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Bible Question:Why does Jesus say that the Kingdom of Heaven/Kingdom of God is in your midst? Bible Answer: The passage that you refer to
is found in Luke 17.
Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (NASB) Luke 17:20-21 Kingdom Among You.This is a curious statement
from Jesus. It must have surprised the religious leaders. But His statement
should have been expected since Jesus had already told the Pharisees
that the kingdom had come upon them in Luke 11:20. The Pharisees had
accused Jesus of casting out demons by demonic power, when Jesus responded
with this,
But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (NASB) Luke 11:20 Jesus' point was that the kingdom was partially present. While the kingdom
was not present in its fullest sense, that which will be present with
the kingdom when it finally arrives was present. If the kingdom can be
compared to the bud of a flower, then they had been given the opportunity
to see the bud starting to open. They only saw a hint of the glory that
would come when the kingdom was actually established. They were seeing
a few of the blessings that would come when the kingdom finally arrived.
Kingdom Is In Your Midst. Then later in
Luke 17:20, the Pharisees ask Jesus when the kingdom of God is coming.
The kingdom the Pharisees were looking for was one that would occur after
the Messiah defeated the Roman government and established Israel as the
world’s premier or only empire. That was the their view and expectation.
They were looking for a conquering Messiah or king. But Jesus' answer
surprised them. The Greek word that is translated as "midst" has
the meaning of "among" or "in the midst of."[1] This
meaning is consistent with the latest discovery from the papyri. So what
was the meaning of Jesus' reply? He told them that the kingdom was already
among them, but not within them. Since they were rejecting Jesus, it
is clear that they were not citizens of the kingdom; and since scripture
never speaks of the kingdom being inside someone, the kingdom was not
in them either. But the kingdom was among them in the sense that Jesus,
the King of the kingdom was living among them no the earth!
Conclusion:Hints of the kingdom were present everywhere and the King of the kingdom was present. The signs that they were looking for would never arrive. The kingdom was available to them by faith. It was within their reach or within their grasp. They just needed to believe in Jesus - their Messiah and King!
Related Links:
References:
 1. I. Howard Marshall. Commentary on Luke. New International Greek Testament Commentary. The Paternoster Press, Eerdmans Publishing. 1992. p. 655.
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