Behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.

Luke 17:11-37 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; ¹³ and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴ When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed. ¹⁵ Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, ¹⁶ and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? ¹⁸ Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”

²⁰ Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; ²¹ nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

Second Coming Foretold

²² And He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ²³ They will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go away, and do not run after them. ²⁴ For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part ^[f]of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. ²⁵ But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. ²⁶ And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; ²⁹ but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. ³² Remember Lot’s wife. ³³ Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. ³⁴ I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁵ There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁶ Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.” ³⁷ And answering they said to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.”

In today’s text it says:  Having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” The KJV and NKJV say:  “the kingdom of God is within you.”  The kingdom of God is not coming. It is already here. It is all around us and it is even within us. In Isaiah 6:3, long before Jesus was here it says:   “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”    Like the Pharisees, many people today seek for signs and evidence of the kingdom. Jesus answer is in how He taught us to pray saying: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  We should not be seeking for the kingdom. We should be those who are bringing the kingdom to earth. In John 14:12-14 Jesus says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”   Jesus Himself is the one who will work with us and through us to bring heaven to earth.  “the kingdom of God is in your midst.”   “the kingdom of God is within you.”   “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

We are to be those who bring the realities of heaven to earth. As in Isaiah 6, we should see the earth as filled with the glory of God. In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says:  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;  nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  Because we have failed to be light to the world; because we have not fully established the kingdom of heaven on earth, Jesus will come again. In Today’s text He says:   “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ²³ They will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go away, and do not run after them. For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building;  but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.”   The people of Jesus time were familiar with the accounts of Noah; with the demise of Sodom and the fate of Lot’s wife. Today many people are unaware of those accounts. Many others consider then myths or fables. It does not change the reality of what Jesus says; that He will return. As Jesus says, people are engaging in every day activities, unaware or unconcerned about the kingdom of heaven. Yet, He will return. In Matthew 28:18-20, after the resurrection, before He ascended to the Father, Jesus said:  “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”    Today He says:  “the kingdom of God is in your midst.”   “the kingdom of God is within you.”   May we respond: 

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”  “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Amen.