Luke 17:20-21

Being asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The Kingdom of God doesn’t come with observation; neither will they say, ‘Look, here!’ or, ‘Look, there!’ for behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.”

Since the English translations of the Bible vary in a critical way in regard to these verses, I think it is important to really dig into it. I often find that when Satan shrouds something in controversy, it means that it is very important. If it wasn’t that important, then no controversy would be required to make it confusing and difficult for people to understand.

Now, I have been using a version of the Bible that sounds like modern English but that also has no copyright. The reason for this is that the most popular copyright method of the English Bible translators is to limit the number of words that can be published as well as the percentage of the work that can be scripture. Because of this, I would like to create my own paraphrase of these verses because I don’t believe the World English Bible that I am using here is correct according to what many translators believe is being said. So, here it is:

Luke 17:20-21

When he was asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would show up, He said: “The Kingdom doesn’t come with a show; you won’t be hearing anybody say, ‘It’s over here!’ or, ‘It’s over there!’ You need to realize that the Kingdom of God is already here with you.”

We know that the Bible can’t be saying that the kingdom of God was in the Pharisees. We know this because of what John records Jesus as saying about the Pharisees:

John 8:44-47

“You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and its father. But because I tell the truth, you don’t believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God. For this cause you don’t hear, because you are not of God.”

You see, it doesn’t make very much sense to interpret these words in a way that makes it sound like the Pharisees had the Kingdom of God in them, does it? I don’t think that is the intent of this passage. You see Jesus was the only one who could possibly have the Kingdom in Himself because, Isaiah said this about everyone else there:

Isaiah 64:6

For we have all become as one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is as a polluted garment: and we all fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

Evidently, this passage can be interpreted as “in” you all or “among” you all and depends on context. I think the context is pretty clear when you look at the Bible all together that the Kingdom of God was not in all of them. It is far more likely that Jesus wanted the Pharisees to believe in Him and they wouldn’t.