Continuing our series, we come now to Jesus and His kingdom. While this has been the central theme of both my previous posts, now we will look at the teachings of Jesus in greater detail to learn just what He envisioned the kingdom to be like.
My first (and only) year of full time paid ministry I decided to re-read the gospels. The "mission", "vision", and "purpose" statements I was required to write out for my newly developing youth ministry revolved around and within the opening verses of Isaiah 61. I was told this was unconventional, but acceptable...
Isaiah 61 (ESV)
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.
It was these verses that I read over and over again, trying to discover what it would look like if a group of teens lived this out. As my re-reading of the Gospels led me to the Gospel of Luke I discovered something. I had unknowingly chosen the same purpose, mission, and vision as Jesus' ministry. Sure, I had read the gospel of Luke before, but with Isaiah 61 in the front of my thoughts and heavy on my heart I realized for the first time that Jesus had a message to get out. I had always been taught that Jesus was "my personal savior", that he was "born to die", and that His death was all that kept me from a blazing inferno where a devil who I imagined to look a little like Hitler would peel my fingernails off for all of eternity. In Luke chapter 4 I came to understand Jesus was doing something, and teaching something, before he died for us; something very important. So important that Jesus said He was sent for this purpose. (Luke 4:43)
Luke 4 (ESV)
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Today this is fulfilled, even as you hear it. The following verses explain how the crowd reacted. Initially people were excited by this message, and "everyone spoke well of him", then Jesus spoke again and the crowd turned. Jesus gave them examples of how they had always had the chance to participate in this kingdom and yet chose the ways of oppression instead. This filled the whole synagogue with wrath and they actually ran him out of their building and up to a cliff. They were ready to throw him off the cliff, but Luke tells us that he "passed through their midst and went on his way".
Jesus then went on to take his message everywhere throughout Judea.
The phrase "Kingdom of Heaven" occurs 31 times in the book of Matthew. (ESV)
The phrase "Kingdom of God" occurs 67 times in the New Testament (ESV)
Both of these phrases are encompassed within the Messianic Age we referenced in the first two posts.
The central idea was this. There will come a time, The Messianic Age, when the earth will run as God intended it to. This is exactly what Jesus is stating when he teaches his disciples how to pray.
Matthew 6:9-10 (ESV)
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
If you were a Jew living in the time of Jesus you would have believed one day that the Messianic Age would come. The debate among rabbinical Jews was not 'if', but 'when' and 'how'?
This is going to be a brief synopsis of what that debate looked like. Trust me, there is much much more to each of these opinions, but hopefully this will give you some sort of bearings on the social and political mess Jesus was offering an alternative to.
The Pharisees mostly agreed that if they could lead the whole of the Jewish people to become righteous "according to the law", the Messiah would come and the Messianic Age would begin.
The Essenes, like the Pharisees, believed that righteousness "according to the law", was ultimately what would bring the Messiah to establish the Messianic Age. They differed greatly, however, on who was invited. They felt that there was no hope for their nation and so they went out into the wilderness and formed an insanely strict commune, in which they believed was the true remnant of Israel. It is quite probable that John the Baptist was a part of one of these communities.
The Zealots, believed that the Messianic Age would be established through violence. If they could only drive out the occupying Roman Imperialist forces they would begin a glorious Messianic Age; and it was the Messiah who would lead them in this battle. This group of guerrilla style militants reminds me of modern day Jihad or Hamas terrorists.
Jesus on the other hand had a different idea. Time, and time again, Jesus shattered the perceptions of the social and political parties of his day.
While walking with his disciples, through a grain field, on the Sabbath, his disciples were nibbling on some heads of grain and the Pharisees expressed their concern, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:2) Surely, if Jesus was the Messiah, he would keep his disciples in line with every detail of the law?
John the Baptist even had his doubts that Jesus was the Messiah while sitting in Herod's prison. “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matthew 11:2).
After Jesus died, and was resurrected, there were still some disciples who thought Jesus would restore the kingdom to Israel by delivering it from Rome. “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6)
Jesus was repeatedly asked questions about his Kingdom and taught about it in many different ways.
Jesus mastered the use of Parables to describe what the Kingdom was like to his listeners.
"The Kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground." (Mark 4:26)
"With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed..." (Mark 4:30)
Other statements were more direct...
“How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:23)
“Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:60)
One thing is certain, Jesus knew that with the Kingdom of God there was a "nearness" and a "hereness." Spell check doesn't like the word hereness... But I leave it anyway.
"...Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near." (Luke 10:11b)
"Heal the sick in it [a town] and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’" (Luke 10:9)
"But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." (Luke 11:20)
“...You are not far from the kingdom of God...” (Mark 12:34)
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)
It seems as if Jesus is saying that the Kingdom of God is here, and some people are experiencing it, and some are near to it, and some are outside of it.
So my studies in the Gospels led me into a frenzied search for the Kingdom of God. I felt like the "widow who lost a coin" (Luke 15:8) I continued my studies in the Gospels, I read through the prophets, I read books, ancient and modern that mentioned the Kingdom of God. I had to know why this message of the Kingdom of God was so revolutionary, what about it was so offensive that it landed my savior on a cross?
I realized, as I talked with people from my church and other churches that very few people knew that there was a Kingdom of God, and others told me that Jesus was just talking about heaven, as in where we go when we die. I discovered, that over the centuries, the gospel had lost its edge, it was no longer revolutionary, it was just religious. We taught what Jesus did, but not what he said. We knew we were saved, but not why, how, or what that even meant. We talked about a blood transaction that somehow buys our way into heaven, but the central message of Jesus, the Kingdom of God, was left out of this gospel. Churches distribute tracts all over America claiming that the gospel is simply this, Jesus died for us and covered us with his blood, so that God would let us into heaven when we died as long as we believe that Jesus did this great thing.
I have a question for you....
If the good news (gospel) is that Jesus died for you, then why does he say this long before his death?
Luke 4:43 (ESV)
but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”
Not only is the Good News directly related to the Kingdom of God but apparently the whole reason Jesus was sent was to preach this message! He says "I was sent for this purpose."
If modern American theology makes a liar out of Jesus, let it be damned! How often have you heard from the pulpit that Jesus was sent to die for us? The "dying for us" was part of his mission, but we have made it into the whole of his mission, and that, my friends, is a shame.
The Good News that Jesus wants to share with you today is that the Kingdom of God is at hand! Now go and search for it.
The next part of this series will be on Paul and the New Creation, how the resurrection of Jesus changed everything.
Some Additional Reading Materials:
The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian McLaren
Jesus and the Non-Violent Revolution by Andre Trocme Free E-Book Download
The Kingdom of God is a Party by Tony Campolo