Many people believe Jesus Christ taught that the Kingdom of God is something
that exists only in the hearts and minds of believers. They base this on
Luke 17:20,21, which says: "Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when
the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, 'The kingdom
of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or
'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.'"
Such assumptions are incorrect for several reasons. The Greek word entos,
translated "within," is better translated "in the midst of" (Vine's Complete
Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, "Within"). Several
translations, including the Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible and
New English Bible, make this clear. Jesus Christ could not have been telling
the Pharisees here that God's Kingdom was something that existed within
their hearts or minds—after all, they wanted to destroy Him (Matthew 12:14, Mark 3:6).
Instead, in this passage Christ was pointing out the paradox that the
Pharisees did not have the spiritual discernment to recognize that the
message of the Kingdom of God was at hand or being offered to them (Matthew 23:15-17). To punctuate this point, Jesus, referring to Himself, said "the
kingdom of God is among you" or "in your midst." The spiritually blind
Pharisees did not recognize Jesus as the divine Representative of that
Kingdom.
