Category:Kingdom of God (subject)

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Kingdom of God

Overview

According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus announced the coming of the Kingdom of God as an (imminent) future event.

The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news (Mk 1:14)

Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power (Mk 9:1)

In the Gospel of Luke, the kingdom becomes both a future event and a present one, as Pauline Christians saw in the Church a reality that prefigured the future kingdom:

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Paul in the Letter to the Romans):

If it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you (Lk 11:20). 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).

In the Gospel of Thomas, the Kingdom lost its temporal and collective features; it is a mystical and individual experience:

“His disciples said to him, ‘When will the kingdom come?’ [Jesus said:] “It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying ‘here it is’ or ‘there it is’. Rather, the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it” (113).

“Jesus said, If those who lead you say to you, See the kingdom is in the sky, then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you and is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father” (3)

In the Gospel of John, entering the Kingdom is the result of the action of the Holy Spirit, who "blows where it chooses":

"No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." 4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."