What is the “kingdom of God,” or the “kingdom of Heaven”? When most of us hear these phrases, we probably think of the afterlife, an other-worldly reward that God will give his people after death. There's a grain of truth in that understanding, but Jesus actually speaks of the kingdom as something that has already begun, even here on earth. Let's unpack the biblical truth.

Jesus uses the phrase “kingdom of God” nearly one hundred times in the Gospels. In fact, the very first words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Mark were, “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). To say that the kingdom is “at hand” or, more literally, “among you,” means that it is already arriving.

When Jesus spoke of the kingdom, he gave the impression that he was not speaking about a far-away place in the clouds or a distant end-of-the-world reality, but something that he was already bringing about, then and there. On the one hand, Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come,” which indicates that the kingdom of God has not yet arrived in its fullness. On the other hand, though, Jesus made it clear that his miracles were a demonstration that the kingdom was already breaking into our world: “But if it is by the finger of God that [I] drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20). It is often said the present is the time of “the already and not yet”: The kingdom is here in part, but we are still waiting to enjoy it fully.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church offers this helpful insight about the word for “kingdom” that the New Testament uses:

2816 In the New Testament, the word basileia can be translated by "kingship" (abstract noun), "kingdom" (concrete noun) or "reign" (action noun). The Kingdom of God lies ahead of us. It is brought near in the Word incarnate, it is proclaimed throughout the whole Gospel, and it has come in Christ's death and Resurrection. The Kingdom of God has been coming since the Last Supper and, in the Eucharist, it is in our midst. The kingdom will come in glory when Christ hands it over to his Father:

It may even be . . . that the Kingdom of God means Christ himself, whom we daily desire to come, and whose coming we wish to be manifested quickly to us. For as he is our resurrection, since in him we rise, so he can also be understood as the Kingdom of God, for in him we shall reign (St. Cyprian, De Dom. orat. 13:PL 4,528A.)

Simply put, the “kingdom” is the reign or kingship of God. God lovingly created us to reign among us in eternal joy and in peace, but we rejected his authority through sin. As a result, we have become slaves of sin and are unable to live in proper relationships with God or with one another. The eternal Son of God became man, lived a life of surrender to the Father's will, then died and rose again, so that in Him we might die to our sin and rise again to life in the kingdom. Jesus has given us his own Holy Spirit, so that we can begin to live a life of surrender to the Father's perfect will. Jesus will come again in glory to establish that kingdom in its fullness, when we will rise again with him in glory.

To borrow an image from the parables of Jesus, the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32): The seed was planted in the ground when Jesus was laid in the tomb, and it sprouted when Jesus rose from the dead. The kingdom grows as more and more people are grafted onto this mustard plant through baptism and conversion. One day, the full glory of the kingdom will be manifested, just as the blossoms of a mustard tree break forth in the proper season.

Until then, let us strive by the grace of the Holy Spirit to live in that kingdom, pray for its growth, and look forward to its final coming.