<p>17:20 <i>And being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God comes, he answered them and said: The kingdom of God comes not with observation</i>- The disciples repeat the Pharisees' question about when the end will come- in almost the same words. They were clearly influenced by them (Lk. 17:20 cp. Mk. 13:4). &quot;When will the Kingdom come?&quot; was another perennial question- again answered by the Lord redirecting the entire enquiry. &quot;The kingdom of God is within you... as it was in the days of Lot... one shall be taken and the other shall be left&quot; (Lk. 17:34). 'Don't worry about the calendar date, don't let a fascination with prophecy distract you from the personal reality that whenever I do come, some will be left behind. Will that be <i>you</i>?'. See on Lk. 19:11. The implication could be that the Kingdom of God is hastened by action- by the repentance of Israel, the spiritual maturity of God's believing children, intense prayer, outreach to the Gentile world and other preconditions for the Lord's return. It will not be hastened by attempts to match current events with Bible prophecies- which perhaps is what the Lord refers to by &quot;observation&quot; here. It's as if He is warning against the obsession with latter day political prophecies which has stymied so much spirituality over the ages.</p><p>And yet &quot;observation&quot; translates a word which only Luke uses to describe how the Jews critically &quot;watched&quot; Jesus (6:7; 14:1; 20:20). They were actually looking at Him; the Kingdom was amongst them. They need not observe / look around / watch out for Messiah any further.</p>