Jamin Bradley

2 responses to “The Kingdom of Heaven Can’t Be Observed”

1. 

   JustAGuy

   October 24, 2023 at 4:38 am

   Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees. Surely He did not mean the kingdom was within them. They did not even believe in Him. I think He meant the kingdom was in their midst because their King was right there with them

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   1. 

      Jamin Bradley

      October 24, 2023 at 3:58 pm

      Great point. That could be another way to interpret what’s happening here. Granted, crowds gathered around Jesus all the time. For that reason, I don’t think it’s completely out of the question that Jesus could be responding to the Pharisees in front of others and be talking to a wider audience. The phrase can be translated, “in your midst,” or “within you,” or “within your grasp.” How we translate that will make a difference in our outcome too. But even if we were to decide that Jesus was referring to himself, I don’t think that necessarily undoes the bulk of my message preached in this podcast episode, as I’m working off more than just this verse. I think what I preached matches N.T. Wright’s takeaway pretty well:

      “The phrase he uses in verse 21 is sometimes translated ‘within you’, and people have often thought it meant that the kingdom is purely spiritual, a private, interior relationship with God. But Jesus never uses ‘God’s kingdom’ in that sense. It always refers to things that happen in the public world, not to private experience. Others have suggested that the phrase means ‘in your midst’; God’s kingdom, in other words, is present but secret, hidden, waiting for them to discover it. That is closer, but still not quite there. The phrase is more active. It doesn’t just tell you where the kingdom is; it tells you that you’ve got to do something about it. It is ‘within your grasp’; it is confronting you with a decision, the decision to believe, trust and follow Jesus. It isn’t the sort of thing that’s just going to happen, so that you can sit back and watch. God’s sovereign plan to put the world to rights is waiting for you to sign on. That is the force of what Jesus is saying.”

      Wright, Tom. 2004. Luke for Everyone. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

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