The statement that the kingdom of God does not come with observation comes from Luke 17:20, where Jesus says to the Pharisees, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed.” This is an important verse that provides insight into the nature of God’s kingdom.
There are a few key things to understand from this verse:
- The kingdom of God refers to God’s reign and rule over all creation. It is the sphere where God’s will is done and his authority is recognized. The kingdom is present wherever people submit to God’s rule.
- The Pharisees expected the kingdom of God to come as a visible, earthly kingdom with great pomp and circumstance. They were anticipating a military ruler or king to overthrow Rome. But Jesus corrects their thinking – God’s kingdom would not come in an outward, observable manner.
- The kingdom of God arrives quietly and grows organically, from the inside out. It starts small, in the hearts of those who receive Jesus. Rather than arriving with visible fanfare, the kingdom expands as people believe the gospel and yield to God’s authority.
There are a few implications we can draw from this verse:
- We should not expect the kingdom of God to arrive as an outward show of power or visible display. It grows through the gradual, inward transformation of individual hearts and lives.
- The kingdom is manifested wherever righteousness, justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit are present. We can recognize the kingdom by its fruits, rather than external appearance.
- We demonstrate the presence of the kingdom by living under God’s reign. The way we live should align with the values of the kingdom – modeling love, grace, forgiveness, servanthood, and holiness.
- The fullness of the kingdom is still to come. When Christ returns, the kingdom will be perfectly established over all creation. But until then, it is continually expanding as more people yield to God’s rule.
In summary, the kingdom of God does not arrive with visible, outward manifestation. It starts small, in the hearts of those who submit to Jesus, and grows through changed lives. Our posture should be yielding to God’s reign in our own life and looking for the fruits of the Kingdom. One day the Kingdom will be consummated across the new heavens and new earth, but until then it quietly grows through the transformation of people’s hearts.
1. The kingdom of God refers to God’s reign and rule
The most foundational idea behind this verse is that the kingdom of God refers to God’s reign, rule, and authority over all of creation. Other verses help fill out this definition:
Psalm 103:19: The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
Psalm 145:13: Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
From these and other verses, we learn that God’s kingdom encapsulates his supreme power, dominion, and kingship over everything he has made. It refers to the sphere in which his will is carried out and his authority is recognized. In contrast to frail, human kingdoms, God’s kingdom is everlasting and absolute in its rule.
Wherever God reigns, there his kingdom exists. As people yield to God’s rightful authority over their lives, they become citizens of his kingdom. The kingdom expands not through geographic territory but through changed hearts and lives. Wherever the righteousness, peace, and joy of God’s kingdom is present, there his kingdom has come.
2. The Pharisees expected a physical, visible kingdom
To fully understand Jesus’ statement, we need to see it against the backdrop of the Pharisees’ expectations. The Pharisees were anticipating the coming of the kingdom of God to earth as a literal, visible kingdom. They expected a Messiah who would be a military conqueror overthrowing enemy nations and establishing an earthly kingdom for Israel. The Jews were under the oppressive rule of the Roman empire, so the Pharisees eagerly awaited deliverance into a Jewish political kingdom.
We see hints of this expectancy elsewhere:
Luke 19:11: As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.
John 6:15: Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
The Pharisees anticipated a political figure to lead a rebellion, overthrow Rome in a display of power, and visibly establish Israel as a great kingdom. But Jesus corrects this thinking – the kingdom would not come in such an observable, outward display.
3. The kingdom arrives quietly and grows organically
In contrast to the Pharisees’ expectations, Jesus makes clear that the kingdom does not arrive with visible signs and fanfare. Rather than appearing suddenly as an outward show of power, the kingdom arrives quietly and grows organically.
Jesus used parables to describe the growing nature of the kingdom:
Matthew 13:31-32: He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
Mark 4:26-29: And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
These parables depict the kingdom starting small and inconspicuously. But over time, it grows and expands, ultimately becoming greatly fruitful. This is how the kingdom grows – not with visible grandeur, but through small, organic growth from the inside out.
The kingdom advances as more people receive Jesus and submit their lives to his lordship. It expands through the transformation of individual hearts and lives by the power of the gospel. What starts as a mustard seed grows into a flourishing tree. The kingdom grows quietly but powerfully through changed lives.
4. We should look for internal, not external, evidence of the kingdom
If the kingdom does not arrive with outward pomp and circumstance, what should we look for to discern the presence of the kingdom? From this verse and others, we see a few implications:
- The kingdom is manifested not through external power but through internal righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 14:17). We recognize the kingdom by its fruits of godly character and transformed lives.
- We demonstrate the presence of the kingdom by living under God’s reign. The way we live should align with kingdom values like mercy, grace, humility, justice, purity, and love.
- We should not expect to usher in the kingdom through political power or military force. The kingdom advances as people are inwardly changed to yield to Christ’s lordship.
- We patiently await the consummation of the kingdom at Christ’s return. When he comes back, the kingdom will be perfectly established over the whole earth. But until then, we live as citizens of a kingdom still advancing.
The Pharisees were looking for the wrong kind of evidence to verify the coming of the kingdom. Outward power, prestige, and politics could not establish God’s kingdom. We take the opposite posture – yielding inwardly to what God desires to do in our hearts, which in turn affects how we live.
5. The fullness of the kingdom is still to come
While the kingdom has arrived with Christ’s first coming, the fullness of the kingdom is still on the horizon. When Jesus returns, he will perfectly establish his reign over a renewed creation.
Several verses speak to this future, consummated kingdom:
2 Timothy 4:1: I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom
2 Peter 1:11: For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Revelation 11:15: The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.
While the kingdom has partially arrived, the fullness is still in the future when Christ returns to completely abolish evil and establish perfect righteousness. We live in the tension between the already and the not yet. God’s kingdom has been inaugurated but not yet consummated. We patiently await the day when the kingdom will arrive in its fullness.
6. How the kingdom arrives in the Gospels
Examining how the kingdom message unfolds across the Gospels provides further insight into its quiet, organic nature.
First, the kingdom breaks into the world through Jesus himself. He is the long-expected King bringing the kingdom of God to earth (Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15). The kingdom arrives in a startling way – not a conquering hero but a suffering servant.
Second, Jesus inaugurates the kingdom by declaring its arrival and demonstrating its power. He proclaims the kingdom and proves its presence through healings, exorcisms, and other signs of deliverance from evil (Matthew 12:28). The kingdom advances not through outward force but inward power.
Third, Jesus invites people to enter the kingdom by repenting and believing the gospel (Mark 1:14-15). Entrance requires acknowledging Jesus’ lordship. The kingdom grows through willing, inward submission to the King.
Fourth, Jesus teaches what life in the kingdom looks like through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Kingdom citizens live by kingdom principles like meekness, mercy, purity, and peacemaking. The kingdom changes how its members live.
In all this, we see an emphasis on changed hearts and lives through encountering Jesus. The kingdom arrives not with external show but through internal regeneration. This underscores the quiet, subtle way the kingdom advances – from the inside out, one life at a time.
7. The kingdom continues to grow quietly after Jesus’ ascension
The rest of the New Testament emphasizes that the pattern of quiet, inward kingdom growth continues after Jesus’ ascension. Some highlights:
- At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit empowers believers to spread the kingdom through Spirit-filled proclamation of the gospel.
- Paul and other missionaries take the gospel across the world, calling people to enter the kingdom.
- The church serves as an agent of the kingdom by modeling righteousness, peace, and joy.
- Believers are exhorted to keep living as kingdom citizens, with their primary allegiance to the heavenly kingdom.
- Suffering is seen as part of how the kingdom advances in the present age.
- Jesus’ return is presented as the final consummation of the kingdom’s arrival.
Throughout the New Testament, we see the kingdom continuing to advance quietly through the gospel transforming individual lives and expanding the church. The full establishment awaits Christ’s return, but in the meantime, the kingdom grows as more people yield to the King.
8. We participate in the quiet kingdom by yielding to God’s reign
Recognizing that the kingdom advances subtly and inwardly yields a few implications for how we live:
- We do not impose the kingdom but bear witness to it by lives of righteousness, peace, and joy.
- We further the kingdom through gentle, humble service rather than power-grabs or force.
- We pray for kingdom advance as we share the gospel with others.
- We live as kingdom citizens by acting as salt and light in our spheres of influence.
- We wait patiently for Christ’s return when the kingdom will be perfectly established.
The kingdom grows as God works in hearts and changes are made from the inside out. Our posture is that of yieldedness – submitting our own lives completely to the King and looking expectantly for evidence of his kingdom. Quiet faithfulness, not noisy revolution, characterizes kingdom citizens as we allow God to gradually conform us into Christ’s image.
One day the kingdom will come with great external glory. But until then it advances through the quiet yielding of men’s and women’s hearts to the King. May we live as those who humbly yield to God’s reign each day, anticipating the day when the kingdom comes in fullness!