We must keep faith.

The second speaks about the necessity of humility for Kingdom entry. There is no place for pride. Boasting must take a back seat. You can’t see the Kingdom directly, and pride and boasting are the outwards signs of this kingdom not His Kingdom.

In order to be part of God’s Kingdom, we must be eating for the signs of His Kingdom, not of an earthly kingdom, even one established  in His name. God’s Kingdom is NOT like an earthly kingdom. The signs of His Kingdom are humility, self-sacrifice, being set apart for His service, willingness to be single hearted in following Him, even if all others abandon Him.

Jesus’ Kingdom will be visible, but indirectly, because the outward signs of His Kingdom are so different from that of an earthly kingdom. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control don’t show up like a new statue on the city square. There is no public relations campaign to announce its arrival. It arrives in the hearts and lives of individuals.

These individuals whose lives have been changed, change their families, their neighborhoods, their towns, their cities, their countries by a very different route. Just as you can know the dead body is there because of the vultures, you can know the Kingdom has arrived by the circling of the grace of God working through God’s people.

Let’s look for this. Let’s live this.