The Invisible Empire Text: Luke 17:20-21
Introduction: The Carnal Gaze
Men are always looking for the wrong things. We are inveterate sign-seekers, but our spiritual eyesight is so broken that we wouldn't know what to do with a sign if God plastered it across the noonday sky. We want a kingdom that comes with pomp and circumstance, with political clout and military muscle. We want a revolution we can watch on the evening news. The Pharisees were no different. They were the respectable, religious sign-seekers of their day. And when they questioned Jesus about the timing of God's kingdom, they were asking with a carnal gaze. They were looking for an earthly empire to throw off the Roman yoke. They wanted a political Messiah who would make Judea great again.
Their question was not an innocent inquiry. It was a test, laced with skepticism. "If you are the King, then where is the kingdom? Show us the banners, the legions, the overthrow of Caesar." They wanted something they could observe, measure, and control. They wanted a kingdom that fit within their tidy, political-theological categories. But the kingdom of God is not a political party, and Jesus Christ is not running for office. His kingdom is not of this world, meaning it is not from this world. Its origin is heaven, but its destination is earth. And it does not advance by the sword, but by the Spirit. It does not come with observable signs for the willfully blind, but it had, in fact, already arrived.
Jesus' answer to the Pharisees is a radical recalibration of all our expectations. He tells them, and us, that the kingdom of God is not an external, political spectacle that you can point to on a map. It is a spiritual reality that was standing right in front of them. It is an invasion, yes, but a quiet one. It is like leaven in a lump of dough, like a mustard seed growing into a great tree. It is an invisible empire that is, by the power of the gospel, making all things new. And if you are looking for it with the eyes of the flesh, you will miss it every single time.
The Text
Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here!’ or, ‘There!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
(Luke 17:20-21 LSB)
Not With Observation (v. 20)
We begin with the Lord's direct refutation of the Pharisees' entire framework.
"Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, 'The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed...'" (Luke 17:20)
The phrase "with signs to be observed" is key. The Greek word suggests careful, hostile scrutiny. The Pharisees were watching Jesus, not in faith, but like building inspectors with a clipboard, looking for violations. They wanted empirical, undeniable, political proof. They wanted a sign from heaven, a celestial fireworks display that would force them to believe. But God does not cater to the demands of unbelief. Faith is the evidence of things not seen.
Jesus is telling them that the kingdom does not arrive in a way that can be tracked by worldly metrics. You cannot measure its advance by counting heads in a political rally or by checking the latest polling data. This is a direct rebuke to every form of political messianism, whether it comes from the first-century Zealots or twenty-first-century evangelicals who think the kingdom's arrival is synonymous with getting their man in the White House. The kingdom of God is not a worldly institution that you can scrutinize and plot on a graph. Its power is of a different sort entirely.
This does not mean the kingdom has no effects. It most certainly does. It turns the world upside down. But it does so from the inside out. It changes hearts before it changes institutions. The kingdom is like a seed growing secretly. The farmer sleeps and rises, and the seed sprouts and grows, he knows not how. The power is in the seed, not in the farmer's anxious observation. The Pharisees wanted to be spectators, watching for a show. Jesus demands that they become participants, bowing to a King.
No Earthly Zip Code (v. 21a)
Jesus continues by dismantling their geographic expectations.
"...nor will they say, 'Look, here!' or, 'There!'" (Luke 17:21a LSB)
The kingdom of God cannot be localized. It is not tied to a particular piece of real estate. The Pharisees were thinking in terms of Jerusalem, of the temple, of a restored Davidic monarchy with a physical throne. But Jesus blows the walls off all such small-minded thinking. You cannot say, "Look, the kingdom is over there, in that holy city," or "It's here, with this particular political movement."
Why? Because the kingdom of God is the rule and realm of Jesus Christ. And where is His realm? "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matt. 28:18). His realm is everywhere. His rule is total. Therefore, you cannot point to a spot on the map and say, "The kingdom is here, but not there." His reign extends to every square inch of the cosmos. The mission of the church is not to establish a little Christian enclave over here, a holy huddle, but to declare the crown rights of King Jesus over everything, everywhere.
This is why the Great Commission is a command to go to all nations. The kingdom is not a retreat, it is an invasion. We are not building a fortress, we are taking a world. When men try to localize the kingdom, they inevitably try to tame it and control it. They reduce it to a program, a building, or a political agenda. But the kingdom is a dynamic, spiritual reality that cannot be contained by human hands.
The Confrontational Kingdom (v. 21b)
Here we come to the heart of the matter, the stunning declaration that turns the tables on the Pharisees completely.
"For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst." (Luke 17:21b LSB)
The King James famously renders this as "the kingdom of God is within you." This has led many to a pietistic misunderstanding, as though the kingdom is nothing more than a warm feeling in your heart, a private, internal, mystical experience. While the kingdom certainly has internal effects, that is not the primary meaning here. Jesus is speaking to a hostile audience of Pharisees. The kingdom of God was most certainly not "within" them in a spiritual sense. They were whitewashed tombs, full of dead men's bones.
The Greek phrase, entos hymon, is better translated as "in your midst" or "among you." Jesus is not making a statement about their internal spiritual state. He is making a statement about His own identity. He is telling them, "You are asking when the kingdom will come, and you are looking for signs in the sky. You fools. The kingdom is not coming; it is here. The King is standing right in front of you, and you are blind to Him."
The kingdom of God was present in the person of the King. He was casting out demons by the finger of God, which He had already told them was proof that the kingdom had come upon them (Luke 11:20). He was healing the sick, forgiving sins, and teaching with an authority that shattered their categories. The power, the authority, and the presence of the kingdom were embodied in Him. They were looking for a political program, and God sent them a person. They were looking for a revolution, and God sent them a Redeemer. The kingdom was not an abstract concept; it was a concrete, confrontational reality standing two feet away from them, and they were interrogating Him.
Conclusion: Seeing the Kingdom Now
The Pharisees' problem is our problem. We are still tempted to look for the kingdom in all the wrong places. We look to the political arena, hoping for a Caesar who will enforce our morality. We look for grand, observable movements, for revival in the stadium, for something that will impress the world. But the kingdom of God is still not coming with signs to be observed.
The kingdom is still in our midst. Christ the King is not physically present, but He is present by His Spirit, in His Word, and among His people. The Church is the embassy of the kingdom, the outpost of heaven on earth. Every time the gospel is preached, the kingdom advances. Every time a sinner repents, the kingdom expands. Every time Christians gather for worship to receive the Word and sacraments, the kingdom is made visible.
Our task is not to be anxious sign-seekers, wringing our hands about the state of the world. Our task is to be faithful subjects of the King. This means we are to live as though the kingdom is here, because it is. We are to apply the Lordship of Christ to our families, our work, our art, our science, and our communities. We are to be the leaven, the salt, the light. The kingdom advances not through political coercion, but through gospel persuasion and faithful obedience. It grows like a mustard seed, quietly, organically, but unstoppably, until it becomes the largest tree in the garden and all the nations find refuge in its branches.
The Pharisees asked "when?" Jesus answered with "who." They wanted a timetable. He gave them Himself. The kingdom of God was standing in their midst, and they rejected Him. Let us not make the same mistake. Let us open our eyes, not to the signs of the times, but to the King of all ages, who reigns now and is putting all His enemies under His feet. The kingdom is here. Live like it.