Thank you for the biblical interpretation question on the Kingdom of God, “What is meant by “the kingdom of heaven is within us”? Are there any Bible scriptures that speak about the Kingdom of Heaven being within us?”
As I read the context and the text, I would like to suggest for one’s consideration that when Jesus declared that the Kingdom of Heaven is within you, he is referring to Kingdom people who believe in the coming Messiah. Those who believe already possess the right and the quality of a citizen of Kingdom. Thus when the Messiah returns, the one who is left reflects that s/he is a Kingdom person while the one being taken away does not enter the Kingdom of God.
The Pharisees were looking or asking Jesus to show them a sign that he is the Messiah and that he will bring in the Kingdom of God (vs 20–21a). They were asking “when” it will come as they expected it to be very soon. Jesus answers their question with a short saying in verse but gives a fuller explanation to his disciples in verses 22–37,
The text says this, “22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” [36] 37 “Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather” (A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages).
Jesus states that the Kingdom of God will come after this happens, “But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation” (vs. 25). This is followed by a time period of eating and drinking, of carefree living until the sudden destruction at the return of the Sons of Man (verse 30). When the Messiah returns those who enter the kingdom will be those who look forward to his coming and conduct themselves as such while the non-Kingdom person carries on with their partying. The one who is left enters the Kingdom of God while the non-Kingdom person is brought to judgment among the dead body and where the vultures will gather. This is illustrated by the suddenness of destruction by the Flood and by Sodom and Gomorrah.
Thus Jesus is declaring that the Kingdom of God at this time is not a physical one, but a spiritual one for the people of that Kingdom live according to Kingdom principles as found in Matthew 6–8. The Pharisees have to look at their own heart and their own actions whether they are kingdom people or not. Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees for they didn’t have a transformed heart, thinking that within themselves they qualified for the Kingdom of God while the peasants do not qualify for the Kingdom of God. He warns the believers not to believe the Kingdom is immediate but in the future when no one knows when the Messiah will return and bring judgment on the unbelieving and the wicked individuals.
SUMMARY: The Kingdom of God is within those believers who live according to Kingdom Principles for they are citizens of the Kingdom and waits for the King to bring in the Kingdom of God.
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