The Kingdom of God in the Gospels

In the Gospels, the Kingdom of God concerns God’s reign and people’s response to it. Jesus announces its nearness, teaches His followers to pray for its coming, and describes it through parables. Reading those passages together helps explain why the expression includes both a present call to faith and an expectation directed toward God’s future.

Begin where Jesus announces it

Mark places the announcement near the start of Jesus’ public ministry. Jesus proclaims that the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom has drawn near, and calls people to repent and believe the good news. Read those statements as one announcement. The reference to the Kingdom comes with an invitation to respond to God. Soon afterward, people are called to follow Jesus. Mark 1:14–20

For a first reading, write down the verbs in this passage. What is announced, and what are listeners asked to do? This keeps the explanation close to the text. A definition formed only from the ordinary political meaning of the word kingdom can miss the call to repentance and faith that appears in the actual scene.

It also helps to ask who is speaking. Here Jesus announces the Kingdom. Later passages contain questions from listeners, explanations to disciples and instructions for prayer. Those different settings give each reference its particular emphasis. Keep a note of the speaker and audience beside the reference before joining several passages into a conclusion.

Hear the petition in its prayer

In the prayer Jesus teaches in Matthew 6, the petition for God’s Kingdom is placed beside the request that His will be done on earth as in heaven. The same prayer includes daily bread and forgiveness. The Kingdom belongs within this address to the Father, which gives readers a concrete way to hear the expression as a prayer. Matthew 6:9–13

Read the prayer through before considering one sentence by itself. Ask what the person praying is asking God to do and how the petitions relate. The request about God’s will directs attention to obedience, while the requests for bread and forgiveness bring ordinary human needs into the prayer. You can discuss these connections without making the passage a promise of personal prosperity.

What the growing seed contributes

In Mark 4, Jesus compares God’s Kingdom with seed scattered on the ground. The person who sows sleeps and rises while the seed grows, and the crop eventually reaches harvest. A second comparison uses a mustard seed and the growth that follows its small beginning. Both images invite attention to development over time. Read the comparisons in their entirety. Mark 4:26–32

Try describing what happens in each illustration before explaining what you think it means. Which details receive attention? What changes between the beginning and the end? A parable offers an image for thought, and the image can be distorted if every object is assigned a separate invented meaning. Allow the comparison itself to guide the discussion.

For example, you could draw a simple sequence in a notebook and mark the point at which the harvest appears. Then return to the words that introduce the comparison with the Kingdom. This exercise helps you distinguish details you have read from additions you may have made unconsciously. It works just as well in a conversation with another reader.

Read the question in Luke with its answer

Luke 17 records Pharisees asking when God’s Kingdom would come. Jesus answers their question and then speaks to the disciples about the days of the Son of Man. Keep the change of audience in view. The question, the reply and the following teaching belong together, but the people addressed are identified in the narrative. Luke 17:20–25

In verse 21, English editions may use wording such as within you or in your midst. If your edition includes a note, read it and compare the surrounding verses before building a conclusion on one English phrase. The question of timing is followed by teaching that includes suffering and rejection. A careful reading gives those words room instead of turning the passage into a calendar calculation.

Bring the passages into conversation

Place the announcement in Mark 1 beside the prayer in Matthew 6. One announces nearness and calls for a response. The other teaches a petition for the Kingdom to come. Keeping both passages visible helps you hear the range of Gospel language. The seed comparisons add an image of growth, while Luke records a question about its coming.

For discussion, ask each reader to choose one of these passages and explain what it contributes. Keep the reference with the answer. If an explanation depends on a detail from elsewhere, open that passage too. This makes it possible to explore the subject carefully and revise an interpretation when the wording calls for it.

Our guide to reading Mark follows the questions raised throughout that Gospel. For practical information about visiting Spasenie Church in Winter Park, see the first-visit guide. Save a chapter reference with any question you would like to discuss.