“Nearing or Appearing?”

Luke 21: 31, 32: “When you see these things happening, recognize that the Kingdom of God is near. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” Just a few days previously Jesus had told a parable to correct the thinking of those who “supposed that the Kingdom of God was going to appear immediately” (Luke 19: 11), but here in Luke 21 He gives signs which will signal the nearness of the Kingdom; signs that He says will take place within a generation. Confusing? Not if you take what He says in context. The Kingdom has been near since Jesus’ first sermon (Mark 1: 15), but it appears “not with signs to be observed” (Luke 17: 20). The Kingdom of God goes from ‘nearing’ to ‘appearing’ only when His children live out visibly in their lives what abides invisibly in their hearts. We are the real signs!