The entrance of which Jesus speaks is a future entrance, coincidental with final judgment

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JESUS' PROCLAMATION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD

 

Central to the synoptic gospels is Jesus' proclamation of the Kingdom

of God. Jesus' primary mission to his people was to offer them the

possibility of eschatological salvation, which, for the most part, he

expressed by the term " Kingdom of God. " (A synonym for the Kingdom

of God is the Kingdom of Heaven, found in the Gospel of Matthew.)....

 

Luke 17:20-21

20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God was coming,

he answered them, " The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be

observed; 21 nor will they say, 'Lo, here it is!' or 'There!' for

behold, the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you. "

 

The Pharisees ask Jesus when the Kingdom of God will come. Jesus

replies that the Kingdom of God does not come in such a way that

people can say " Here it is " or " There it is, " but that the Kingdom of

God is " in the midst of you " (entos humôn) (see Xenophon, Anab.

1.10.3; Hellen. 2.3.19; Herodotus, Hist. 7.100.3). The expectation of

those who posed the question to Jesus is that the Kingdom of God will

come " with careful observation " (meta paratêrêseôs). In other words,

it comes as observable and so full-blown, all at once, so that no one

who has given heed to the signs of its coming could deny that it has

come. Indeed, this conception of eschatological salvation is common

in second-Temple sources, having roots in the Old Testament. Jesus'

conception of the Kingdom of God, however, is that it begins

inconspicuously, so that it is possible to deny that it has come at

the earliest stages of its historical development. In addition, Jesus

affirms that insofar as he is present, the Kingdom of God is in the

midst of them: the Kingdom of God comes in his very appearance,

although this is not obvious to all. (The prepositional phrase entos

humôn could also be translated as " within you, " and the linguistic

evidence may slightly favor such an interpretation. But the

interpretation " in the midst of you " better coheres with Jesus'

understanding of the Kingdom of God as already present in its

incipient stages.)

 

1.1.4. Mark 9:43-48 = Matt 18:8-9

 

Mark 9:43-48

43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for

you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the

unquenchable fire. 44 [omitted] 45 And if your foot causes you to

sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with

two feet to be thrown into hell. 46 [omitted] 47 And if your eye

causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the

Kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into

hell, 48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

 

Matt 18:8-9

8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and

throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than

with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And

if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is

better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be

thrown into the hell of fire.

 

Jesus teaches that a person must remove all impediments in order to

to enter the Kingdom of God (eiselthein eis tên basileian tou theou)

(Mark 9:47), which is synonymous with to enter into life (eiselthein

eis tên zoên) (Mark 9:43, 45), since it is better to do without any

so-called advantage than to miss entering the Kingdom of God or into

life. (The term " Kingdom of God " is synonymous with " life. " ) This is

expressed hyperbolically as being willing to cut off one's hands and

one's feet and being willing to remove one's eye, if necessary. One's

bodily parts represent what is closest and most valuable to a person,

which must be given up if it impedes entrance into the Kingdom of God

or life. The consequence of not being willing to sacrifice anything

to enter the Kingdom of God or life is punishment in Gehenna (or

eternal fire). The entrance of which Jesus speaks is a future

entrance, coincidental with final judgment; in fact, one must pass

through final judgment in order to enter the Kingdom of God as future

or life.

 

JESUS' PROCLAMATION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD

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