What does it mean to say the Kingdom of God is within you? Where does this saying originate from? Well, in western society, the two most well-known writings you will find the saying in are Luke’s Gospel (17: 21) and also the Gospel of Thomas (3). Which one of these are the original? Who copied from who? What can one glean from examining both sets?

You might find it interesting to know that neither Luke nor Thomas were the original sources of this teaching. That’s actually the case with a lot of the content in both Gospels. Luke, for example, will take a saying of Jesus and run with it, embellishing it with superficial material to suit a purpose. And Thomas, while mostly just a list of Jesus’ sayings, is not free of redaction. It too, has an agenda.

What do the two Gospels share in common regarding this saying and how do they differ you ask? Well, both sayings were originally written in Greek. As a matter of fact, both use the exact same Greek.

γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἐντὸς ὑμῶν ἐστιν
gar/for he/the basileia/kingdom tou Theou/of God entos/inside/within hymon/you estin/is

But the saying itself probably did not originate from Jewish, Christian or Greek cultures. The oldest example we can find of the saying is actually Egyptian. Inscribed on the walls of the Egyptian temple of Ipet Resyt (Luxor), one can find the following:

“The kingdom of Heaven is already within you; if you understand yourself you will find it.”

So this saying was etched into an Egyptian temple wall at least 1,400 years before Jesus taught it. This is not strange or abnormal. Ancient cultures influenced each other greatly, the Jewish religion for example wasn’t just influenced by Egypt, but by Babylon as well. And as the canonical Gospels tell us, Jesus lived in Egypt for several years as a child. And there are almost two decades of time where the Gospels tell us nothing of His life, where He lived or studied.

What do we know about this Egyptian saying? It appears to fall directly in line with the “Know Thyself” teachings of Socrates. It was also the philosophical maxim inscribed above the entrance to the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. It’s not bad advice, I wonder if Jung was ever tempted to title one of his books with this instruction?

So both Luke and Thomas are in common regarding this saying since both took this Jesus teaching and recorded it for posterity. And the fact that two such different Gospels quote Jesus as saying it means that it’s highly likely that He did.

Wait a minute some of you might say! If all this is true, why is it that my preferred translation of Luke says this instead, “For the kingdom of God is in your midst”? I too wondered about this, it turns out that many translators just “felt” that this had to be what Jesus actually meant, and they didn’t care what the Greek actually says. There’s only one other place in the NT where the word ἐντὸς is used (Matthew 23.26), and it is translated correctly in all Bible versions as “inside”. As in inside a cup, not in the midst of one. Actually, there are countless examples of acclaimed translations of the Bible that use the inside or within wording in Luke 17:21, including Wycliffe, KJV, the Latin Vulgate, WEB, the Webster Bible, Tyndale, Douay-Rheims Catholic – and the list goes on and on. It’s usually in more recent Bible translations where publishers seem to want to assassinate the truth.

Well then, what is the agenda I mentioned coming from Thomas? Thomas as a whole is a set of Wisdom teachings. And this particular Jesus teaching fits into that context or theme perfectly. Thomas is a Gospel of Unity and Oneness and you can find this treasure of Oneness by looking within yourself!

[Quick note: I mentioned the Greek version of Thomas ( the Oxyrhynchus fragments), it turns out that our only complete set of Thomas wasn’t actually written in Greek, the complete and more recent set was written in Egyptian Coptic (Nag Hammadi library), and in Coptic, the saying is quite clear – the Kingdom of God is inside you, it’s within you!]

So the Luke translations that use the word “midst” are not accurate translations, they’re apologist projections. And when it comes to your spirituality, do you need or want political or organizational spin? I don’t! I would rather find out what it was that Jesus actually intended us to know, not what a church of stone or a misguided translator wants me to believe! Seek first the Kingdom! The Kingdom within!