Entrance into Kingdom of God which Jesus speaks is a future entrance, coincidental with final judgment
"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 metaphorically as being willing to cut off one's hands and one's feet and being willing to remove one's eye, if necessary. The analogy between sin and a part of one's body is that, like the latter, the former may be a cherished part of one's livelihood and identity, which one may be understandably reluctant to thrust aside since the loss of it would be keenly felt. 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." - Professor Barry Smith
"The entrance (into the Kingdom of God) of which Jesus speaks is a future entrance, coincidental with final judgment."
"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.)...
Kingdom of God in the midst of You (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."
Luke contains a saying in which Jesus describes the nature of the
appearance of the Kingdom of God; in it he connects the Kingdom with
himself. The Pharisees ask Jesus when the Kingdom of God will come in
17:20a. Jesus' response in 17:20b-21 is constructed in antithetical
parallelism. The negative member of Jesus' response consists of two
coordinating clauses joined by "nor," which describe how the Kingdom
of God does not come: "The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to
be observed, nor will they say, `Look, here it is!' or, `There it
is!'" The first way in which the Kingdom does not come is "with signs
to be observed" (meta paratêrêseôs). In the context, the meaning
of "signs to be observed" probably describes empirically observable
phenomena associated with the inception of eschatological
fulfillment. Jesus' questioners hold the view that the coming of the
Kingdom of God will be universally recognizable by its accompanying
manifestations, and they want to know when Jesus believes these
premonitory manifestations will begin to occur, thereby heralding the
Kingdom. (On this interpretation "come" has a future meaning since it
is referring to the future Kingdom of God.) The second way in which
the Kingdom of God does not come is in such a way that someone could
say "Look, here it is!" or, "There it is!" The meaning seems to be
the same as "with signs to be observed." In other words, Jesus is
saying that, contrary to their expectation, the Kingdom of God will
not come in such a way as to be universally recognized as such. He
rejects the presupposition behind the question, namely that the
Kingdom of God will all at once come as a publicly observable event.
In other words, the Kingdom will not come all at once, as full-blown,
so that no one could deny that it has come. Rather, Jesus' conception
of the Kingdom of God is that it begins inconspicuously, so that it
is possible to deny that it has come at the earliest stages of its
historical development.
The positive member of Jesus' response is the remarkable statement
that the Kingdom of God has already come: "For behold, the kingdom of
God is in your midst (entos humôn)." Jesus' point is that the Kingdom
of God is in the midst of his questioners insofar as he is in their
midst, so inseparable is he from the Kingdom. Of course, the Kingdom
is in its initial phases and so is still only partially and even
ambiguously present. For this reason, the possibility exists to deny
that it is present at all, in which case Jesus would be seen as
having no salvation-historical significance at all. When it comes to
completion, the Kingdom of God will be undeniable, but until then a
person will be able to accept or reject Jesus' claim that the Kingdom
of God is already present insofar as he is present...
Entering the Kingdom Maimed (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 metaphorically as being willing to cut off one's hands and
one's feet and being willing to remove one's eye, if necessary. The
analogy between sin and a part of one's body is that, like the
latter, the former may be a cherished part of one's livelihood and
identity, which one may be understandably reluctant to thrust aside
since the loss of it would be keenly felt. 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."
Professor Barry Smith
http://www.mycrandall.ca/courses/NTIntro/KingdGod2.htm
Web (Extracted May 5, 2013)
"According to the New Testament, the central message of Jesus was the
kingdom of God. He called for repentance in preparation for the
kingdom that was 'at hand.' The kingdom of God referred to the reign
or rule of God, and in Jesus' ministry that reign of God was
announced as present. The presence of the kingdom, however, was not
full and complete, and, therefore, was often referred to as a future
event. Students of the New Testament have argued over whether Jesus
and his followers expected the kingdom of God to be fully present in
their generation. The unresolved state of that debate is registered
in the two expressions often used to characterize the New Testament
teaching about the kingdom: 'already' and 'not yet.' "
MSN Encarta Encyclopedia
You may tell people but the new announcement has to come to say that running after falsehood is not going to take you to God. We believe in the power of Love, and not in the power of hatred. We believe that everyone is capable of finding the truth and getting to the heaven of that paradise which is promised to us, the kingdom of God."
The Paraclete Shri Mataji
May 6, 1990, Rome, Italy
"In the history of spirituality, it is one of the greatest days when we find Christ rose from the dead. It is very significant and symbolic that in Sahaja Yoga, also what we have done, is to rise from the dead – into life. It is to be understood that resurrection is the message for all of us, for the whole world. We have to resurrect ourselves."
The Paraclete Shri Mataji
Istanbul, Turkey. April 15, 2001
"The Kingdom of God that we were promised is at hand. This is not a phrase out of a sermon or a lecture, but it is the actualization of the experience of the highest Truth which is Absolute, now manifesting itself in ordinary people at this present moment."
The Paraclete Shri Mataji
"Today we are celebrating the opening of the Sahasrara (Kingdom of God). On this day I must say it was a great happening that took place on all the humanity. It was such an achievement, which I never realized before. Now I can see that without Self-Realization it would have been impossible to talk to people. Then this happened! I thought that how I will talk to people about it because no one would understand Me and it would be a big mistake on My part to say something about Sahasrara because even about Sahasrara (Kingdom of God) nowhere in the scriptures something was described. It was absolutely an ambiguous description I would say where people could not even have thought there is a Realm beyond Sahasrara, and one has to enter that Realm where is the Reality. That time what I saw around Me was darkness and unless and until there are many Lights, people will never realize that how important it is to have Light." The Paraclete Shri Mataji
Cabella, Italy - June 9, 1996
"The work is tremendous. It's not for medium, mediocre people to do this job. Frightened, fearful, arrogant, cheeky - they cannot, they have no mettle.... Tell all the nations and tell all the people all over the Great Message that the Time of Resurrection is here. Now! At this time, and that you are capable of doing it."
The Paraclete Shri Mataji
Cowley Manor Seminar, UK - July 31, 1982
"Today, Sahaja Yoga has reached the state of Mahayoga, which is en- masse evolution manifested through it. It is this day's Yuga Dharma. It is the way the Last Judgment is taking place. Announce it to all the seekers of truth, to all the nations of the world, so that nobody misses the blessings of the Divine to achieve their meaning, their absolute, their spirit."
The Paraclete Shri Mataji
"The main thing that one has to understand is that the time has come for you to get all that is promised in the scriptures, not only in the Bible but all the scriptures of the world. The time has come today that you have to become a Christian, a Brahmin, a Pir, through your Kundalini awakening only. There is no other way. And that your Last Judgment is also now."
The Paraclete Shri Mataji
"Of course there are some absurd things which grew with misinterpretation and interference from unholy people, which are common in these religions. For example, Jews, Christian and Muslims believe that when they die their bodies will come out of their graves and they will all be resurrected at the Time of Resurrection, at the Time of Last Judgment, at the Time of Qiyamah. It is illogical to think what will remain inside those graves after five hundred years. Nobody wants to think and understand that it is not the body but the soul that will come out of these bodies, be born again as human beings and be saved through Qiyamah and Resurrection."
The Paraclete Shri Mataji
"The Indian sage, who may be called the pioneer in this field, was the first great astrologer Bhrigumuni. In his book Nadi Granth, he made clear predictions about these Modern Times. He also specifically predicted how the Kundalini would be awakened spontaneously through Sahaja Yoga, that is, spontaneous union with the Divine, and become the means of both individual and collective transformation on a large scale, through teaching incarnation of a great Yogi. This Yogi would be an unparalleled master of the Kundalini and would teach all the people the ancients secrets of self-transformation. These are the times described in the Holy Bible as the Last Judgment and in the Koran as Qiyamah — the Resurrection Time. Astrologically it also called the Age of Aquarius, the Time of Rebirth and of great spiritual development on the Earth."
The Paraclete Shri Mataji
"Though you can understand that Mother's Love makes it very easy for you to get to your Realization and that the whole story of Last Judgment, which looks such a horrifying experience, has been made very beautiful, and very tender, and delicate, and does not disturb you."
The Paraclete Shri Mataji
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Fulfillment of the promised divine eschatological instruction
"I am the one about which Christ has talked... I am the Holy Spirit who has incarnated on this Earth for your realization." The Paraclete Shri Mataji
"Jesus therefore predicts that God will later send a human being to Earth to take up the role defined by John .i.e. to be a prophet who hears God’s words and repeats his message to man."
M. Bucaille, The Bible, the Qur'an, and Science
"And when Jesus foreannounced another Comforter, He must have intended a Person as distinct and helpful as He had been."
F. B. Meyer, Love to the Utmost
"The Paraclete has a twofold function: to communicate Christ to believers and, to put the world on trial"
Robert Kysar, John The Meverick Gospel
"But She—the Spirit, the Paraclete...—will teach you everything."
Danny Mahar, Aramaic Made EZ)
"Grammatical nonsense but evidence of the theological desire to defeminize the Divine."
Lucy Reid, She Changes Everything
"The functions of the Paraclete spelled out in verses 13-15... are all acts of open and bold speaking in the highest degree."
David Fleer, Preaching John's Gospel: The World It Imagines
"The reaction of the world to the Paraclete will be much the same as the world’s reaction was to Jesus."
Berard L. Marthaler, The Creed: The Apostolic Faith in Contemporary Theology
Bultmann calls the "coming of the Redeemer an 'eschatological event,' 'the turning-point of the ages."
G. Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament
"The Paraclete equated with the Holy Spirit, is the only mediator of the word of the exalted Christ."
(M.E. Boring) Benny Thettayil, In Spirit and Truth
"The divine Paraclete, and no lessor agency, must show the world how wrong it was about him who was in the right."
Daniel B. Stevick , Jesus and His Own: A Commentary on John 13-17
Stephen Smalley asserts that "the Spirit-Paraclete ... in John’s Gospel is understood as personal, indeed, as a person."
Marianne Meye Thompson, The God of the Gospel of John
"The Messiah will come and the great age of salvation will dawn (for the pious)"
Eric Eve, The Jewish context of Jesus' Miracles
"The remembrance is to relive and re-enact the Christ event, to bring about new eschatological decision in time and space."
Daniel Rathnakara Sadananda, The Johannine Exegesis of God
"The Spirit acts in such an international situation as the revealer of 'judgment' on the powers that rule the world."
Michael Welker, God the Spirit
The Paraclete's "appearance means that sin, righteousness, and judgment will be revealed."
Georg Strecker, Theology of the New Testament
"While the Spirit-Paraclete is the true broker, the brokers they rely on are impostors."
T. G. Brown, Spirit in the writings of John
"The pneumatological activity ... of the Paraclete ... may most helpfully be considered in terms of the salvific working of the hidden Spirit."
Michael Welker, The work of the Spirit
"The pneuma is the peculiar power by which the word becomes the words of eternal life."
Robert Kysar, Voyages with John: Charting the Fourth Gospel
"The gift of peace, therefore, is intimately associated with the gift of the Spirit-Paraclete"
Francis J. Moloney, The Gospel of John
"This utopian hope, even when modestly expressed, links Jesus and the prophets to a much wider history of human longing."
Harvey Cox, The Future of Faith
"Because of the presence of the Paraclete in the life of the believer, the blessings of the end-times—the eschaton—are already present"
Robert Kysar, John
"They are going, by the Holy Spirit’s power, to be part of the greatest miracle of all, bringing men to salvation."
Robert E. Picirilli, The Randall House Bible Commentary
"The Kingdom of God stands as a comprehensive term for all that the messianic salvation included... is something to be sought here and now (Mt. 6:33) and to be received as children receive a gift (Mk. 10:15 = Lk. 18:16-17)."
G. Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament
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