20 Now at one point the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was coming, so he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

REFLECTIONS

Written by Paul Bogg

I had a chat recently with my sister, who isn’t a believer, about her choice to send her daughter to a Christian school.  One of the reasons was that the school had a reputation for being really nice, and that the teachers were really supportive and caring.  The message that I was hearing from her was that there’s something different about the people in this school, something that she really liked and wanted her daughter to be a part of. But she went on to tell me some of her concerns about the Bible and some things she didn’t like.  

There are things my sister has in common with the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. Both of them want to live in a “kingdom of God” of sorts – a kingdom that’s better than the one they’re living in right now. And both of them refuse to acknowledge the King of that kingdom.

In the passage today, Jesus makes a bold statement about the kingdom of God. He says to the Pharisees: You won’t see the kingdom arrive, and you can’t point somewhere else and say “there it is”, because the kingdom of God has already arrived and is now among you. Why? Because its King has arrived! But, he tells the Pharisees, even though this kingdom is among you, you haven’t entered it yet.

How close the Pharisees were to becoming a part of the kingdom of God! The King himself was walking among them, but they refused to acknowledge him as such. And yet – they longed for the better life of this new kingdom.

I hope and pray that when my niece starts going to this Christian school and is in the midst of little followers of Jesus, she will come to recognise the King. It would be a great shame to rub shoulders with citizens of the kingdom, to see the difference the King makes in them, but never recognise Jesus as her personal King. Then again … this is exactly how Jesus so often brings people to trust in him and enter the kingdom that is in their midst – by placing those who belong to him in their lives.

Think about your life or family or circumstances. Who can you pray for today, that God would open their hearts to recognising Jesus as their personal king? Pray, and then remember that you may be the one glimpse that they see today of “the kingdom of God in their midst.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul is a member of our Bossley Park Morning congregation.