The Road Devotional | Lent 2024

Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” 

Here we find Jesus beginning a lengthy discourse on what is known as “eschatology,” or the study of the end of things. This beginning is specifically directed to Jesus’ disciples in reply to a question asked of Jesus by the Pharisees. It’s also a question that is deeply rooted in their history for a group of people who waited for a long time for their liberation.

Jesus’ use of the idea of a kingdom of God that cannot be “observed” is not a denial of the real and visible nature of his miracles, but is instead an indictment of the treatment he has received from the Pharisees: a group of religious leaders that were mostly opposed to Jesus’ teachings. While the Pharisees had closely scrutinized Jesus, observing him both up close and from a distance. Obviously, this approach wasn’t working. The Kingdom of God was right under their nose but they were unable to “observe” it.

Q. Reflect on specific choices and decisions you face. How might acknowledging the kingdom of God within influence the way you approach and make these choices?

Instead, Jesus says that the “kingdom of God” is in your midst: it is literally among you. It is happening here and now. In a way, Jesus is calling us to stop overthinking and scrutinizing our religious lives in order to be fully engaged in what God is doing already. 

Q. What can you do to be better at that?

God, in the midst of my busy life, help me to pause and recognize that your kin-dom isn’t just some far-off distant place, but within us and around us where Your love and grace embrace. May I seek first your Presence where Your peace and righteousness never departs.

Amen.