The Kingdom of God Is Among You

 Luke 17: 20-25

The Coming of the Kingdom of God

²⁰ 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, ²¹ nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

²² Then he said to his disciples, “The 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 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. ²⁴ For the Son of Man in his day^[b] 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.

"The Kingdom of God is in  your midst", "among you", "already in your midst." It seems there are a variety of ways to describe this wonderful Kingdom, a combination of God's presence and our efforts.The quest for the Kingdom also requires suffering and rejection, something we think of as only for the martyrs persecuted by the Roman Emperors, or under the Communist regimes past and present, without realizing that current prejudices and intimations reveal that the sufferings and rejections continue everywhere to this day. And how do WE reject those who disagree with us, or whose behavior tests us to the core?  If we want the Kingdom of God to flourish, it must begin in our hearts, and allow us to recognize it in the hearts and lives of all.  A big order.  God help us!

Bro. Rene