Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he said in reply, "The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, 'Look, here it is,' or, 'There it is.' For behold, the kingdom of God is among you." Then he said to his disciples, "The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be those who will say to you, 'Look, there he is,' (or) 'Look, here he is.' Do not go off, do not run in pursuit. For just as 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 suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation. (Lk 17:20-25)
Jesus was speaking about the kingdom of God. He was preaching about it through parables and stories. Pharisees and other leaders could not get the idea about the kingdom. They could not understand what he meant by this and so they asked for signs and when and from where it would come etc. They wanted to see it and observe it. It was becoming more and more a mystery for them.
Jesus’ answer was more confusing them. He said do not go around here and there for the kingdom. It is not localized (in space) and it is not fixed in time (when). Kingdom is not conditioned by time and space. Kingdom is like the son of man who appears like the lightning and disappears the next moment. In a sense do not look for it out side . It is a presence.
Jesus never uses God’s kingdom in the sense of purely spiritual, private and interior relationship (within you). It may be closer to saying that the kingdom is present but secret, hidden, waiting to be discovered (in your midst). But the real meaning is more active. It is not that the kingdom is present for you to just observe rather you have got to do something about it. It is within your grasp. It is confronting you with a decision, the decision is to believe, to trust and to follow Jesus.
