First of all, such verses have to be understood in a way that harmonises them with other direct verses which dwell on the same topic. This is because, since the Bible does not contradict itself, we can be sure that our interpretation has some solid foundation. Secondly, we have to analyse the context of a particular difficult verse and find out clues about what it seeks to convey. Importantly, without any good reason, no verse should be interpreted in a way that makes no sense in its immediate context. Lastly, since the Bible was written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, it is important to go to those languages in order to clarify certain points. In this issue, we are going to analyse a difficult verse in detail. Since, we are going to delve into the Greek grammar and the sentence structure, we request everyone to give careful attention while reading this issue.
(2) ‘Kingdom’ is a very simple word that is easy to understand. It reminds us about ancient Kingdoms that had kings and subjects. Kingdom of God, when established, will be one such kingdom. But, many Christians think that the Kingdom of God is a mystical entity. One particular verse is greatly responsible for this misunderstanding, and that is Luke 17:21 – ‘Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you’ (KJV). Since, this verse seemingly says that the Kingdom of God is within us, people think of it as a mystical spiritual enterprise that is within us. Even those who believe that the Kingdom of God will be established as a literal kingdom in future think that it came as a seed from the time of Christ. We are going to examine Luke 17:21 that has led to so much confusion about a topic as important as the Kingdom of God.
(3) It is wrong to say either that the Kingdom is within us or that it came as a seed from the time of Christ. Because, as said in paragraph 1, if we check out the other direct verses about the Kingdom of God in the Bible, they make it amply clear that Kingdom of God is something that will be established in future. Even the very same Book of Luke has many such verses – Luke 10:9,11; 19:11; 21:31,32; 22:18. The apostles of Christ too preached clearly that the Kingdom of God was to come only in the future. In fact, in the prayer taught by Jesus to his disciples, to pray for the establishment of the Kingdom of God forms an integral part. Hence, the testimony of other direct, unambiguous verses about the Kingdom of God makes it clear that it will be established in future. Hence, we have to understand Luke 17:21 only in a manner that is harmonious with those other verses. Thus, it is wrong to think that the Kingdom of God is within us in a mystical spiritual way or that it came as a seed from the time of Christ itself.
(4) If so, how to interpret Luke 17:21? The ‘within you’ of Luke 17:21 is a translation of the Greek word ‘entos’ (Strong’s No: 1787). This Greek word can be translated as ‘within you’ but also as ‘among you’ or ‘in the midst of you’. In this context, we believe that ‘among you’ or ‘in the midst of you’ is the more appropriate translation. This is because nowhere else does the Bible support a mystical concept of the Kingdom of God that is established within people. It is only among people or in their midst that the Kingdom of God is to be established in the future, the Bible says. Hence, ‘among you’ or ‘in the midst of you’ is the fitting translation. Moreover, Jesus says this to the Pharisees (Luke 17:20). If we take ‘within you’ as the proper translation, then does Jesus mean that the Kingdom of God was within them? It can’t be because Jesus makes it clear in other places about the filth that resides in the hearts of Pharisees – ‘Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.’ (Luke 11:39). Hence, it is absurd to interpret that the hearts of the Pharisees which were filled with wickedness, also contained the righteous Kingdom of God. Thus, ‘among you’ or ‘in the midst of you’ is the most appropriate rendering from all angles. Many new translations render it in this manner – ‘Behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you’ (RSV) : ‘For the Kingdom of God is among you’ (NLT). Thus, with ‘among you’, Luke 17:21 will ring like this – ‘Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is among you’.
(5) Even after this change, Luke 17:21 gives the impression that the Kingdom of God had come then itself among people. But, as the other verses on the Kingdom of God clearly show, there is no way that Kingdom of God was established in any manner among the people of that time. Thus, Jesus could not have said so. Hence, in order to understand what Jesus is saying here, we need to explore the context of this verse. Luke 17:21 is an answer to the question asked by Pharisees to Jesus in Luke 17:20. The Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come (Luke 17:20). To that question, Jesus’ answer starts in 20th verse itself and since 21st verse is a continuation of that, we need to understand 20th verse if we are to make proper sense of verse 21. Jesus starts his answer in this manner – ‘The kingdom of God cometh not with observation (KJV)’. The first thing to be noticed here is that herein Jesus portrays the coming of Kingdom of God as a future event. That is why he says that when it comes, it will not come with careful observation. Hence, in the very next verse, he could not have said that it had already come. Next, we have to understand what is the appropriate meaning of ‘not with observation’ in Greek. It is a translation of the Greek phrase ‘ouk . . . meta paratereseos’ (Strong’s Nos: 3756, 3326, 3907). A better and more appropriate translation will be ‘not… with signs to be observed’ (RSV). In, ‘not… with signs to be observed’, ‘with’ is a translation of the Greek word ‘meta’. Interestingly, in some contexts, meta can be rendered as ‘after’ as well, but according to Greek grammar, the preposition meta with the genitive, as it is the case here, conveys the sense of association or accompaniment (i.e. with), and thus cannot be translated as ‘after’. This difference is important because the Kingdom of God does come after many signs that can be observed as clearly indicated by Jesus in Matthew 24. What Jesus is saying in Luke 17:20 is that, it will not come ‘with’ i.e. be accompanied with signs when it comes. Even in Matthew 24, Jesus does not give any accompanying signs, but rather gives signs only till the time when the Kingdom is near at the door (See Matthew 24:33 – In this verse, some translations wrongly have ‘he’. In Greek, ‘he’ and ‘it’ are denoted by the same word and it is the context that determines. There are two undeniable evidences to point out that in this context; ‘it’ is the appropriate translation. Firstly, as the prophecy is already at the point of Jesus’ coming having occurred in the preceding 30th verse of the same Matthew 24, how can it be possible for his coming to be still near at the later 33rd verse? It doesn’t make sense. In fact, the coming of Christ itself is a sign that the Kingdom of God is near. Secondly, the same verse rendered by Luke states directly that the ‘Kingdom of God is near’, thus indicating that ‘it’ is the correct translation here (Luke 21:31). Hence, those who see the many signs including the second presence of Christ are to understand that the Kingdom of God is near at the door which is what Jesus is saying in Matthew 24. Many new English translations thus render ‘it’ in Matthew 24:33. Thus, the Bible does not give any accompanying sign for the Kingdom of God.
(6) But, just because the Kingdom of God does not come with any accompanying signs, it does not mean that it will come in a secret manner. In fact, Jesus conveys the exact opposite. He says that the Kingdom of God will come in an explicit fashion. How so? Let us turn our attention again to Luke 17:21. As an answer to the Pharisees, Jesus first says that the Kingdom of God will not come with accompanying signs and then adds saying the following in Luke 17:21’s first part – ‘Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there!. ‘Neither’ is the key word here (‘Oude’ in Greek, Strong’s No: 3761). Neither is generally used in order to contradict the implication of the previous statement. Herein, the implication of the previous statement is that if the Kingdom of God does not come with accompanying signs, then there will be confusion about it. But, Jesus negates that by saying that neither people will say ‘lo here or lo there’, meaning there will be no confusion. So, Jesus is saying that the Kingdom of God will not come with accompanying signs, and neither will it create any confusion among people. To understand this better, we can contrast this with the statement of Jesus about his second presence in Matthew 24 – ‘At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.’ (Matthew 24:23). This verse shows that there will be confusion about the second presence of Christ, but when the Kingdom comes, there will be no such confusion. In fact, a casual comparison of these two verses itself reveals that the second presence of Christ and the coming of the Kingdom of God are two different events happening at two different times. Since the second presence of Christ is an invisible spiritual presence; there will be confusion as Jesus says in Matthew 24:23. On the other hand, Jesus indicates in Luke 17:21 that there will be no such confusion when the Kingdom of God comes. How can it be? – Some may ask. Because Jesus himself says that there will be no accompanying signs, there can be no confusion. Let us look at the remaining critical part of Luke 17:21 for the answer.
(7) The remaining part in Luke 17:21 is – for, behold, the kingdom of God is among you’. To understand this part, we have to look at Luke 17:21 in the Diaglott – ‘nor will they say: Lo here, or, or there; lo for, the majesty of the God in the midst of you is’. Please note that there are two ‘lo’ in the Diaglott’s version. The part following the first ‘lo’ denotes what people will not say in the future, i.e. they will not say Kingdom is here or there. By the extension of that logic, the part following the second ‘lo’ must say what the people will say in the future. In fact, this comes out in a simple and clear manner if one follows the flow of Jesus’ answer from Luke 17:20. The Pharisees ask Jesus when the Kingdom will come. Jesus starts his answer by saying that the Kingdom of God will not come with any accompanying signs, but neither will people say it is here or there i.e. meaning neither will there be any confusion. After this, what Jesus should say as a natural flow of logic? He has said Kingdom will not be like this when it comes (with accompanying signs), neither it will be like that (creating confusion). Then, next he should logically talk about how it will be when it comes, isn’t it? That is exactly what he does. He first says people will not say ‘lo here. or there’, and therefore he by logic has to say, what people will say in future. People will say, ‘lo, the Kingdom of God is among you’. Thus, what Jesus is saying indicates what people will say in the future. Think about it! If the first ‘lo’ talks about the future, so must the second ‘lo’. A slightly expanded rendering of the verse based on the logic we expounded above will be like this – The ‘will they say’ after the second ‘lo’ is not provided in the original rendering because it is understood based on the context – ‘nor will they say: Lo here, or, or there; lo for will they say, the majesty of the God in the midst of you is’. We have to remember that Jesus was not writing but rather speaking, and while speaking it is common to omit portions that are understood by the listeners by virtue of the context. The presence of the second ‘lo’ and the fact that till then Jesus had been speaking of the Kingdom as in future, clearly indicate that Jesus was only talking about what people will say in the future, when the Kingdom comes. But what does it mean? Why will people of future say, ‘lo, the Kingdom of God is among you’ ? It is actually rather simple. The establishment of the Kingdom of God is going to be a dramatic event. Hence, though there will not be any accompanying signs, once established nobody will have any confusion, and all will proclaim with clarity that it is among them. Truly, the Kingdom of God will be established on earth only after radical events like the destruction of this second world and resurrection and therefore from then on, no one will harbour any doubts about its establishment in anyway.
(8) A proper understanding of Luke 17:21 dispels doubts regarding whether the Kingdom of God has been established or not. It has not been established because as Jesus says when it is established no one will say it is here or there, there will be no confusion. The very fact that there is dispute is an indication that the Kingdom of God has not been established yet. Truly, when it is established, and soon it will be, not even one person will have doubt that it is in his or her midst. We, who live in the period of Christ’s second presence are very close to the Kingdom of God, and hence let us prepare ourselves for the same.