There are some important observations to be made about the Pharisees request and Jesus' answer. It is note worthy that Jesus did not say that this time the kingdom is not coming with signs and observation, and that will be at a future time. No, to the Pharisees, those trained in the Law of Moses, those expecting the millennial kingdom, those who at that time were ensconced in a fervor awaiting the Messiah and the messianic kingdom, he did not say that the kingdom would eventually come in a different way that could be easily observed. He rather answered that the kingdom was already in their midst. It was already among them. How so? Well the kingdom was everywhere the King was. Jesus was the King in their midst.
How then is it in our midst nowadays? The answer is simple. It is everywhere the King is. How then is the King among us? It is by the Spirit of Messiah, the Holy Spirit, the comforter, the teacher, the Spirit of God. Jesus offers clarity in this passage. Joh 18:36 Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” This was in answer to a question put forth by Pilate in his inquisition. Pilate asked him straight out if he was King of the Jews. Jesus made it clear to Pilate that the kingdom was not a kingdom with a parcel of land in the physical realm but rather a spiritual kingdom from a different reality/dimension.
Paul was the one who was charged with explaining the kingdom gospel to the Gentiles. This was after the resurrection, and after he had taken the gospel to the Jews first. When many of the Jews rejected the gospel he then was sent to the Gentiles as well. It is to the Gentiles in Galatia that Paul explains the nature of the kingdom and its capital. It is necessary to include a longer passage to get the message across. This is the Jerusalem that Jesus reigns in and is King. Gal 4:21-31 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law? (22) For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. (23) But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent, while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise. (24) These things may be treated as an allegory, for these women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar. (25) Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. (26) But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. (27) For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains, because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.” (28) But you, brothers and sisters, are children of the promise like Isaac. (29) But just as at that time the one born by natural descent persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so it is now. (30) But what does the scripture say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the son” of the free woman. (31) Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman. This is a kingdom that is not of the physical world but is present in the world. He even quotes Isaiah 54:1 as a proof text for the reality that the kingdom is a spiritual kingdom.
The above passage speaks of the New Jerusalem, the one that the author of Revelation saw coming down out of the sky. Rev 3:12 The one who conquers I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never depart from it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from my God), and my new name as well. It is obvious that Paul and John are referring to the same spiritual Jerusalem. It only makes sense that God would in fact redeem ALL of humanity. I am not anti-sematic or disparaging the Jews in any way. Jesus himself was a Jew. That fact is that God's kingdom is broader than any had anticipated. It is a spiritual kingdom in which all of humanity has been reconciled. God was in Christ, reconciling the WORLD to himself (2Cor 5.)
We then apprehend the kingdom by having faith in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. The kingdom is now, the New Jerusalem is now! The question becomes, will you believe it? Will you walk in the reality of it?
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