Sometimes, it feels like we can do nothing right as Christians—we’ll always be in debt to God. Jesus, though, makes it clear that entrance into God’s kingdom is by the free gift of God so that we don’t have to worry about being worthy enough for God.
The first line, in English, obscures the meaning a bit. It should probably be translated as, “The Kingdom does not come with observance.”
This sounds strange until you learn that “observances” is a code word for carrying out certain aspects of the Law. In the first century, this typically meant circumcision, kosher keeping, observing the sabbath, and maintaining the purity laws.
Sometimes, as Orthodox Christians, we may think we have to carry about certain religious rituals to be good Orthodox Christians.
While these may be good practices and may draw us closer to God, they aren’t how we become a child of God, or how we enter into the Kingdom.
With a change of heart and trust in Christ, we are all welcomed into God’s Kingdom.
Through Christ’s suffering, the Kingdom is present among us through grace—God’s gift to us.
The Reading
And when he was asked by the Pharisees, “When is the Kingdom of God coming?” he answered them and said, “The Kingdom does not come as something one observes, Nor will persons say, ‘Look: Here it is’ or ‘There it is’ for look: The Kingdom of God is within you.” And he said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man and will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look: There it is,’ ‘Look: Here it is’; do not go off or follow them. For just as the flashing lightning illuminates everything below heaven, from one end to the other, such will be the Son of Man on his day. But first it is necessary that he suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. (Luke 17:20-15)
Amen! I pray for healing.