“Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed,” Luke 17:20 ESV
Reflection: how do you envision the coming or the kingdom of God to be like?
Not sure about you, but I might have missed something pretty colossal here. Because I have had this understanding that the kingdom of God would come when Christ appeared. That he, appearing the second time as the King, was to then establish his kingdom. But in today’s focus verse, we see that Jesus got a question from the Pharisees that address this point. Notice the first part of his answer, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed,” and then he goes on saying “nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”” Luke 17:21 ESV
Now, you might have glanced over this verse before, specifically the phrase “in the midst of you”, as I have. But there is an absolute fundamental spiritual truth here that we must catch. This phrase “in the midst of you” really means within, or inside of you. And notice that it is not a future tense. It should be read
“The kingdom of God is within you”
Which is why Jesus said that this kingdom cannot be seen, observed physically. It is established within us. Which makes so much sense when you think about it. The kingdom must be established before the King can return, and it is established in the people. The “church”, which is the collective body of believers. Not a denomination or a building. It is based on the new covenant God established. We read from Hebrews, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”” Hebrews 8:10-12 ESV
We can here tie in the previous story of the 10 lepers, who all received the gift of healing and were cleansed, but only one giving God the glory. Only one coming back to give thanks, and worship the one who set him free from this disease which was equivalent to a death sentence. As a reminder, leprosy is a metaphor for sin in the Bible, slowly eating away at the person and eventually taking their life. In a similar way, Jesus atoned for and cleansed us from all sin, but only a few will choose to return, to change direction (repent), to go worship him who set them free. Only a few will hear the words “your faith has saved you”, as the Samaritan did.
Jesus used the same word for “within you” or “inside” as he spoke to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees ““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.” Matthew 23:25-26 ESV. The kingdom of God is established inside, and will result in good fruit visible on the outside. We learned from Jesus to pray “Let your kingdom come” as part of the Lord’s Prayer. This prayer really is asking God to establish and prepare His kingdom in us individually, preparing the kingdom of God for the coming of the King.
Jesus then talked about his second coming, the return of the King, which we will look at next