Luke 17
First, a quick apology for the long hiatus on Luke posts. I used up all my “Christian writing juices” teaching Bible class at church and leading a small group at school, and there weren’t any drops left to pour into this blog. Both of those commitments are finished/diminished, so it’s time to write again.
Luke chapter 17 contains quite a collection of little bits, and so instead of trying to draw some larger synthesis, I’m going to focus on just a couple verses.
In verse 20, some Pharisees ask when the kingdom of God will come, and Jesus replies,
The kingdom of God does not come with careful observation, nor will people say, “Here it is”, or “There it is”, because the kingdom of God is within you.
The phrase “kingdom of God” appears several dozen times in the Bible, most often in the Gospels. Matthew, in deference to his Jewish readers who would prefer not to mention the name of God, uses the synonymous term “kingdom of heaven” instead. Both of these phrases conjure up images of grand and shining castles with pearly gates. Perhaps you envision some angels with swords of fire, charging forward on white horses.
With this framing, the phrase “the kingdom of God is within you” sounds like new-age pantheism. Just look inside yourself and see the glory that is there! Stop searching and turn within you!
But we ought to step back. A kingdom is not defined by shining castles or mighty horses. A kingdom, in its simplest essence, is the dominion over which a king reigns. And so we would do better to think of “God’s kingdom” as the chunk of the space-time-spirit universe where God reigns.
When we recognize this, Jesus’ statement snaps into perspective. The kingdom of God is within us if we have submitted to his rule. We’re part of the kingdom of heaven when we obey the king. Likewise, Jesus’ repeated use of the phrase “the Kingdom of God is like…” also comes into focus. The parables Jesus introduces this way are not about God’s castle in the sky or an eternal home beyond the blue; they’re about how men and women on earth react to the reign of God initiated by Christ.
In hindsight, it’s easy to chuckle at the Jews who wanted a sign indicating the imminent overthrow of the Roman empire and re-establishment of the physical kingdom of Israel. Yet it’s just as easy for us to make the opposite blunder and think of God’s kingdom as an ethereal city far away in the clouds.
To both, Jesus says no, the kingdom is here. The kingdom is now. The kingdom is within you - if you are willing to accept it.
