Thursday 10 November

Wisdom 7: 22-8: 1, Ps. 119N, Luke 17: 20-25

God’s reign already present

The Pharisees ask when the Kingdom of God will come. Jesus’ answer may mean ‘the kingdom of God is among you’, as in the lectionary. In other words, in Jesus, the kingdom is already in their midst. Jesus embodies it, but they have failed to recognize him. But the Greek can also mean ‘the kingdom of God is within you’ – in which case, Jesus meant that the kingdom is found in human hearts, in transformed people – not in the outward drama the Pharisees anticipated. Do we recognize the ways in which God already reigns in our midst?