The Kingdom of God Both Far & Near

“Then the scribe said to Him, ‘You are right, Teacher! You have correctly said that He is One, and there is no one else except Him. And to love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he answered intelligently, He said to him, ‘you are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And no one dared to question Him any longer.” Mark 12:34

“So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called ‘the uncircumcised’ by those called ‘the circumcised’ done by hand in the flesh. At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, with no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. ….”(17) “When Christ came, He proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.” Ephesians 2:11-13, 17

There are people to whom the Kingdom of God is closer than others but whether close or far the only way into the Kingdom is through Jesus. “Unless someone is born again he cannot see/enter the Kingdom of God.”

In the Gospel of Mark we see that it is the “circumcised” who has grown up with an understanding of God’s covenants and Law who is not far from the kingdom. I have experienced this nearness amongst Muslim friends who say they love God and who in many ways are more devout then many Christians. They have a desire to please God and thus find themselves not all that far from the Kingdom of God. Not in but not far—Jesus is the way.

The opposite was true for the Gentiles to whom Paul was writing. These were a people who lived as “foreigners to the covenants of the promise, with no hope and without God in the world.”