"the kingdom of God is among you" (part 3)

Continuing an essay on four common misconceptions about the kingdom Jesus announced...


The next two common misconceptions about the kingdom of God focus more on its appearance (or lack of appearance) in the world. But these also seem to describe something much less than the kingdom Jesus announced.

3. The kingdom of God is present now only "in our hearts." This idea may have been drawn from Luke 17.21, which some have translated: "The kingdom of God is within you." And an "internal" kingdom does seem to explain why we don't see more evidence of the kingdom that Jesus announced.

But people did see and experience ample evidence of the kingdom of God in their midst at Jesus' time. People were healed, uneducated men spoke the deepest truths of God, and Jesus and his disciples lived amazing, miraculous lives. When Jesus sent out his disciples, he told them:

"Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you; heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you; nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.'" (Lk 10.8-11)

Wherever they were, there the kingdom of God appeared in actual physical reality and spiritual power. They healed and taught and were fed and protected by the incredible power of God. And because of that power, the usual human limitations and social demands no longer controlled them; the upside-down kingdom existed where they stood, inside and all around them.

If that is not our experience, perhaps the reason is not that the kingdom can only exist now "in our hearts," but that we are not following Jesus like his disciples did, receiving God's kingdom with utter trust and faith, "as a child."

Continued...