The Kingdom of God in Luke’s Gospel

At our small group we’ve begun to have a look at the book of Acts together (no real shock for a church plant that). We read the first chapter of Acts together and then did a brief study on two questions that arose from the chapter. Luke records that after his resurrection Jesus spent forty days teaching his disciples about the Kingdom of God. So we looked at some verses from Luke’s gospel about some of the things Jesus said about the Kingdom of God. So the first question was, according to Luke what did Jesus say about the Kingdom? Here are some of those things. What did we miss?

  • The kingdom of God is good news (Luke 4:43)
  • The kingdom of God is for the poor (Luke 6:20)
  • The kingdom of God requires single-minded perseverance (Luke 9:62)
  • The kingdom of God is sometimes small but will have huge influence (Luke 13:18-19)
  • Not everyone will enter the kingdom of God (Luke 13:28;14:15-23)
  • But anyone from anywhere can (Luke 13:29)
  • There is a cost to joining the kingdom of God (Luke 14:33)
  • The kingdom of God starts within you and flows out (Luke 17:21)
  • The kingdom of God requires childlike faith (Luke 18:17)
  • Wealth can be a barrier to the kingdom of God (Luke 18:24-25)
  • The kingdom of God is here now but it is also coming (Luke 19:11 & 21:31)

4 responses

  1. i love the graphic – did you design it? our community is getting ready to do a series on the kingdom of God and we are looking for a potent image. let me know…

    1. Hi Terry, sorry for the slow reply. No it’s not our graphic, it’s on a number of sites http://www.tillhecomes.org/kingdom-of-god-vs-kingdom-of-god/ for example. I can’t remember exactly where I found it. Sorry not to be more helpful

  2. I have loved studying, the kingdom of God and The Son of man.I have stumbled upon a verse in Luke that doesn’t fit with all that I have learned. (Luke 22:36) Where Jesus tells His disciples to sell their coats and buy swords.I think I have that figured out ,but none of my teachers agree with my interpretation. I can hear Jesus asking them a question not giving them a command. In 35 it is a question and He is still asking but now whoever?Can you help me to understand this verse?

    1. Hi Pat, thanks for the question. It’s a difficult verse to be sure, especially the bit about swords right? And what is two enough for? And if Jesus meant his disciples to use them why would he then rebuke them when they did? It seems to me that Jesus is reminding them that the first time they didn’t anything because people welcomed them & gladly gave to them. But now Jesus is being ‘numbered among the transgressors’ and people will no longer welcome the disciples. When they travel their safety, food, clothing will no be given and therefore to follow him is now going to be dangerous & costly. It’s not an easy thing to understand at face value but that seems to me to be the one that makes most sense of all that Jesus said & taught them.

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