Experience

Many of us are waiting for the kingdom of God to come someday. We think it is an experience that we will have sometime in the future. When Christ returns we will experience the kingdom at that time. However, when asked about this Jesus had an answer that many people would scoff at today.

Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."

Luke 17:20-21

The kingdom of God is already here. It is within us. I must say at this point that some translations translate the word for within as among.

Jesus, grilled by the Pharisees on when the kingdom of God would come, answered, "The kingdom of God doesn't come by counting the days on the calendar. Nor when someone says, 'Look here!' or, 'There it is!' And why? Because God's kingdom is already among you."

It is like I always say here in this blog - God is right here right now! So I like both translations and say that the kingdom of God is within us and among us. The kingdom of God is not something that we can get by book knowledge, it is something that we have to experience for ourselves and have a sudden insight or "aha" moment about. Jesus calls the the kingdom of God a mystery in Matthew 13:11 when asked why he teaches in parables. He says to his disciples:

"Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given."

The Greek word for this is "mysterion" which is something to be known, but it was an iniatiated knowledge, knowledge that a person could only get by their own individual insight and experience. This kind of knowledge could not be communicated through an ordinary educational process. We must experience the kingdom of God within us! We must take an inward journey to look at how we can be kind, loving, creative, and all the wonderful characteristics that are true of the kingdom of God. All the things that Jesus came to show us about what the kingdom of God should look like - right here and right now. Get all the knowledge that you can. Read and study. Begin to apply these things and experience what can happen to your life when the kingdom actually is realized within your own journey. There is no set time for the kingdom to come because it is already here. We cannot see it at times because we are still waiting for God to show himself, but God has. We are still waiting for God to change things, but we are the agents of change. Experience the kingdom of God and discover the mystery. It is a wonderful journey.

Namaste'