Luke 1:32-33 is a prophecy issued prior to Jesus’s conception and birth, affirming: “He will be great and will be called Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign [βασιλεύσει] over the house of Jacob unto the ages, and of his kingdom [kingly rule] there will be no end.”1 In connection with Jesus’s incarnate earthly arrival, this prophecy speaks in the future tense of his regnal power as the Davidic messianic king whose rule lasts forever.2
Fairly early in his ministry, Jesus said to a crowd, “I say to you, among those born of women, none is greater than John, but the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:28). John the baptizer was the final emissary of the old-covenant Jewish system (Luke 16:16), preparing the way for Christ’s new-covenant dispensation (Luke 1:17, 76; 3:2-6, 16-18) that is equated here with “the kingdom [reign] of God.”
Jesus taught his disciples to pray to the Father, “your kingdom come” (Luke 11:2). Here “divine rule” seems to be the primary sense of βασιλεία, in conjunction with the parallel petition, “your will be done upon earth as also in heaven” (Matt. 6:10b). The plea is for God’s sovereign reign to infiltrate, impact, and direct the lives of his human creation.
During the crucifixion, one of the criminals next to Jesus said, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). Despite having been spoken by a nonauthoritative source, it is intriguing (though not surprising) that this murderous convict knew about the Lord’s kingdom. For over three years the gospel of the kingdom had been broadcasted across the entire region, from Jerusalem throughout all Judea, all the district around the Jordan, Galilee, as far north as Syria, as far south as Idumea, as far east as the Decapolis, and other areas beyond the Jordan.3
Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin and a “secret” disciple of Jesus, “was waiting for the kingdom of God” (Luke 23:51). Whatever understanding he may have had of God’s kingdom, from Joseph’s perspective it had not yet arrived.
God’s Kingdom Already Here?
The Lord’s Sermon on the Plain began with these words: “Blessed [are] the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20). Those to whom and about whom Jesus spoke seem to have already been possessing (present tense) God’s kingdom. Once again, βασιλεία may be best understood here as “sovereign rule” governing lives, not of all the poor but of those following Christ and submitting to his direction, particularly “the poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3).
In Luke 16:14-16, speaking to materialistic Pharisees, Jesus reminded them that “God knows your hearts” (v. 15), and “The law and the prophets were until John; from that [time] the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone forces into it” (v. 16). Reaffirming the preaching of God’s kingdom since the time of John the baptizer’s ministry,4 reference to “everyone” [πᾶς] is indicative of a hyperbolic statement. But using the verb βιάζω (occurring in the NT only twice, in different contexts, here and in Matt. 11:12) raises the question of whether it is to be understood negatively or positively.
This could refer to those who “inflict violence on,” viciously hindering God’s kingdom (like hostile Pharisees), or those who try to “force” a misconceived version of God’s kingdom (like fanatical Zealots). More likely, in a hyperbolically positive sense, everyone (incl. tax collectors and sinners) “fervently seeks” or “urgently accepts” or “passionately enters” the kingdom (sovereign rule) of God as preached by John, Jesus, and the disciples,5 albeit in troubling times (cf. Luke 8:42b; 12:1a).
On another occasion the Lord was asked by the Pharisees, “When is the kingdom of God coming?” He answered, “The kingdom is not coming with observation, nor will they say, ‘Look here or there.’ For behold, the kingdom of God is [presently] in your midst” (Luke 17:20-21).
The adverb ἐντός could convey the sense of “within” or “inside” (cf. Matt. 23:21-28), or “among you, in your midst ... either now or suddenly in the near future” (BDAG 340). In the current text, a double nuance is possible. The sense of “among” would seem more relevant when speaking to antagonistic Pharisees, whereas an inward manifestation makes sense when contrasted with what is outwardly observable. The point is to avoid envisioning the Lord’s kingdom as a physical, earthly-conceived entity. God’s sovereign reign must be internalized, ruling compliant hearts, represented in the very presence of Jesus himself. For those constrained by unwilling and defiant dispositions, these spiritual realities “are hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:42).
In Luke’s recounting of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the crowds cried out, “Blessed is the king [βασιλεύς], the one coming in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest” (Luke 19:38). Apparently recognizing Jesus’s royal status as messianic king, they were collectively reciting Psalm 118:26, while adding the word “king” and fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 (cf. Matt. 21:5). This recognition may also be implied by the repeated acknowledgment of Jesus as the “Christ” (Messiah), “son of David.”6 Although most Pharisees adamantly rejected the claim, Jesus did not (Luke 19:39, 40; cf. 23:2-3). Mark’s account includes in the acclamation, “Blessed [is] the coming kingdom of our father David ...” (Mark 11:10a).
Now, Not Yet, Soon to Be?
Jesus assured his immediate disciples, “but I truly say to you, there are some of those standing here who will not taste of death until they have seen the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:27). Neither in the past nor in the distant future, the divine kingdom of which Jesus spoke was to be realized within the lifetime of his first-century followers.7
Journeying toward Jerusalem and teaching in villages along the way, Jesus was asked, “Lord, are the ones being saved few?” (Luke 13:23). He responded, “Strive to enter through the narrow entrance, for I say to you, many will seek to enter and will not be able” (v. 24). Certain ones would be shut out (vv. 25-27), and certain ones would be cast out: “There will be weeping and gnashing of the teeth when you [all] see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you [all] are being cast out” (v. 28). Presumably speaking to (and about) the resistant and unreceptive,8 the verb ὁράω (“see”) seems to be used here in the sense of “perceive,” “envision,” or “conceptualize” (cf. 9:27; 10:24; 13:35; 17:20-22). The idiomatic expression “weeping and gnashing of teeth” describes intense anguish, regret, and despair due to the realization of being excluded from God’s kingdom.9
“And they will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will recline in the kingdom of God” (Luke 13:29). The imagery here is that of a banquet table, shared by those from all directions accepting the king’s gracious invitation (note the contrasting “you” and “they,” vv. 28-29).
In continuation of these teachings and illustrations, while reclining at the dinner table of a Pharisee leader, Jesus used the examples of a wedding feast and a banquet invitation, teaching lessons on humility and blessings “in the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:7-14). Someone then commented, “Blessed is one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God” (v. 15). This prompted Jesus telling the story of a great feast, where those who dismissed the master’s invitation were left out and others were welcomed into his house (vv. 15-25).
All this parallels Luke 13:23-30, where many are rejected from God’s kingdom, while others recline therein. When Jesus later reclined at the last Passover meal with the twelve, preparing to institute the memorial “supper” of his impending death, he observed, “For I say to you, I will not eat this until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God .... I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that the kingdom of God has come” (Luke 22:14-18). In light of Luke 9:27, this was to happen in the not-too-distant future.10
Speaking to the same group of men, Jesus went on to say, “But you are the ones having remained with me in my trials; and I confer to you, as my Father conferred to me, a kingdom, so you may be eating and drinking at my table in my kingdom and be seated on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:28-30). These apostles went on to serve as authoritative leaders and teachers in the church [ἐκκλησία] that Jesus had promised to build, which was then recognized, in continuity of God’s covenant people, as the new Israel of God.11
In the meantime, more “kingdom” language appears in Luke chap. 18. When the Lord’s disciples rebuked certain ones for bringing little children to him, he responded, “Allow the young children to come to me and do not forbid them, for of such is [presently] the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever may not receive the kingdom of God as a young child may not enter into it” (Luke 18:16-17).
Following his encounter with a wealthy young ruler, Jesus observed, “How difficult it is for those having riches to be entering into the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to enter a needle’s eye than a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:24-25).
Conclusion
Beyond the simple fact of God’s kingdom and its portrayal in Luke as both present and in the future, not yet and soon to be, in our next post we will bring these concepts together, along with other aspects of kingdom theology. We still want to understand more clearly what is meant by Jesus’s recorded words in Luke 21:31, “when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.”
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 Unless noted otherwise, scripture quotations are the author’s own translation.
2 Cf. Isa. 9:6-7; Matt. 28:18; Acts 2:30-36; 1 Cor. 15:20-27. As an added commentary, the apostle John recorded the words of Jesus spoken to Pontius Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world .... but now my kingdom is not from here.... you say that I am a king; for this [reason] I have been born, and for this [reason] I have come into the world, that I may testify to the truth ...” (John 18:36-37).
3 Matt. 3:1-2, 5-6; 4:17, 23-25; Mark 3:7-8. See K. L. Moore, “Thief on the Cross,” Moore Perspective (8 August 2014) <Link>.
4 Note also Luke 3:3-6; 4:43; 8:1; 9:2, 11, 60; 10:9, and the parallel passages in other Gospels.
5 See BDAG 175. Alfred Plummer suggests that the adj. πᾶς in Luke 16:16 indicates that “the Jew has no longer any exclusive rights” (The Gospel According to S. Luke 389).
6 Luke 1:32-33, 69; 2:11, 26; 3:15-16; 9:20; 18:38-39; 23:2; 24:26, 46; cf. Acts 2:29-36.
7 See also Matt. 3:2; 4:17; 16:28; Mark 1:14-15; 9:1.
8 Luke 5:17, 21, 30; 6:2, 7; 7:30; 11:23, 29, 37-54; 12:1; 15:2; 16:14.
9 Matt. 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30.
10 See Acts 2:42; 20:7; 1 Cor. 10:16; 11:23-29.
11 Matt. 16:16-19; Acts 2:1-43; Rom. 2:28-29; 9:6-8; Gal. 6:16; Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Pet. 2:9-10. It may be of significance that the apostles initiated the preaching of the gospel and establishing the church within the circle of Judaism, and early on all twelve stood trial before the leaders of Israel yet the Lord's twelve apostles passed judgment on them (Acts 2:1–5:42).
Works Cited:
BDAG: Walter Bauer, F. W. Danker, W. F. Arndt, and F. W. Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago; London: The University of Chicago Press, 2001.
Alfred Plummer, The Gospel According to S. Luke ICC. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1910.
Related Posts: Luke's Perspective Part 1, Unshakable Kingdom
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