Luke 17:20-21…
The kingdom of God is in the midst of you. Is Jesus saying that the kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom that resides in the hearts of men, or is He declaring the presence of the kingdom in His person?
Remember that Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees. Jesus would not be saying that the kingdom of God was in their hearts. Most of His conversation with the religious leaders of the day was to inform them of their wicked hearts. These were not hearts in which the kingdom resided.
Later, Jesus would specify that the kingdom is not a present spiritual kingdom in the heart but a kingdom that will come in the future. He clearly counters the idea that the kingdom would be established immediately (Luke 19:11). He also indicates that the kingdom would be coming near with the events of the future tribulation (Luke 21:31). It is clear that Jesus was speaking of the kingdom as a future entity, not as a kingdom of the heart.
The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed. What does Jesus mean when He says that? The reason He said that is because at that time the kingdom was present in Jesus’ person as He stood before them. Jesus was bodily present, so there was no need to look for signs of the kingdom. After He went back to heaven, then it would be the proper time to look for signs of His return and the coming of the kingdom of God (Luke 21:31).
The significance is that they failed to recognize the Messiah, the king of the kingdom they were looking for. If they missed that, they would miss the signs of the future too. If you don’t recognize Jesus as Lord now, all your prophecy charts and end times books won’t help you to recognize Him then (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12).
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