"Behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

Luke 17:11-37 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² And as He entered a village, ten men with leprosy who stood at a distance met Him; ¹³ and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴ When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed. ¹⁵ Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, ¹⁶ and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ But Jesus responded and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? ¹⁸ Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”

²⁰ Now He was questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, and He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs that can be observed; ²¹ nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

²² And He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ²³ And they will say to you, ‘Look there,’ or, ‘Look here!’ Do not leave, and do not run after them. ²⁴ For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. ²⁵ But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. ²⁶ And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ people were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, and they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, and they were building; ²⁹ but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day, the one who will be on the housetop, with his goods in the house, must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one in the field must not turn back. ³² Remember Lot’s wife. ³³ Whoever strives to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will keep it. ³⁴ I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁵ There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁶ Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.” ³⁷ And responding, they said to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.”

In today’s text it says:  Now He was questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, and He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” In Matthew 4:17, at the beginning of His ministry, Jesus said:  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  There is a difference between the kingdom of heaven, which is within reach of all who repent; which is in the midst of the present world, and the return of Christ, when He will establish a new heaven and earth. Jesus taught us to pray saying: Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. At this time, because of sin, earth is not aligned with heaven. We though, are not praying that the kingdom of heaven would come at a time in the future because it is already here, within reach and among us. The New King James translation of Luke 17:21 says:  “Indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”   As those who have the kingdom of God within us because the Holy Spirit resides and abides in us, we are to be those who bring the situations and circumstances of earth into alignment with the realities of heaven. In Matthew 18:20 Jesus says:  “Where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”  Here’s the thing, we do not need to call a meeting, because the Holy Spirit lives within us, we can always have two together in the name of Jesus. In John 14:12-14 Jesus says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” Because Jesus is with us, we have the power to bring heaven to earth.  In Matthew 28:20 Jesus says:  “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The text speaks of the end of the age saying:  “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look there,’ or, ‘Look here!’ Do not leave, and do not run after them. For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man: people were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, and they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, and they were building; but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.”  Revelation 21:1-8 says:  Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”  Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”  When Christ returns, the kingdom of heaven will no longer be in the midst of the chaos, confusion and immorality of the world. Chaos and immorality will be done away with and the new heaven and earth will be fully aligned.  

“Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” Amen.   Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.