10 Key Bible Verses on the Kingdom of God

This article is part of the Key Bible Verses series.

All commentary notes adapted from the ESV Study Bible.

1. Mark 1:14–15

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Read More

These verses summarize Jesus’ preaching ministry. The gospel is the “good news” that the kingdom of God is at hand, meaning that God’s rule over people’s hearts and lives is now being established, and people should repent and believe in the gospel. The kingdom is more than simply the rule of the Spirit within people, since the kingdom will ultimately include the restoration of all creation (see Rev. 21:1). However, Jesus has not yet revealed the fact that the kingdom will come in stages. How Jesus relates to this kingdom will be seen in the following chapters. Initially, he is the one who proclaims the coming saving rule of God.

2. Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Read More

The righteousness of the kingdom of heaven works out in the details of one’s personal life. Jesus calls his followers to choose their master, either God or wealth (Matt. 6:19–24), and to choose their outlook on life, either faith or worry (Matt. 6:25–34).

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3. Luke 6:20

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Read More

Blessed are you who are poor. This means “blessed are those of you who are poor in material things and who are also my disciples and thus are putting your trust in God.” In the OT, “the poor” (the same Gk. word, ptōchos, in the Septuagint) frequently referred to the pious poor who looked to and depended on God. Jesus is not saying that poverty in itself is a state of happiness or blessing; it is a blessing only when accompanied by trust in God. Jesus’ statement elsewhere that he was anointed “to proclaim good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18) is a quotation from Isa. 61:1, which has a strong spiritual dimension as well: good news would come to the poor who long and wait for God. for yours is the kingdom of God. Such people belong to the kingdom and will receive the blessings of the kingdom. Jesus consistently gave special care to those on the fringes of society—people who bear God’s image but who are treated as trivial and the objects of oppression (see Luke 14:13, 21; Luke 18:22; cf. James 2:3–6; Luke 5:1–6).

4. Mark 4:26–29

And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” Read More

As the farmer sleeps and rises, the fruit grows by itself (Gk. automatē, lit., “automatically,” “by itself”; that is, without human effort). Fruit for God’s kingdom grows from soil that is hospitable to his Word. First the blade, then the ear goes against the popular expectation at the time of Jesus that God’s kingdom would come suddenly and all at once. Jesus teaches that the messianic rule of God commences inconspicuously, grows slowly but steadily in the midst of much adversity, and reaches its glorious culmination point at the second coming of Jesus. There is great hope here.

5. Luke 13:18–21

He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.” Read More

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven. Luke concludes his first section on Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51–13:21) with two parables emphasizing the arrival of the kingdom. They contrast the kingdom’s modest beginning and its glorious final state.

The mustard seed would have been the smallest known seed to Jesus’ audience. became a tree. The mustard “tree” refers to a large herbal plant that grows to the height of 8 to 12 feet (2.4 to 3.7 m). The birds . . . made nests emphasizes the surprising supernatural result—i.e., the enormous size of the final plant in comparison to the very small seed from which it grew. The Jews expected the kingdom to come with apocalyptic power, bringing God’s judgment on all evil, and hence Jesus’ teaching that it would arrive in such an “insignificant” way was surprising.

Similar to the mustard seed (v. 19), a minute quantity of yeast can permeate a large amount of dough to produce a large amount of bread (cf. note on 1 Cor. 5:6–7). Three measures would have produced enough bread to feed 100 people. Some think these parables teach only the contrast between the small beginning and large end result, and not the gradual growth process of the kingdom between start and finish. Others argue that the growth process is also in view. Both sides agree that the parables contrast the apparently small and unnoticed arrival of the kingdom (the “already now”) with its extensive and glorious consummation when the Son of Man returns (the “not yet”).

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6. Daniel 7:13–14

I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed. Read More

The Coming of the Son of Man. The one like a son of man combines in one person both human and divine traits. Elsewhere, this phrase “son of man” often distinguishes mere human beings from God (e.g., Ps. 8:4; Ezek. 2:1). However, this son of man seems also greater than any mere human, for to “come on the clouds” is a clear symbol of divine authority (cf. Ps. 104:3; Isa. 19:1). This “son of man” is given dominion and glory and a kingdom (Dan. 7:14; cf. ESV footnote at v. 27; this is parallel to God’s dominion, Dan. 4:34), which at present resides in the hands of human kings such as Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 5:18). But he is far greater than Nebuchadnezzar, because he will rule over the entire world forever: all peoples, nations, and languages will serve (or worship) him, and his dominion . . . shall not pass away (7:14). Thus, he must be much more than a personified representative of Israel (cf. Dan. 7:18, 27), and certainly more than a mere angel, for no created being would have the right to rule the entire world forever. Jesus claims he will fulfill this role (cf. Mark 14:61–62), and it is ultimately fulfilled in Rev. 19:11–16 when Jesus comes at the end of the age to judge and rule the nations. Jesus refers to himself as “son of man” more than any other title (see notes on Matt. 8:20; John 1:51). This title was used in the OT in two different ways, first, to refer to a mere human being (see esp. Ezekiel, where it is used over 90 times referring to Ezekiel), and second, to refer to the son of man in Dan. 7:13, who is a divine being dwelling in heaven with the Ancient of Days. When people heard Jesus use the term “son of man” for himself, they had to decide which type of “son of man” he was. Technically he was both, but it took faith to believe he was like the “son of man” in Daniel. At the end of Jesus’ ministry, when he claimed to be this heavenly “son of man” predicted in Daniel’s vision, his opponents said he had committed blasphemy.

7. Luke 17:20–21

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” Read More

The Pharisees apparently desire to know the cosmic signs preceding the coming of the kingdom so that they can be sure not to miss it. Jesus replies that the kingdom will not come in ways that can be observed (a phrase that translates a Greek word paratērēsis that occurs only here in the entire Bible). In light of vv. Luke 17:21–37, Jesus apparently means that the arrival of the kingdom of God will not be accompanied by spectacular signs in the heavens but rather that the kingdom will come quietly, evident only in the change in people’s lives.

8. Matthew 19:24

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Read More

camel. The largest land animal in Palestine. the eye of a needle. The smallest opening found in the home. Jesus paints a picture of something impossible in order to illustrate that even the seemingly impossible is possible with God. There is no evidence for the popular interpretation that there was a gate in Jerusalem called “the eye of the needle,” which camels had to stoop to their knees to enter. Such an interpretation would miss the point: it is not merely difficult for the wealthy to be saved; without God’s grace it is impossible (cf. Matt. 19:26).

9. 1 Corinthians 15:50–53

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. Read More

Corruptible bodies (flesh and blood) cannot inherit the kingdom. Hence, the need for resurrection.

mystery. Christians who are alive at the time of the resurrection will be transformed so that their bodies become spiritual and immortal like the bodies of those who are resurrected from the dead. (See 1 Thess. 4:13–18.)

10. Luke 7:28

I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. Read More

none is greater. John’s greatness among all the OT prophets, all those who came before the arrival of the kingdom of God, comes from his function as direct forerunner of Jesus the Messiah. But John was not part of the kingdom of God that Jesus was proclaiming and bringing to reality, for he was still part of the old covenant system. Therefore the one who is least in the kingdom of God (one who has believed in Jesus and has become a member of the new covenant kingdom) is actually greater than John, for those who come after John live in the age of fulfillment, following the coming of Jesus. This underscores the qualitative difference between the old age and the dawning of the new kingdom age.