When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He returned to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali - to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles - the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. "From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow Me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. (Matthew 4:12-23)

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Jesus said that “the Kingdom of heaven has come near.” But how near is it? It would be easy to say “not very.” The Super Bowl this year is being played in Dallas, Texas. I recently read that the state of Texas has set up a special team of police to deal with the problem of children being bought and sold as sex slaves. Apparently this has been identified as a pretty common problem at past Super Bowls. I wonder if the Kingdom of heaven seems near to those children? I wonder if the Kingdom of heaven seems near to the people of Haiti, who – more than a year after that devastating earthquake – still deal with corruption and violence and poverty and a heart-rending cholera epidemic that’s killed thousands? Does the Kingdom of heaven seem near to the people of North Korea, who have to live under a regime that deliberately starves them? Or to workers in sweatshops in Third World countries who work for pennies so that we can have nice and relatively cheap clothes? To victims of child abuse or spousal abuse? Or the women who work at the adult entertainment parlours on Lundy’s Lane in Niagara Falls? Does the Kingdom of God seem near to any of them? Does God even seem real to them? I suspect that there are times when the Kingdom of heaven doesn’t seem very near for many people.

And yet, Jesus refers to it over and over again in the course of his ministry, and I want to focus today on that statement of Jesus. I want to look closely at Matthew 4:17: “From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near..” Jesus, of course, wasn’t the first one to proclaim this message. Prophets for centuries had been trying to prepare people for the Kingdom of heaven. But we’re back to the original question: what is the Kingdom of heaven? I’m not quite sure why, but over the course of the centuries most people have come to the conclusion that when Jesus said that the Kingdom of heaven has come near, He was talking in terms of time – that He was saying “there isn’t much time left and so you have to act quickly or miss out.” So some spend all their time looking for signs of the end. Recently, 200 cows were found dead in a field in Wisconsin. They died of a form of bovine pneumonia, but end times theorists are having a field day. “200 cows died! The end of the world is coming!” Personally, I think God would send a more convincing sign. In any event, surely the end-times theorists are missing the whole point. Jesus didn’t mean that the Kingdom of heaven would be coming soon. He meant was that the Kingdom of heaven was close now – so close that we should be able to feel it. Maybe it’s easier for us to think that the Kingdom of heaven is coming rather than that it’s here, because if it’s here, it’s sure hard to see sometimes!

2000 years ago, I suspect that most of Jesus’ disciples probably looked around, saw what was going on and said in bewilderment, “the kingdom of heaven is near? Where!?” Jesus was speaking to people in the land of Galilee – Galilee of the Gentiles; a region just beyond the edges of what we today would call the holy land. It was a stronghold of pagan religion. The Jews despised it as a place of darkness. And yet it was there, in that dark place, that Jesus began His ministry. Not in great Jerusalem, but in lowly Galilee. Those who heard Him must have been amazed to hear that the Kingdom of heaven was close to them even in that lowly place. But by proclaiming His message there, Jesus was proclaiming something wonderful. He was saying that regardless of how dark the world around you might be; regardless of how many problems you might have to deal with; regardless of how much grief and suffering you might have experienced, even in the darkest and seemingly most hopeless places the Kingdom of heaven is still near.

The Kingdom of heaven has appeared in Jesus, and as long as Jesus is with us, the Kingdom of heaven is still near. It’s in and through Jesus that the Kingdom of heaven is shown to the world. It was in His life that we see the Kingdom of heaven lived out. It was His life, His teaching, and everything about Him that showed us what the Kingdom of heaven is like. It’s His presence with us today that brings the Kingdom of heaven so close we should be able to feel it. Jesus can still say to us today that the Kingdom of heaven has come near, because it has, because Jesus is still with us. And maybe it’s even more than just near us. In Luke 17:21, Jesus says that “the kingdom of God is within you.” Jesus was the Kingdom of heaven, and now it’s through our faith in Jesus that Jesus continues to live through us. And because Jesus lives through us the Kingdom of heaven is found within us, because Jesus’ dwelling place is within us. An old gospel hymn says: “you ask me how I know he lives – he lives within my heart.” And if Jesus lives in my heart, then the Kingdom of God is alive within me. And if Jesus lives in your hearts, then the kingdom of God is alive within you. The Kingdom of heaven today is reflected in our lives, our actions, our words and our attitudes, just as it was 2000 years ago through the life, actions, words and attitude of Jesus. We’re called to model the Kingdom so that others realize that whatever their circumstances may be – it’s there for them too.

If you have trouble seeing the Kingdom of God in the world today – so do I. If you sometimes struggle with what Jesus meant when he said that the Kingdom of heaven had come near – so do I. But maybe we’ve all missed the point. When Jesus says that the Kingdom of heaven is near, our first response is to look around and say “where?” But just perhaps when Jesus says that that the Kingdom of heaven is near what we really should do is look within ourselves and say “There!” That’s where we’ll find it. It isn’t far away at all. In fact, it’s a lot closer than you might think when you look at the world around you!