Luke 17:21

• When the kingdom of God would come: Many Jews believed that the Messiah (Christ) would establish God's kingdom in Jerusalem. They expected him to defeat Israel's enemies and bring peace, prosperity, justice, and righteousness (see 3:15; compare Acts 1:6).

  The Pharisees were likely questioning the claim that Jesus was the Messiah (God’s chosen king). He was not defeating the Romans or setting up a visible kingdom on earth, as they expected. Jesus did not deny this future aspect of the kingdom (see Luke 21:27; Matthew 24:30–31). But he explained that the kingdom of God was being revealed through his ministry, though they were missing it.

• The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs: Jewish writings in the time of Jesus expected visible signs in the sky to announce the Messiah's kingdom. Jesus confirmed that such signs would appear (see Luke 17:24; 21:25; Acts 2:19–20). But the Pharisees were missing how God’s kingdom was already being shown in the ministry of Jesus at that time (compare Luke 7:22).

• the kingdom of God is in your midst (or is within you, or is in your grasp): The kingdom of God was already being shown through the words and actions of Jesus. It is unlikely that Jesus would say, “the kingdom of God is in your midst,” to those rejecting his message.

This is the first of two teachings in the Gospel of Luke about the coming of the kingdom of God and the return of the Son of Man (a title Jesus uses for himself). The second teaching appears later in chapter 21.