We look today at three kingdom references (Luke 17:20, 20, 21) that are, in my estimation, some of the most misconstrued texts in Jesus\u2019 kingdom message. Here they are in context: We look today at three kingdom references (Luke 17:20, 20, 21) that are, in my estimation, some of the most misconstrued texts in Jesus\u2019 kingdom message. Here they are in context:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1743],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kingdom-of-god"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n20 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come<\/strong>, Jesus replied, \u201cThe kingdom of God<\/strong> does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, \u2018Here it is,\u2019 or \u2018There it is,\u2019 because the kingdom of God is within you<\/strong>.\u201d
\n22 Then he said to his disciples, \u201cThe time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 Men will tell you, \u2018There he is!\u2019 or \u2018Here he is!\u2019 Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 \u201cJust as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 \u201cIt was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 \u201cIt will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot\u2019s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.\u201d [37 \u201cWhere, Lord?\u201d they asked. He replied, \u201cWhere there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.\u201d<\/em>
\n1. First off, this text does not say the kingdom of God is some kind of little divine spark in the soul of each person. It is not about the kingdom being \u201cin your heart\u201d or \u201cin your spirit\u201d. The expression is plural: \u201cthe kingdom is within you [plural].\u201d This view trotted its merry way among the 2d Century Gnostics and then was picked up in modern liberalism and in such folks as Elaine Pagels.
\n2. Second, \u201cwithin\u201d is an unusual expression and is most literally translated \u201camong\u201d rather than \u201cinside.\u201d
\n3. The context is a question about time and the supposed ability on the part of some to calculate its coming.
\n4. Jesus denies their capacity to calculate.
\n5. Instead, Jesus says, \u201cthe kingdom of God is among you [plural].\u201d
\nMany today render this expression as follows: The kingdom of God does not come according to your apocalyptic timetables and calculations; instead, though you don\u2019t see it, the kingdom is right now present among you [in Jesus] and\/or within your grasp [if you respond to me].<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"