The passage that the title of this article comes from begins this way: “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” (Lk. 17: 20-21). Why are we always looking for and demanding signs? And, more importantly, why do we, like the Pharisees, keep looking for it in all the wrong places, instead of seeing what is before our very eyes?

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The kingdom of God was in the midst of that gathering of Pharisees, right before their very eyes. Yet they did not see it in Jesus; they refused to see him for who he is, even after seeing and hearing all that he had said and done in their presence. Because they were so sure of their own ideas they missed his meaning when he said to them, “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 here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go, do not set off in pursuit” (vs. 22-23). Do we sometimes suffer from the same blindness? Are there not many around us today, in society, even in the Church, who are saying, “Look here!” or “Listen to me!” Are there not many among us today who shape Jesus’ words to fit their own human ideas?

Jesus refers to this tendency quoting Isaiah in Mark 7: 6-9, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts…How well you have set aside the commandment of God to uphold your tradition.” How often do we cling tenaciously to our own ideas, even in the face of contrary evidence, not investigating our own questions to any degree? Why do we do this? Are we protecting our own egos? Are we afraid of the hard work we would have to undertake to change our ways and live in accord with the truth of the Gospel? Are we still looking for the kingdom of God in all the wrong places?

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The kingdom has come among us in the Person of Jesus Christ, the Word of God. And he remains with us today. How do we respond to such generosity, such a great gift? Is it enough just to say thank you with our lips? Or, do we express our thanks most powerfully by passing on the gift of the kingdom of heaven, by sharing its wisdom, its joy, its active love and forgiveness in the way we live our own lives? We are not to cling to the joy of the kingdom of heaven like a personal possession. Rather, in accord with the divine economy of the Gospels, the more we share the kingdom of heaven with others, the more we will be able to receive God’s infinite, ongoing, and continuously generous graces in our own lives.

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Christ came among us to break through all of the worldly delusions and distractions that blind us to the fact that the kingdom of heaven is open to us here and now. He calls on us here and now to enter into the joy of that kingdom and to let it “shine on those who walk in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace” (Lk. 1:79). Maybe this is what it means to be a disciple. We are not to shine just so others can see us, but so that, through us, others can see Jesus and enter into the peace of the kingdom of heaven through and with him. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
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