What does Luke 17:25 mean?
What is the meaning of Luke 17:25?

But first

Luke 17:25 opens with Jesus saying, “But first…”.

• This phrase establishes order: before the public revelation of the Son of Man’s glory (Luke 17:24), certain events must occur.

Luke 24:26 echoes this pattern—“Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter His glory?”.

Mark 8:31 and Luke 9:22 similarly link suffering as the necessary prelude to exaltation. The cross precedes the crown.


He must suffer many things

“Must” speaks of divine necessity, not mere possibility.

• Prophetic fulfillment: Isaiah 53:5–6 foretells wounding, crushing, and chastisement for our peace.

• Physical anguish: Psalm 22:14–18 describes bones out of joint, pierced hands and feet—fulfilled at Calvary (John 19:23–24).

• Emotional and spiritual agony: Luke 22:44 records Jesus’ sweat “like drops of blood,” and 1 Peter 2:24 explains He “bore our sins in His body on the tree”.

• Purpose: Hebrews 2:9 says He tasted death “for everyone,” revealing the suffering as substitutionary, not accidental.


and be rejected

Rejection was as certain as the suffering.

John 1:11 notes, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him”.

• Religious leaders plotted against Him (Luke 19:47; Matthew 26:3–4).

Isaiah 53:3 foretold He would be “despised and rejected by men,” and Acts 4:11 identifies Him as “the stone you builders rejected.”

• The rejection magnifies grace: Romans 11:11 shows Israel’s stumbling opening salvation to the nations, yet without nullifying God’s future promises to Israel (Romans 11:25–29).


by this generation

Jesus pinpoints accountability to the people living then.

Luke 11:50–51 warns that “this generation” will be charged with the blood of the prophets.

Matthew 23:36–38 laments Jerusalem’s unwillingness, declaring, “Your house is left to you desolate.”

• Within forty years, national judgment fell in A.D. 70, yet Acts 2:40 pleads, “Be saved from this corrupt generation,” showing individual escape through faith.

• Still, the verse also warns every generation: rejection of Christ brings consequence (Hebrews 2:3).


summary

Luke 17:25 teaches that before the glorious unveiling of Christ’s kingdom, He had to walk a divinely ordained path of suffering and rejection, carried out by His contemporary generation. This necessity fulfilled Scripture, accomplished atonement, highlighted human accountability, and set the pattern that glory follows the cross.

How does Luke 17:24 challenge the idea of a secret rapture?
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