Kingdom of God and Luke 19:11

Dr. Couch, how could the amil guys think that the Kingdom of God in Luke 19:11 could be the church? ANSWER: The answer is simple. They cannot read very well! That may sound insulting but I can't think of a better reason. The Jews were all looking for the Jewish messianic Davidic Kingdom. They had no idea what the church would be all about. Since Christ was the promised King, they thought the Kingdom of God "was going to appear immediately" (v. 11). They were right in that it should if the nation had repented. That was the message of John the Baptist and of Christ also, but the Jews were too stubborn so the Kingdom would be postponed. Jesus then gave a parable of the nobleman who went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return (v. 12). While the story is complicated down through verse 27, I give the meaning on page 184 in my Luke Commentary (AMG Publishers). "The Jews buried the prophecy about the coming messianic kingdom, this becomes a sign of the most heinous of evils. And the citizens who said they did not want the new nobleman king 'to reign over us' (v. 14), represents the soon coming final rejection of the Jews of their promised Sovereign! The destruction of Jerusalem with its streams of Jewish blood is the preliminary reality that is back of these words." One thing is clear. The Kingdom of God is not the church! The context has to do with the Jewish people as Christ dealt with them. The rejection of the nobleman has to do with the rejection of Christ the King! The Kingdom is then postponed and the church then takes its place. Yet, the Kingdom will someday come—the earthly millennial reign of the Messiah in Jerusalem! Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch