THE GOSPEL OF LUKE: - Vital Christianity

159THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM OF GODLuke 17:20-37The subject of these verses is the Second Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. That greatevent and the things immediately connected with it are here described by our Lord Himself.THE KINGDOM IS WITHIN (17:20-21)“ Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God wouldcome, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your carefulobservation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because thekingdom of God is within you" (vv. 20-21).Some understand the phrase “having been asked by the Pharisees” to mean that thesewere sincere questioners; but all of the evidence seems to be against it. Instead they had alreadyrejected the “signs” Jesus had already performed, and of what He had already said about suchthings. It is more likely they challenged Jesus by their skepticism.The phrase “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation” (v. 20)means that the kingdom would not appear visibly at all.Special attention has been drawn to the statement, “The kingdom of God is within you”(v. 21) because of the error that is associated with it in popular thought with its emphasis on theexternal expression of God’s kingdom, that is, the Coming of the Second Advent. The world willnot be converted when Jesus comes again. The earth will not be full of the knowledge of theLord. The reign of peace will not have been established. Rather, Jesus’ emphasis of the kingdomis that it is primarily internal and spiritual, not external and material. This does not meant that bythese words that Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is merely an inner, spiritual condition inthe human heart. While that applies to entrance into the kingdom, it is not itself the kingdom.The kingdom is not a state of mind or a disposition. The kingdom of God is God’s rule or reignin peoples’ hearts and a realm in which God rules and reigns in history and for eternity.THE LONGING TO SEE (vv. 22-37)In the next paragraph (vv. 22-37) Jesus explains that the visible "signs" so desired by thePharisees were to be seen, not during the church age, but at the Second Advent: