Thy Kingdom Come


Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.”

Then he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. They will say to you, ‘Look there!’ or ‘Look here!’ Do not go, do not set off in pursuit. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation.

 

Whenever we say the Lord’s Prayer, we pray for God’s kingdom to come. But what is the kingdom of God? And where is it? The Pharisees, like many of their time, believed that God’s kingdom was a political kingdom. They believed God would overthrow the Romans and set up an earthly kingdom, bringing back the glory days of David and Solomon. And they wanted to know when it would come. 

 

In typical fashion, Jesus circumvented the question. He said, “It’s gonna come in a way you don’t expect. In fact, the kingdom of God is already among you.” So what was the kingdom of God, then? It was the person and ministry of Jesus Christ, himself. He opened the doors of heaven to all of mankind, and then, through the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, made the kingdom present within us.

 

So, the kingdom of heaven is in us today. That’s why we sing that song, “O, Heaven is in my heart.” Ok, so now every kingdom has a king. So if the kingdom of heaven is in our hearts, our hearts have to be ruled by the king. The question for us today is: Are they? Are our hearts ruled by the king - that’s Jesus, of course? Or do we dictate how we should feel and how we should live?

 

All of us know that a divided heart is easily conquered. Therefore, if we are to resist the “enemy” who only steals, kills, and destroys, we have to give control to the “friend” through whom we have abundant life (see John 10:10). This is not easily done, as anybody who has tried can attest. But if we surrender the reins, more and more with each passing day, the king will rule our hearts. And because he is a good king, we will have what is good.

 

So, the next time we pray, “Your Kingdom Come” let us long to have Jesus take more control of our hearts and lives and establish his rule more firmly in us. 

 

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here: https://youtu.be/6OF5YY_dp4U

 

 

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