17:21 Nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!” for behold, God’s reign is in your midst (οὐδὲ ἐροῦσιν· ἰδοὺ ὧδε ἤ· ἐκεῖ, ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἐντὸς ὑμῶν ἐστιν). The emphatic placement of the present tense verb “is” (ἐστιν) at the end of the phrase underscores that God’s reign is a present reality and not a glimmer of hope. A rare word is taken to mean “within” or “among” (ἐντός). Three options have dominated interpretation.

(1) Jesus may imply that God’s reign is an internal reality. The word ἐντός occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in Matt 23:26 to refer to the inside of a cup (see also LXX Pss 38:4; 102:1; 108:22; Isa 16:11). According to Holmén’s research, the early church fathers who cite this verse not only understood it to mean “within,” they appear to know no other alternative meaning. Several versions therefore render it, “the kingdom of God is within you” (KJV, ASV, NIV 1984). This translation is questionable, however. If Jesus refers to God’s reigning activity, it seems highly inappropriate to say that God’s reign is within the Pharisees, given their attitudes. They are like those who are full of darkness, not light (11:33–36). Also, God’s reign is not portrayed in Luke as some kind of inner psychological reality, nor is it akin to the presence of the Spirit. Marshall comments, “Jesus speaks of men entering the kingdom, not of the kingdom entering men.” The reign of God is not something Luke portrays as indistinguishable from the Spirit of God that dwells within individuals (Rom 8:11).

(2) Another possibility is that it means “within your reach, grasp, or possession.” It is related to the ability to repent and have the word of faith in the heart (see Deut 30:14; Rom 10:17). It might then correspond to the demand to strive to enter through the narrow door (13:24). The problem with this interpretation is that it places too much emphasis on human control over God’s reign and does not answer the question the Pharisees have asked. They asked when God’s reign is coming, but this answers how one enters it. It would also seem that this answer requires an additional explanation or exhortation: “Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15). Beasley-Murray calls it “an unexpressed corollary,” but its absence in the context makes this interpretation unlikely.

(3) Matill presents over forty usages of the word (ἐντός) over the span of one thousand years and finds seven well-attested meanings. The meaning “among” or “in the midst of” has legitimate support, and the narrative context can be the determining guide for understanding what it means here. The meaning that seems to make the best sense in this context with a plural pronoun is “in your midst” (NASB, ESV, TNIV, NIV 2011) or “among you” (NJB, NAB, NRSV). It refers to the present reality embodied in the preaching and healing of Jesus (7:22–23; 9:27; 11:20). It explains why God’s reign does not come with apocalyptic warning signs (17:20). They are pointless because Jesus is the sign of the presence of God’s reign, which expresses the paradoxical already/ not yet reality of God’s reign (see 10:9, 11; 21:31; 22:16, 18). Jesus tries to direct the Pharisees’ gaze away from the future to the present. Their problem is that they cannot read the signs of the times (12:54–56).^[1]

^[1] Garland, D. E. (2012). Luke (pp. 697–698). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.