Luke 17:20-21 (NIV): “Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
I came across this verse in my morning devotional, and if I’m honest, the gospel of Luke is one that has nooks and crannies that contain nuggets that I’m not as familiar with. I studied Matthew twice when I participated in Bible quizzing, and I’ve spent plenty of time in John as well. Mark is the least familiar one to me, and Luke is there in the middle. Most of us are familiar with some version of the Christmas story at the beginning of Luke, but there’s a number of other parts in Luke that I am less familiar with.
To better understand Jesus’s words in these verses, I headed to my study Bible as well as the Strong’s concordance app on my phone. I learned a couple interesting things that I’d like to share with you.
I’ll start with a tiny letter ‘a’ that appears at the end of the verses, adjacent to the phrase “in your midst.” On the bottom of the page, that ‘a’ appears with the note, or is within you.
Hold onto that thought. I’m going to come back to it.
In the Strong’s Concordance app, I looked up what some of the original Greek meetings were of words in these verses. The word for ‘kingdom’ in Greek is basileia, which includes words like “properly, royalty, or a realm” in the definition.
I got to thinking about what Jesus said in that verse, that the kingdom of God isn’t “here” or “there” but rather “in our midst,” “within us.” And while Jesus is referring to Himself being on earth as the kingdom in the midst of the Pharisees, after He returned to heaven, He sent His Spirit to dwell inside the believers and be present with them. In 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV), Peter writes to the Church: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness and into His wonderful light.”
Because of the Spirit in our midst, we are royal–the royal kingdom is alive and well within our circles. And it’s all because of God’s mercy in sending Jesus.
We don’t have to be like the Pharisees, looking everywhere for the kingdom of God and asking when it’s going to come. It’s already here, among us, alive and well within the Church. Our task now, according to the Great Commission from Jesus, is to take it and tell others about it, baptizing them into the kingdom and teaching them to obey everything He taught us (Matt. 28:19-20).
Yes, we eagerly await His second coming, when we will be transformed from our limited, earthly selves into the glorious bodies that await us (Phil. 3:20-21). But in the meanwhile, we have a calling and a purpose–and the Spirit within us to anoint us, walk with us, and guide us through any and every situation.
I hope this encourages you, friends.
Blessings,
~Lynne
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