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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
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, nor will people say,
‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
Luke 17:20-21
This ends
today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
First of all, a note of
thanks for all my faithful readers for being patient while I took a much needed
break after an illness last month. I’m happy to say I am fully recovered, well
rested, and ready to get back in the saddle as I finish writing through the
Gospels. Through these past seven weeks or so, I have definitely been reminded
over and over that the Lord (and His kingdom) is always in our midst, just as
we find Jesus reminding us in today’s scripture passage from the Gospel of
Luke:
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, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because
the kingdom of God is in your midst.” Luke
17:20-21
Now, we’re not sure when
this exchange between the Pharisees and Jesus occurred. Note that Luke leads
the passage by saying the word “once” which once could substitute the following
words “there was once a time”.
We must remember that
Luke, the doctor who wrote this Gospel, never actually was ever with Jesus like
Matthew or John. Rather, he wrote his book based on the accounts of others who
had knowledge of Jesus and His life, accounts which would have produced the
encounter at the center of today’s devotion between Jesus and the Jewish
religious authorities of His day.
We see that this meet up
started with a question asked of Jesus by the Pharisees who simply wanted to
know when they could expect the kingdom of God to come. Now, it’s important to
note that the Pharisees were asking Jesus about a physical kingdom, a kingdom
that would have boundaries and would be tangible and easily identifiable. They
were interested in the geography associated with God’s kingdom and as we see
from Jesus’ reply, once again the Jewish religious leaders had things all wrong
in their perception of the things of their Maker and Master.
For Jesus made it clear
to the Pharisees (and anyone who would read this passage afterwards), that the
kingdom of God is intangible and not physical but spiritual in nature and one
could no more see the kingdom than they could the Holy Spirit itself. No one
was to believe anyone who made a claim that they knew how to travel to the
kingdom of God as if one could walk some earthy road or path to arrive there.
Any such claim would be a falsehood for the kingdom of God had no geological
identity. Rather, as the more modern day saying goes, was as close to the
Pharisees as the nose on the front of their faces.
You see, Jesus made it
clear that the kingdom of God was in their midst, just as it is in our midst
today. It’s found in the hearts of every Christian believer who when Jesus
returns will join Him and God forever in a new kingdom, a new heaven and earth
after the present passes away (Revelation 21:1-5). Indeed, when any group of
Christians is joined together, they form the body of Jesus Christ, dwelling in
the midst of God’s kingdom here on earth, bound together by the Holy Spirit.
And friends, this is
good news for us today. God’s kingdom is not distant from us and unreachable.
Rather, it is in our midst and it always has been since Jesus burst on the
scene and began gaining disciples. Revel and rejoice each day as you live,
love, and learn to be more and more like Jesus while dwelling in the kingdom of
His Father and yours.
There’s no better place
for anyone to live.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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