Luke 17:20-24 says, “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. 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. And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. 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.”

Here, the Lord Jesus is being questioned by the Pharisees concerning the kingdom of God.  Along with most others, they anticipated the Lord returning in great power and glory and establishing His kingdom.  Because of this, the people waited to see the great manifestation of the Messiah’s coming into the world.  In all likelihood, the Pharisees were not sincere in their question to the Lord.  We read in Luke 20:20, “And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.”  The Pharisees were constantly seeking ways to trap the Lord with His words.  I don’t think this question to Him was an exception. 

Let’s read Luke 17:20-21 from the NASB which makes the meaning more clear.  That says, “Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”  The kingdom of God was in their midst because their Messiah was in their midst.  The unbelieving Pharisees could not and would not recognize the Lord Jesus Christ as their rightful king and promised Messiah. 

Notice how that in verses 20-21, the Lord is speaking to the accusing Pharisees.  However in verse 22, He turns His attention to His disciples and speaks to them of the future physical kingdom of God on the earth, when He returns to rule and reign.  He warns them that before He returns, His disciples would long for His presence and there would be many false Christs.  He instructs His disciples, “go not after them, nor follow them.”  When the Lord returns in power at the end of the Tribulation Period it will be an obvious coming evidenced by the heavens for He says in verse 24, “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.”  It will be obvious to the whole world that the Lord has returned!

I encourage you to read until the end of this chapter and chapter 25.  The Lord gives great detail of His return to the earth to establish His millennial kingdom.  “What a day, glorious day, that will be!”  (395.6)