Jesus Christ · On the Kingdom
The Kingdom Within
The Pharisees ask Jesus, half in mockery, when the kingdom of God is coming. His answer corrects the question before it answers it: the kingdom is not the kind of thing a spectator watches arrive. What He says next — that the kingdom is “within you” or “in your midst,” depending on how one Greek phrase is read — is one of the most contested single verses He ever spoke.
The Text
— Luke 17:20-21When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs.The Pharisees' question, and the first half of the answer: not by watching.
Nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”The famous, contested second half — within you, or in your midst?
The Pharisees ask when the kingdom of God is coming. It is not an innocent question — they had already taught that it would arrive with parade and pomp, and more than one commentator below reads their asking as mockery, an attempt to draw out something they could ridicule. Jesus answers by correcting the category of the question itself before He answers its content.
“Not With Observation”
— the kingdom is not the kind of thing a spectator watches arriveThe Pharisees expected the Messiah to come the way an earthly king travels his territory — with pomp, attracting attention, a matter of public record. Jesus denies that His kingdom works that way at all, before He says one word about where it actually is.
Was demanded - Was asked. Of the Pharisees - This was a matter of much importance to them, and they had taught that it would come with parade and pomp. It is not unlikely that they asked this merely in contempt, and for the purpose of drawing out something that would expose him to ridicule. The kingdom of God - The reign of God; or the dispensation under the Messiah. See the notes at Mat 3:2. With observation - With scrupulous and attentive looking for it, or with such an appearance as to attract observation - that is, with pomp, majesty, splendor. He did not deny that, according to their views, the time was drawing near; but he denied that his kingdom would come in the manner in which they expected. The Messiah would not come with pomp like an earthly prince; perhaps not in such a manner as to be discerned by the eyes of sagacious and artful people, who were expecting him in a way agreeable to their own feelings. The kingdom of God is within people, and it makes its way, not by pomp and noise, but by silence, decency, and order, 1Co 14:40.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869), on Luke 17:20
Cometh not with observation - With scrupulous observation. That this is the proper meaning of the original, μετα παρατηρησεως, Kypke and others have amply proved from the best Greek writers.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1832), on Luke 17:20
Two Readings
— the genuinely contested word: within, or amongWITHIN YOU
an inward, personal possession
The kingdom is a spiritual reality already living inside the believer's own heart — not a place to travel to, but a condition to receive.
WHO HOLDS THIS
John Wesley · Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Tertullian · Ambrose of Milan · Cyril of Alexandria
IN YOUR MIDST
Christ's own person, standing among them
The kingdom is present because the King is present — standing in front of the very Pharisees asking the question, whether or not they recognize Him.
WHO HOLDS THIS
Bede
“Within You”
— inward, personal, a spiritual principle already possessedFor behold the kingdom of God is within or among you - Look not for it in distant times or remote places: it is now in the midst of you: it is come: it is present in the soul of every true believer: it is a spiritual kingdom, an internal principle.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755), on Luke 17:21
Lo here! . . . lo there!--shut up within this or that sharply defined and visible geographical or ecclesiastical limit. within you--is of an internal and spiritual character (as contrasted with their outside views of it).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871), on Luke 17:21
"The kingdom of God," He says, "cometh not with observation; neither do they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." Now, who will not interpret the words "within you" to mean in your hand, within your power, if you hear, and do the commandment of God? If, however, the kingdom of God lies in His commandment, set before your mind Moses on the other side, according to our antitheses, and you will find the self-same view of the case.
Tertullian· Against Marcion Book IV (220), on Luke 17:20
Asked by the disciples when the kingdom of God would come, the Lord said, "The kingdom of God is within you," through the truth of grace and not through the slavery of guilt. Let those that would be free be servants in the Lord. As we share in service, we also share in the kingdom. He said, "The kingdom of God is within you." He would not say when it would come.
Ambrose of Milan· Commentary on Luke (397), on Luke 17:20-21
These miserable men ask in mockery, "When will the kingdom of God come?" This is like saying, "Before this kingdom of which you speak comes, cross and death will seize you." What does Christ reply? He again displays his long-suffering and incomparable love to humanity. Reviled, he does not revile again. Suffering, he does not threaten. He does not harshly scold them, but because of their wickedness, he does not stoop to give them an answer to their question. He says only what is for the benefit of all people: that the kingdom of God does not come by watching. "Behold, the kingdom of God is within you." He says, "Do not ask about the times in which the season of the kingdom of heaven will again arise and come. Rather, be eager that you may be found worthy of it. It is within you. That is, it depends on your own wills and is in your own power, whether or not you receive it. Everyone that has attained to justification by means of faith in Christ and decorated by every virtue is counted worthy of the kingdom of heaven."
Cyril of Alexandria· Commentary on Luke, Homily 117 (444), on Luke 17:20-21
“In the Midst of You”
— Christ's own person, present bodily among His hearersOr the kingdom of God means that He Himself is placed in the midst of them, that is, reigning in their hearts by faith.
Bede· Catena Aurea by Aquinas (735), on Luke 17:20-21
Only one voice in this pool takes this reading by name, against several who read “within” — but it is worth weighing on its own terms, not by a show of hands: Jesus is answering hostile Pharisees, who are nowhere in the passage said to have the kingdom residing within them. That is a real difficulty for a purely individual, inward reading that a reading centered on Christ’s own presence does not share. Both readings stand, named, without a house verdict.
Where It Points
— the kingdom's presence is bound to the King's presenceWhichever reading a person lands on, the honest point underneath both is the same: wherever the kingdom of God actually is, it is never separable from Jesus Himself. A kingdom “within” a believer is His Spirit at work in that believer; a kingdom “in the midst” of the Pharisees is Him, standing there. Either way, the King’s presence is what makes the kingdom real, not a location or a spectacle.
Closing
The Pharisees wanted a date and a spectacle. Jesus gave them neither — only the claim that the kingdom they were asking about was already closer than a calendar could measure, whether inside the heart that receives Him or standing in the room in front of them.