Category: Kingdom

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Matthew 12:25-28

Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Group Dynamics
There is a lesson in the dynamics of group culture to observe here about how people in different groups process and respond in different ways to the same event. The event was a clear, irrefutable and public healing  of a blind and mute man by Jesus. Profoundly life-changing for the man. Amazing and thought-provoking for the people. Deeply threatening for the Pharisees.

The text says that the people, the general local population, Jewish, but non-aligned with any particular religious group were simply “astonished”, and rightly so; it was a miraculous event, outside  experiential norms. It got them thinking, and reaching into their knowledge of Scripture for a possible explanation.

Ezekiel 34:16 speaks of how God will shepherd his sheep with justice: “I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy.” and links this promise of a shepherd to a prince of the line of David (Ezk 34:25). Just prior to this healing Matthew has editorially linked Jesus’ healings with Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming of God’s chosen servant (Mt 12:18-21). He is using this whole episode to really underline the point.

And so the wheels are turning in the minds of the people. “Could this be the guy? That’s really cool.”

The gathered Pharisees had a different response. This Jesus fellow was not one of their group. He didn’t do the same things they did, in fact he seemed to deliberately flaunt their long-established traditions. He didn’t look at things the same way they did. He wasn’t one of them. And, now that he is stepping onto their religious lawn, he just has to be stopped. Turning to page one of the playbook, it reads “Discredit”.  And so the talking points that went out that day said to say: “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons”. Subtext: he is not from God (like we are), he is with the opposition (the devil).

Think about it people

Jesus didn’t even have to break a sweat to dismantle their argument, just by asking the “so how would this actually work?” question. He gives them a few options to go forward with, none of them comfortable. Option 1 – your claim defies simple logic (Satan throwing himself out?, oh come on!). Option 2 – Don’t your guys do the same thing? Or is not really about casting out demons but about one of you? Or Option 3 – Jesus credits them with being able to throw out demons, but no one in the group has ever actually  managed to do it.

And the most uncomfortable of all? The truth. “If I am working with the Spirit of God, then the kingdom has come upon you” ie. “You are wrong, and no one is coming to you for your permission”.

Now, if you are used to being one of the ones in charge in a religious group, that’s a bitter pill to swallow. Maybe too bitter for some. This dynamic still plays out today. The “keepers of the truth” have their own mini-kingdoms where they rule with unassailable power. Occasionally, someone steps on their lawn by exhibiting a life of living actual kingdom participation. The ranks must close, and the discrediting must start in a desperate effort to preserve the identity of the group.

Choice

There is a choice still available though and some may take it. Nicodemus was one such as this, he was able to see that God was working through Jesus (Jn 3:2), although he still struggled to fit Jesus’ teaching into his paradigms. The very teacher of Israel needed to be born again.

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Matthew 9:35-38

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Jesus went to the towns and to the villages, that’s what proclaimers do. He went to “their synagogues”. Jesus did not have a temple complex of his own that was the centre of his ministry, he went to theirs instead. Now, think about how churches operate these days. A very typical paradigm is that the group has a building which is the base of operations, and people come from near and far to attend events there. And then every few years they might start another one in another town. You come to us, not we go to you. You come to our space, not we come to yours. It’s quite a different picture of ministry, is it not.

Imagine the village conversation after Jesus left town. “What did you think of that then?” Mary asks her friend Hannah. “Lot better than normal synagogue, and my husband John’s arthritis has just disappeared. I hope he’s coming back soon.”

Harassed and Helpless
Jesus’ message of good news was like music to the ears of the “harassed and helpless”. His gospel met their need, so hence the interest of the crowds that formed. No doubt there was a lot of plain old curiosity that swelled the numbers, the level of competition for interesting goings-on in regional first century Galilee villages not being that high. Nevertheless, the people came – in their droves.

Jesus modelled compassion. He acted on comprehension of needs. He didn’t see the people as a heaving unwell crowd so much as a bewildered, stumbling mass of confused directionless sheep. The text says Jesus had compassion on them after having healed their every disease and sickness. Jesus saw a deeper need. There should be shepherds here. Jesus’ compassion was connected with the subsequent acts of solving the harvest field worker shortage problem. This was not a one-man job anymore.

Transition

This is a transition point for Jesus. It’s time for the next phase. Others need to learn how to do this. Time to get the disciples involved. “Disciples – can you see the harvest field? Do you see the need? Pray for workers. Pray for yourselves”- Jesus is saying.

 

So, Kingdom. The good news is the good news of the kingdom. The good news that is about the Kingdom or the good news that belongs to and is rooted in the kingdom? When you understand what the Kingdom is all about you can hear the good news that goes along with it. And in this case, part of that good news is that Jesus wants to provide great shepherds to take care of his sheep. You’ll know you are seeing the kingdom of Jesus when you see good shepherds looking after Jesus’ sheep.

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Mt 8:5-13 Faith of the Centurion

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

Centurion in town

A centurion comes up to Jesus when he walks into town  – a Roman gentile, emblematic of the hated occupying force… How’s this going to go? Will Jesus respond to his request? What about the politics of this?

There is a simple exchange – “Lord, my servant lies at home paralysed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

This is all about human need and connection. The centurion cares about his servant’s terrible condition and is looking for a solution. Jesus connects and responds with an offer of help. No politics  here.

What follows is an amazing twist. This “outsider” centurion has an incredible insight into how faith is supposed to work. So much so that Jesus says he is in a class of his own in the faith department – take that, religious establishment!

It’s almost as if the centurion has invented some language here. “Come”. “Go”. All simple. This is how it works. Jesus picks up on this language and says “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.”

Subjects of the Kingdom

Let’s unpack a bit more. Jesus says “I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven”. He is talking about people coming (there’s that language again) from far away places to take their place in the kingdom. These people are not the traditional or ethnic expected invitees – the Jews. These people are from the nations, I.e. the Gentiles, from outside. Could it be that this what is foreshadowed in verses such as Isa 43:5-8, 59:11 and Ps 107:2-3?

Yet the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, to a place of darkness, sorrow and regret. So who exactly are these subjects of the kingdom and why are they cast out? Kingdom language is common in the Bible. There is a king, a realm, and the subjects. Through the history of the people of Israel, kingdoms were quite fluid. More than once a kingdom was transferred from one king to another (1 Sam 28:17, 2 Sam 3:10, Lam 2:2, Dan 2:39). The Old Testament also speaks of a coming new kingdom (Isa 32:1, Isa 9:6-7) and, spoiler alert, Jesus is the new king.

Weeping and Gnashing

Now, what is this “weeping and gnashing of teeth” all about? In the NIV version of the  New Testament, the word “gnashing” appears seven times , of which six are in Matthew. It’s a favourite phrase of his (Mt 8:12,m13:42, 13:50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30). Luke also it (Lk 13:28) and there are many parallels there to this passage:

There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. (Lk 13:28-30).

All of the references associate teeth-gnashing with weeping, and most of them with being outside in the darkness. There is obviously a well-known reference being invoked here. First of all, what exactly is “gnashing”? Gnashing is grinding. You are grinding your teeth out of anger, not out of agony. See Acts 7:54. You’re upset. See also Ps 112 where the faith of the righteous is compared with the vexed teeth-gnashing of the wicked.

In ancient times banquets were usually held at night in well-lit rooms. If you were excluded, you were said to be cast into the “outer darkness of the night”. Orientals didn’t even like to sleep without the light on, so being stuck outside in the dark was a terrifying prospect.

Faith class 

So what is Jesus saying here? He wants to get the attention of his people, the Jews. It’s almost like he is having the gentile Centurion stand up in the front of the classroom.

“Class, listen up. See Andronicus here, this is what faith looks like. Pay attention class. If you want to graduate, learn it like he has. The fact that your fathers are old boys of the school doesn’t count. Thank you Andronicus, you can sit down now”.

Listen up, indeed. This kingdom is for people who want to follow the king, not the hereditary land-owners. The rules have changed, faith in the king is the new currency.

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Rethinking Evangelism

 


The Message

There was this guy who appeared one day who started preaching a message he called “the good news”. A lot of people heard, some became followers, and then he got killed by the Romans.

The message lived on through His followers over the next several decades, and spread throughout the whole Mediterranean world, despite significant opposition at times.

Today, Christians still preach a message. But is it the same one that the first guy taught? Or has it become hopelessly syncretised with culture and politics? Or has it been systematised and simplified (ie dumbed down) for efficient consumption and replication? So, the question is, how is evangelism going in the twenty-first century and does it need a rethink?

Growth Parables, Growth Paradigms

There are two short parables in Matthew’s gospel that show Jesus’ thinking about how the kingdom of heaven grows.

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” (Mt 13:32-33).

 So how does the kingdom of heaven grow exactly? How can we evangelise in the most effective way in our churches? What are the best programs, resources and techniques? Answer: none of the above.

There is some seed. It gets planted. And then we wait. Or you can use yeast!

That’s it. We plant the seed. The good news of the gospel, the way of God’s kingdom. And we let it do its work. We don’t coerce. Or manipulate. Or trap. Or scare people. It’s good news, remember? Things like “blessed are the poor in spirit”, or “the meek shall inherit the earth”. That’s the way Jesus started out.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Lk 4:18-19)

There it is again, that “good news”. Freedom sounds good. Getting your sight back sounds good. Freedom from oppression sounds good – certainly a lot better than “you’re lost and you’re going to hell” which has become the essential locus of evangelism in the evangelical world.

Worth knowing that the “eu” part in the εὐαγγελίζω (euangelizo) means “good” (think eulogy, euphemism, even euphonium etc). So, if you want to share the good news make sure it’s actually good.

Fun fact, in Roman times, the euangelion was a political announcement. The king, or the emperor is coming to your town, or has ascended to the throne. Jesus employed this device as he brought the message of a new king, a new kingdom and a new way of life.

The problem for many of us though is that we just can’t get out of a “lost/saved/we have to convert you to our church” paradigm when we think about the euangelion. Yes, this is why Jesus died, and sin is a massive problem, but this formulation of the gospel misses key parts of the overall story.


Conversion Engineering

The enemy of Jesus-style evangelism is industrialised big-church evangelism, engineered to garner those “decisions”. From the sawdust trails of the Great Awakenings, to the Billy Sundays, to the Billy Grahams, to the Bill Brights, packaged, decision-oriented programs, meetings, tracts, TV shows and so forth have all revolved around creating sufficient angst for the individual that can only be resolved by whatever analgesic act the “evangelist” is touting – a walk down that trail, a seat on that bench, a coming forward, a prayer, even a baptism. The long-term stats on these conversions really aren’t that impressive, but is it any wonder? You would never make a life-long marriage commitment after a one-hour date, so why should a life-long commitment to following Jesus, possibly involving the enduring of persecution be thought to be possible after a one-hour sermon? Jesus just didn’t seem to operate that way.

Many groups set growth goals and make various plans to try to achieve those goals. This approach can be quite deeply ingrained in our personal and corporate church cultures. On the surface this looks OK – vision and planning are good things, right? However, there are traps that get armed in this process.

Trap #1: Ministry Imbalance

In the time of Ezekiel, God made it clear to the shepherds of Israel how He would go about looking after his sheep:

I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice. (Ezk. 34:16).

 Yes, God is concerned for the lost, it’s the first group on his list. But not the only group. There are strays to find, the injured to bind up, the weak to be strengthened.

Jesus, at the beginning of his ministry unrolled the Isaiah scroll and picked out the passage we mentioned earlier:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Lk 4:18, Isa 61:1,2).

 Good news + freedom for prisoners + healing + recovery + freedom of the oppressed = Jesus’ ministry.

If Jesus preached that today, he would be accused by some of having a “woke” agenda! Point is that the gospel is for people both inside and outside the group. However, when evangelism is highly prioritised then those inside sheep get neglected.

Now what about what happens after happy conversion day… Are we as organised, intentional and serious about the ongoing spiritual formation and growth and needs of the new babe-in-Christ as we are in the initial acquisition process? Maturing takes time, nurturing, encouragement, intentionality, love and effort. To ignore this is shameful. To prioritise conversion over retention is the heart of Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:18-23).

Trap #2: Unhealthy numerical focus

There is something that is just so alluring about numbers. Be it a bank account savings balance, social media follower count, or church growth statistics. We can draw graphs, make projections, and can feel that little glow of satisfaction as the numbers creep up. We like to know the numbers. King David fell into this trap.

So the king said to Joab and the army commanders with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enroll the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.”

But Joab replied to the king, “May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times over and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?” (2 Sam 24:2-3)

 Joab felt something was off, and he was the general of the army they were counting – you’d think he’d want to know! David got his census done anyway and received the report. But then we are told that:

David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, LORD, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.” (2 Sam 24:10).

That episode cost 70,000 lives (2 Sam 24:15). David saw his error saying:

I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family. (2 Sam 24:17).

 Finally, David remembered his roots, and what the heart of a true shepherd should really look like. It was wrong for David to count the people because they were not his to count  (cf Ex 30:12).

Numbers have always had a depersonalising way about them, be it an actuarial statistic or a concentration camp tattoo. We give names to our children, not numbers. Jesus only worked with a few. Paul didn’t same to care that much either about the size of the crowd (1 Cor 1:16), but what they had in common was a simple desire to simply preach the message of the kingdom.

Trap #3: Measurement Pride

Apart from a few verses in the beginning of Acts there are no hard numbers in the New Testament about church growth. Three thousand on the day of Pentecost is a remarkable figure (Acts 2:41), so remarkable that the glory can really only go to God. The Lord really was adding to their number (Acts 2:47), and the Jerusalem church grew to a size of 5000 men, plus presumably a lot of women as well (Acts 4:4). But then the reporting of numbers stop. The point has been made – God was with them spectacularly. No more reports on congregation size, just accounts of the amazing things happening as the Holy Spirit conducted proceedings. If Paul boasted at all it was in his weaknesses. He refuse to boast the way the world boasts (2 Cor 11:18). “You want numbers – I’ll give you numbers… 39 lashes 5 times, 3 times beaten with rods, stoned once, 3 shipwrecks, 24 hours in the open sea” (2 Cor 11:24-25). Paul goes to great lengths to make this point in 2 Corinthians, he is not going to do business the way the world does, or the way the false apostles do. No, he lived the way of suffering, of service, of distress, of weakness. No measurement pride here.

Perhaps we are incapable of resisting the lure of the counting of souls to our account? We can say that “God added” x people to our group, but why are we saying it?

Trap #4: Stifling of Creativity

Finally, one problem with programmatic evangelistic methods is that they tend to stifle and quench creativity. Are we still doing the same old things evangelistically we did twenty or thirty years ago? Is everybody in the group doing the exact same evangelistic tasks? Well, the culture has driven right past us in the fast lane. They aren’t listening to the same old approaches anymore. What are they listening to? What are they attracted to? What do they need? Are we listening? Do we even know? Do we think about it? Paul was good at this. He had to be – three different audiences in Acts 17 alone. The Thessalonians were not the Bereans. He preached Messiah to the Jews (Acts 17:3) and an unknown God to the Athenians (Acts 17:22-25). He did his research too (Acts 17:23).

In case we have missed it, “church” is kind-of “on the nose”in many quarters these days, so invitations to come along there may not work that well any more. But perhaps ears prick up when you talk about a radical “equality” rather than a hierarchy. That has currency in the culture. Or show regard for the marginalised and get involved in a community project. Concern about justice issues, human rights and so forth. These sorts of things are totally consistent with the gospel and could be a path-way worth exploring evangelistically. Not to mention that people don’t need too much convincing that the world is in a bit of a mess and are ready for some good news. Go on! Shape that message! Love is always good. The meekness and gentleness of Christ as an antidote to a “muscular’’, “strongman”, “toxic” style of leadership. Oh, and don’t be all judgy (Rom 2:1-3, Mt 7:1-5). There are many possibilities.

The Slow Way

What if we were to simply and intentionally live out what we read in the Sermon on the Mount in our interactions with others. To actually love people, serve them, be compassionate, be there. And then one day the opportunity will arise for some deeper discussion. And if the person doesn’t respond, well you just keep on loving, serving and being compassionate, and maybe things will be different in a couple of years. There will be opportunities to open the Scriptures with people to meet  needs as they arise. Living life with people means there will be needs that can be ministered to. That does seem to be the way Jesus did it. There are probably a lot more  “living water” conversations (Jn 4:1-24) than “warn and plead opportunities”.  (Acts 2:40).

Paul gets the idea also:

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Cor 3:5-9)

Paul seems to be genuinely comfortable with the idea that he is just a simple co-worker. A seed-planter. A God-partner who is happy to pass the ball. He is convinced that it is God who makes those seeds grow. The thing about seeds is that there is no quick pay-off. You put them in the ground, and you have nothing to show for it but dirt under your fingernails for quite a while. One day there is a sprout, but you better keep on watering it because full-grown mustard trees can take quite a few years (Mt 13:32).

What if you were able to come up with a setting in which you could share and discuss in your day the things Jesus taught that revolutionised the religion of his day? And you did it for a year, with absolutely no “conversion agenda”, but instead just focussed on teaching the good news and allowing the Holy Spirit to do his work? What would that look like a year down the track? Chances are a lot of the poor, imprisoned and blind people would stop by. History tells us that Jesus’ way draws people. They get to listen. They get to figure out in community with others how this all applies to them. They get to engage, to think, to wrestle. That is going to lead to a deeper engagement with the Scriptures and changes in the heart. Then one day, “So what do I need to do?” moments can arise. People do think about these things (Lk 13:23, Acts 8:26-39, Acts 16:30).

This may all seem terribly inefficient and oh-so-slow. But isn’t that how seeds grow? Much better to start slowly, plant those seeds and allow God to cause the growth. Build relationships and intentionally nurture, than to have a “big push” with boast-able numbers only to lose many of those “converts’’ a few months later.

Now don’t get me wrong. I believe we have wonderful news to share and that we need to share it. But I believe our real goal is to creatively make the gospel attractive (Tit 2:10) and form Christ in people (Gal 4:19), understanding that it is God who makes the seeds grow. Constantly reevaluating, rethinking, reshaping our presentation of the gospel for our particular cultural moment.

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Matthew 11:11-15

From The Kingdom series.

Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. Whoever has ears, let them hear. (Mt 11:11-15)

John in Jail

We are talking about John the Baptist – Jesus’ cousin and ministry fore-runner, who is now on death row for daring to call out the most powerful guy in the land over his relationship with his brother’s wife Herodias. We know how that ends – head on a platter stuff (Mt 14:1-12).

Now John was getting reports of what Jesus was doing, and it seems they didn’t quite tally with the picture John had of what the Messiah would be doing (Mt 11:2). We are not told exactly what John was concerned about, but we are privy to Jesus’ reply.

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” (Mt 11:4-6).

Jesus is quoting Isaiah. There are a few candidates:

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

(Isaiah 61:1-3)


Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.”
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.

(Isa 35:4-6)

Seeing the Kingdom

Jesus is reminding John of what this coming kingdom was all about. And preaching (proclaiming the good news) and healing (the blind, the lame, the deaf, the lepers, even the dead) are all part of the job! And of course this is what Jesus had been doing (Mt 9:35, Mt 10:1, 11:1). Don’t be mistaken John! This king wants to heal, wants to comfort, wants to free. This is the picture of the kingdom you need to have.

And perhaps Jesus is steadying John’s knees a little bit too. ‘Don’t stumble over this John”. “Don’t let your idea of God’s Kingdom prevent you from seeing and participating in the actual Kingdom” is the idea.

Are you listening?

Jesus had an important message about John for his hearers. Paraphrasing: “He was the return of Elijah you know.” (Mal 4:5-6, Mt 11:13-15). And, “Listen up! – are you really listening people? John was the wild-man prophet calling you to repentance and you didn’t listen to him – you called him a demon. (Mt 11:18). I came singing a different tune, eating with you, drinking with you and you didn’t listen to me either! I got called a glutton and a drunkard. So it’s not about our ministry style, it’s about your willingness to listen, to reflect, to repent. Are you really listening at all? The miracles are to show you what God is really like and to get your attention – don’t miss it.”

Least in the Kingdom

Now verse 11 and 12 are interesting.

 … whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
(Mt 11:11)
From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it.
(Mt. 11:12)

What is Jesus saying here? Was John not in the kingdom and now you can be? Or, is being the least in the kingdom the right seat to want to sit in, no matter who you are? This is the way of Jesus – the first will be last, and the last will be first. In his Kingdom, the reputation system is upside down. If you have worldly corporate eyes you are not going to get it.

Violence!

Verse 12 sounds like a negative – violence is never good right? But other translations of the Greek word βιάζω (Biazo) choose  the sense of “forceful” rather than “violence”. Some have preached that as a positive- i.e. the kingdom is forcefully advancing, the idea being to be someone who is strong and  forceful in how you go about that ministry work. This interpretation does not chime at all well with the clear and consistent New Testament teaching about the requirement for gentleness in the character of church leaders and everybody else besides (Mt 11:29, 2 Cor 10:1, Gal 5:23, Eph 4:2, Col 3:12,1 Tim 3:3, 1 Tim 6:11,  Tit 3:2, 1 Pet 3:15). Either way, there is a very strong current flowing here. And what are they doing? ἁρπάζω (harpazo) – laying hold of the kingdom, taking it by force or advancing it? Destroying it or building it?

Context might give us a clue. Jesus is addressing the crowd about John. He is positive about the Baptist – saying that he is in a very small club – he’s an actual prophet. He was one of the greats alright. But now he’s in jail. So how do we view John as a result of that? Has he lost credibility because he is doing time? 

Perhaps Jesus is saying the actual kingdom of God is being subjected to the raids of violent non-kingdom people (like Herod) for their violent non-kingdom purposes? John was not one to dress up and live in a nice palace (like Herod), and now his life is on the line because of his kingdom convictions.

Violent political activity was a feature of the times. The zealots (one of whom became a disciple of Jesus [Mt 10:4] and who never seemed to lose his nickname! [Acts 1:13]), were a group who responded to Roman occupation through the use of military force and covert action. They would be called a terrorist group today, or at the very least dagger-armed assassins. Again, violence is not the way of the kingdom that Jesus is bringing.

Wrap-up

The question for you, crowd, is this: Who are you going to listen to? Whose message will you be willing to accept? Are you prepared to endure the actions of violent kingdom-raiders in order to bring my kind of kingdom to the world?

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Is God Really in Control?

You have heard it said “God is In control”, but now I tell you “not really”.

Well that sounds heretical. God not being in control. If this bothers you, may I suggest you stop reading this and do a quick word search on “control” in the Bible and see what your find. Here’s a handy link.

There are quite a few verses on self-control in there, and on kings controlling lands and people, but precious little on God being in any kind of control at all. In fact, if we can put our theological commitments to one side for a moment and reflect on what is going on in the world in which we are actually living we have to agree that there is actually quite a lot of chaos in it –  natural disasters, man’s inhumanity to man, human suffering, disease, and a multi-year pandemic right?

For the person who likes to think that God is in control, then you have a lot of explaining to do about the effective power of this God, or how it is that He can so cheerfully preside over this mess. It’s a difficult case to make, and one that has been troubling thoughtful people for a very long time.

Under Construction

Maybe we should revisit this idea, and posit that the world is more like some kind of giant post-war construction site full of hazards and half-built things. God is in the process of fixing it, but it’s not there yet. It’s still possible to fall down a shaft or get crushed under a collapsing wall (Lk 13:1-5). He has put up all the warning signs and written the safety manual but most people around here don’t seem to be taking much notice of those.

We humans like to be in control. At the very least, it’s safe, it’s predictable, and we can be efficient and reduce waste. At its worst, we exploit people, damage relationships, split families and create our own toxins through our exercise of control. People don’t thrive when controlled. They rebel, zone out, go slow, or die. 

Order is fine, but control – not so much. I like the fact that gravity always works, my streets are pretty safe, and the rubbish gets collected every week. Yes, order is good, and God has had a lot to do with that in our natural world. 

So if God is not in control, then how does he operate? Through strong invitation. Timeless instruction. Provision. The tools are there but you have to pick them up and learn how to use them.

Invitation and provision


Jesus said: “Come, follow me…”(Mk 1:17), “Learn from me and you will have rest for souls” (Mt 11:29).  “Try it out for a while” (Jn 7:17). That’s the invitation and instruction part. On the provision side we are told to take a lesson from the birds of the air, and notice how they all seem to get fed (Mt 6:25-34). Yes, God provides. He even sends rain on the unrighteous (Mt 5:45). God  would make a lousy control freak – giving benefits away like that.

Getting back to the construction site, God has also in a very non-controlling way had left quite a bit of the fixing up to us notoriously unreliable humans. 

The way this works is that God asks us to trust him, which means to trust that doing things His way will lead to the best outcome. But we are never forced to do this. We have completely free will – I am sure some readers of this piece did not click on the link above! That’s your free choice in action right there!

In this world, at this time, God has opposition. God is able to jump in and intervene on any occasion, but most of the time He just doesn’t. He sets out his will clearly in writing. People disobey it, and God gives them a very long leash. Just look at Old Testament history. A large part of it is the plot line of “God tells his people not to worship idols, his people worships idols, God sends prophets to warn and remind them not to worship idols, people don’t listen, God waits several hundred years before sending judgment”. A very long leash indeed.

Kingdom


God has jumped in of course. The incarnation – God living amongst us in the person of Jesus Christ was a radical intervention. Immanuel – God with us – was a completely intentional historical act, bringing the Kingdom of God near (Mt 4:17). Jesus laboured to communicate what this kingdom is all about. It is like no other kingdom you have ever seen. Everything is upside down. All the things we have learnt about how to get ahead do not apply in this kingdom (Lk 9:48).a

This is not to say God cannot be influenced or petitioned. This is where prayer fits in. We are encouraged to ask God to act in our world and in our lives (Mt 7:7-11,  Jn 11:22, Rom 1:10, Jas 1:5 etc.). Also, if we go back to the passages that do talk about control, we find that most of them talk about self–control. So it appears that that is where the challenge really lies. God has chosen to exert his influence in the world through the self-control of those who listen to him. He is looking for partners in this project, not spectators.

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Matthew 7:13-23

From The Kingdom series.

Matthew 7:13–23 (HCSB): Enter through the narrow gate.  For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction,  and there are many who go through it. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it. 

“Beware of false prophets  who come to you in sheep’s  clothing  but inwardly are ravaging wolves.  You’ll recognize them by their fruit.  Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.

‘“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,  but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.  On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons  in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’  Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’   

Broad and Narrow Roads

I am trying to picture these two roads in my mind. I’m seeing something like a castle with doors to go through to enter from the outside, but then there seems to be these long roads which belong on the outside not the inside…. Maybe my mental picture is wrong. Maybe the road is the destination. This would mean that the road is more about how you live life much more than which gate you started off choosing?And what if you wanted to switch roads at some point? How does that work? Let’s pause on this one and look at the next paragraph.

Good and Bad Fruit

There are some false prophets. You are a sheep in a flock. They want to eat you. And they get close enough to you to be able to do that by dressing up as one of you – a sheep. Meek and mild on the outside but a ravenous wolf underneath. They don’t care about your welfare, they just want your production or to have you for breakfast.

The structure of this passage is interesting:

   A. Entering the kingdom through the narrow gate.

B. Watch out for the false prophets.

   A’. Entering the kingdom.

A chiasm perhaps? So maybe the whole passage relates to entering the kingdom? Certainly in the last section (v21-23) there are some surprised folks who are confident they have the right tickets – we prophesied in your name Jesus! We did a lot of things “in your name”. Jesus doesn’t even get drawn into the conversation. “I never knew you. Get out of here – lawbreakers”. How do we process this? Miracle working prophesying exorcists not making it through the door? What hope is there for the rest of us? 

Literary context

It’s helpful at this point to look at some literary context. These verses are situated right at the end of the extended body of Jesus’ teaching known as the sermon on the mount. It would not be unexpected that this might be some kind of summary of what has gone before. We have already discovered (see Mt 5:17-20) how Jesus views the Law. Jesus is all about fulfilling the law (Mt 5:17), not breaking it, so it makes sense that he did not want to be around the law-breakers of Mt. 7:23. And what law have they broken? Jesus summed up the whole law in two commandments – loving God and loving your neighbour (Mt 22:37-40, Rom 13:8-10 ). Paul gets it down to one: 

For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbour as yourself. (Gal.  5:14).

Do not owe anyone anything,  except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.  The commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet;  and whatever other commandment—all are summed up by this: Love your neighbour as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbour. Love, therefore, is the fulfilment of the law. (Rom. 13:8–10)

False Prophets

So who are these false prophets then, and how may they be identified? It is someone who comes singing the right songs and with a good command of the lingo, but totally lacks a love motivation. They are there, yes even in the church, to serve their own appetites, to take and eat, rather than love and nourish. Likely too that they advocate and promote a route along that broad road.  They have not entered by the narrow gate, they are not familiar with the narrow way. No wonder Jesus says to them “I never knew you”. 

Wrapping up

Jesus has laid out his manifesto in Matthew 5-7. Now he is asking the question – are you on board with living like this? Do you want to live like a citizen in this kingdom? It’s all about this way of love – that is actually what the narrow road is.

So, “entering the kingdom” – is it a future thing or a now thing? Jesus appears to be teaching that you have to be living in it now in order to enter it later. And this narrow gate?  It’s your decision to intentionally participate in Jesus’ project for this world in this life by loving your neighbours, based on your whole life trajectory of joining Jesus in his kingdom work.

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Matthew 5:17-20

From The Kingdom series.

Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter  or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

(Mt. 5:17–20)

Jesus always confounds people. He came speaking a different kind of language, used different words, and had different priorities to the teachers of his day. So therefore he came to destroy it. Or at least that must have been what people were thinking.

Why else would Jesus say: Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill? (Mt 5:17). Maybe that’s the kind of thing messianic aspirants did back in the day. Jesus is saying to them: “I am the opposite of what you think – I have come to fulfill the Law, fulfill the prophets, not destroy them”. This much is clear, but what does it mean?

Firstly, the Law is just a category name for the first five books of the Hebrew Bible – the Torah. A better word for us today might be “Instruction”. “Law” feels so, well, lawyer-ish at times. And the prophets (Nevi-I’m) is the division of the Hebrew Scriptures that cover what we recognise today as the historical and prophetic books. Here’s a link with the breakdown.

In this passage, Jesus is talking about the relationship between the Kingdom of heaven and the Law, so it’s important we understand what he is and is not saying.

Fulfilling

Let’s take a closer look at the word translated as fulfill.  The word is πληρόω (plēroō) which carries the sense of completeness, fill to the top, accomplish, cram a net or carry out. Jesus is saying: “I’m not here to burn it all down, I’m here to show how you can actually live out the Law and Prophets in the fullest sense.” His message to his audience was “Live your life out fully by following the principles laid down in the Torah and emphasised and illustrated  in the Prophets. The way we are going to get there is by me giving you a new way to think about it.”

Passing Away

There is something troubling here for some modern-day Christians and it is the use-by date. Jesus said that “until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter (a jot or a tittle) will pass away until all things are accomplished. (Mt 5:18). It’s troubling because many of us like to think we can put that “law” stuff behind us now because we are in the age of Jesus, faith, grace and all that good stuff.

Heaven and earth passing away does seem to point to a future time in history. Even future for us. How do we deal with this? Well, “heaven and earth” is a key phrase- it reminds us of creation (Gen. 1:1,2:1, 2:4, 14:19, Ex 20:11 etc). Jesus repeats the idea towards the end of his earthly ministry:

Heaven and earth will pass away,  but My words will never pass away. (Mt. 24:35). 

Not one word from the Law or the Prophets will pass away. Not one word of his will pass away… Wait! Is Jesus saying the Law and the Prophets are his words too?

So we must turn to Paul to bolster our growing “it must be faith, not law” panic. Here’s a verse from Romans:

Do we then cancel the law through faith? Absolutely not!  On the contrary, we uphold the law. (Rom. 3:31). 

That was unexpected! Paul is saying he upholds the Law as well…. Let’s keep looking.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness  to everyone who believes. (Rom. 10:4).

Whew, that’s better. Paul must have been having an off-day when he wrote Romans 3:31.

However, the “end” here is τέλος (telos) which means end-point or culmination. So again, we are not talking about replacement of the Law but rather the perfect fulfilment of it in Christ. Not “no longer relevant” so much as “ultimate purpose”.

And there seems to be a practical implication of this for those who follow Jesus:

Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them—this is the Law and the Prophets. (Mt. 7:12)

And Romans disappoints again:

Do not owe anyone anything,  except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet;  and whatever other commandment—all are summed up by this: Love your neighbor as yourself.  Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law. (Rom. 13:8–10)

Joking of course. This passage makes the point about fulfilling the Law by actually  quoting the Law – the Ten Commandments no less, and “whatever other commandment” there may be. All are fulfilled when we learn to love like Jesus loved. Is there a theme emerging here ?

So back to the heaves and earth passing away thing. 

Dear friends, this is now the second letter  I have written to you; in both letters, I want to develop a genuine  understanding with a reminder, so that you can remember the words previously spoken by the holy prophets and the command of our Lord and Savior given through your apostles. First, be aware of this: Scoffers will come in the last days  to scoff, living according to their own desires, saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?  Ever since the fathers fell asleep,  all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation.” They willfully ignore this: Long ago the heavens and the earth were brought about from water and through water  by the word of God.  Through these waters the world of that time perished when it was flooded.  But by the same word,  the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment  and destruction of ungodly men. 

Dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape you: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.  The Lord does not delay His promise,  as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any  to perish  but all to come to repentance. 

But the Day of the Lord  will come like a thief;   on that day the heavens will pass away  with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved,  and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed.  Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness as you wait for and earnestly desire the coming  of the day of God.  The heavens will be on fire and be dissolved because of it, and the elements will melt with the heat. But based on His promise, we wait for the new heavens and a new earth,  where righteousness will dwell. (2 Pet. 3:1–13).

Let’s trace the argument. Long ago, the heavens and earth were brought about from water and through water by God’s word. (3:5). There was a judgment then – the world  perished. (3:6). By this same word, the present heavens and earth are stored up for another judgment using fire – the agent of destroying judgment. (3:7) The ungodly will be destroyed at that time. 

Based on God’s promise, (3:13) there will be a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness will dwell and this is God’s ultimate destination – a perfect realm where everyone there is living in right relationship with God and each other – a world where the greatest commandments are lived out by everyone all the time.

So as a result, it is clear the life to live now is one of holy conduct and righteousness  (3:12), fulfilling the Law by loving others.

Greatest and Least

Back to our text. 

  • Practice and teaching are inseparable in Jesus’ view.
  • If you do not have righteousness you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
  • The least and the great.
  • Scribes and Pharisees – they would have been the religious face of society. 
  • Is Jesus saying the way of the scribes and Pharisees is even more hopeless than someone who is least in the kingdom?
  • We can easily accept the idea that breaking a law and teaching others to do so makes you the least. And that keeping and teaching them is highly valued in the Kingdom. But the idea that the most knowledgeable and prominent exponents aren’t getting into the kingdom would have been mind-blowing to the original audience.
  • We learn that the kingdom is something that must be entered. You are not automatically an insider (5:20).

Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses .that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 5:19-20)

Jesus picks up on this  “entering the kingdom” theme later:

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,  but only the one who does the will  of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons  in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’ (Mt. 7:21–23)

More on this in a future post, but Jesus is saying there is a day coming when many will be surprised they are denied entry to the kingdom. And these are the religious people! They prophesied, drove out demons and performed many miracles in Jesus’ name…. Yet somehow didn’t make it in? Jesus response is supposed to be jarring… I  never knew you, go away. You were never actually on my team. I see you as a law breaker.

But hang on, I thought we are talking about the gospel here, not the law. Isn’t everybody a lawbreaker at some point? That’s why we need the gospel after all right? What is your basis Jesus?

Turns out that Jesus does want us to keep his commands after all. And the command is to love. Is love your core project? Am I determined above all else, to act in love in all of my relationships? Do I pursue this as my priority every day? Or am I using some other measure?

Maybe Jesus is using the term “lawbreaker “ ironically. “Here is my reasoning in language you can understand. You wanted to measure your performance legally? Then let’s play that game then… did you love other people yes or no? What was it like for the people in your family? In your marriage? In your dart’s team? In your workplace? in your ministry? If they spoke at your funeral, what would they say about you?…. I rest my case.

Where Jesus wants us to get to spiritually is a place where loving God and people are the very core of our faith and how we live life. Love is what the kingdom is actually all about. And the state of things in the new heaven and earth as well.

This is a very important key to truly “getting” the gospel. It’s not about performing religious deeds, it’s not even about repenting of most of your sins. it’s about acquiring the heart to obey the greatest commands. If you don’t do that you haven’t even heard the gospel. You have to think differently about this – everybody does. And it might take a few years to really get it. Even Jesus’ disciples hadn’t quite graduated after three.

Wrapping up

So, wrapping up. How to be great in the kingdom of heaven? It’s very simple – just keep God’s commands and teach others to do the same. However if you hear that as talking about faultless execution of all 613 Torah commands you will probably just curl up in a spiritual foetal position – not even the best scribes and Pharisees fully achieve that. But if you hear it as Jesus saying you need to let all that measuring go, and acquire this heart of deep love, you can certainly be one of the greats.

Reflection:

  • Does this idea even attract me? Does it wildly attract me?
  • What would it look like in my life to love God with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength? What does this even mean for me?
  • What would it look like in my life to love my neighbour as myself?
  • What does my life, my words, my actions teach others? If I am a “religious” person, would Jesus consider me to be one of the “scribes and Pharisees” based on my life and teaching?
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Matthew 4:12-25

From The Kingdom series.

Matthew 4:12–25 (HCSB): When He heard that John had been arrested,  He withdrew into Galilee.  He left Nazareth behind and went to live in Capernaum  by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 

Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, along the sea road, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles! The people who live in darkness have seen a great light, and for those living in the shadowland of death, light has dawned.   

From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven  has come near!” 

Movement

There is a lot of movement in this passage. Jesus was in Judea where he was baptised by John and been through a time of testing in the wilderness. Things were heating up with John’s arrest, so Jesus returned to Galilee region but moved head-quarters from his home town of Nazareth to Capernaum – a city of maybe 10000 people that boasted a customs office (Mt 9:9) and a centurion (Mt 8:5) presumably with his 100 soldiers or so. It was a strategic location militarily due to its situation on major north-south routes (map)  and contained two Roman-built cities (Sephorrus and Tiberius).

Galilee

These cities would have been culturally Hellenistic not Jewish. In Jesus’ day Galilee was ruled by the tetrarch Herod Antipas (Lk 3:1) – son of Herod the Great who had been the Herod we read about in the birth accounts of Jesus.  John the Baptist had had a fatal encounter with this Herod (Mt 14:1-11) and although Jesus had come on to Herod’s radar (Lk 9:7-9), Jesus did not suffer the same fate at Herod’s hands (Lk 23:7-12). Herod had been curious about Jesus for some time, however when Jesus refused to play ball, Herod made his point about “who was really king here” through ridicule. 

The southern Galilean region was much more cosmopolitan and mixed-race than Jerusalem and Judea to the south. Perhaps Jesus’ message had more of a chance of getting through to people in Galilee than in the religious centre of Jerusalem. And that message was the same as John’s: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near”.

It’s the kind of message that demands a response. 

The Question

So what does it mean that the kingdom of heaven has come near, why is repentance connected to it, and what does this repentance look like?

Reading on, we can get some clues.

As  He was walking along the Sea of Galilee,  He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen.  “Follow Me,” He told them, “and I will make you fish for  people!” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 

Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him. 

Jesus was going all over Galilee,  teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.  Then the news about Him spread throughout Syria.  So they brought to Him all those who were afflicted, those suffering from various diseases and intense pains, the demon-possessed, the epileptics, and the paralytics.  And He healed them. Large crowds followed Him from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. (Mt 4:18-25)

So we can see what Jesus is doing as he preaches this message: He is:

  • Calling some everyday people to follow him as his disciples.
  • Travelling a lot.
  • Teaching in the synagogues.
  • Preaching the good news of the kingdom.
  • Healing many.

He is gaining a large following from a diverse range of people coming from both Jewish and Gentile regions. No doubt, at this early stage, the news of his healing ministry would have accounted for a large part of the interest, but his authoritative speaking style (Mt 7:29) would have played a role as well.

So what is this good news of the kingdom? Are we any closer to finding out?

Healing

Well the healing must be part of it. Healing is certainly good news if it’s you or a loved one getting the healing, but is there   a substantive connection between the act and the content of the message? And were we really expecting healing to be part of the messiah package?

The prophets spoke of healing as being a part of future restoration (e.g. Jer. 30:17, 33:6). Ezekiel clarifies the job description of a godly leader as the opposite of: 

Ezekiel 34:4 (HCSB): You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost.  Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. 

Healing and paying attention to the plight of the sick, the injured, the strayed or the lost are very core traits of the kind of leader God is looking for in His kingdom. Jesus goes on later to amplify this further in his later teaching and in his practical ministry.

Peter was right there with Jesus during these early days (Mt 4:18), and he recalls these events a decade or so later when speaking about this business of letting the Gentiles into the kingdom:

Acts 10:34–39 (HCSB): Then Peter began to speak: “Now I really understand that God doesn’t show favoritism,  but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him. He sent the message to the Israelites, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all.  You know the events  that took place throughout Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were under the tyranny of the Devil, because God was with Him.  We ourselves are witnesses of everything He did in both the Judean country and in Jerusalem, yet they killed Him by hanging Him on a tree.  

So we learn from Peter that what Jesus was doing was freeing people from the tyranny of the Devil. Jesus was rolling back the territory of the Devil’s rule and increasing the territory of God’s rule every time someone was healed. He was bringing God’s Kingdom to earth. And the direct result of that was major improvements in people’s lives. Peter also speaks of the good news of peace, and here he seems to be referring to an establishment of peace on a relational, cultural and racial level. Somehow this good news of the kingdom has the ability to weld together the unweldable.

Repentance

Jesus is calling for a response, and that response is summed up in one word – ‘Repent”. The Greek word is μετανοέω (metanoeo) and the verb in this case is present tense, active voice, imperative mood, second person, plural. This is to say “I am calling all of you to repent now – you must repent!” The meaning of the Greek word speaks to a change of mind, or to think differently about something – an after-thought. Usually connected with sin (Lk 15:10, Lk 17:3, Acts 3:19, Acts 8:22), but not always? This after thought strand of meaning leads us to ideas of “sorrow” or “regret”. There is a Hebrew word teshuvah which is translated by this Greek word, and it carries the idea of “a turning to God”. Jesus is not specific about sin in this call to repentance, so perhaps he is looking for a whole-of-life allegiance and purpose level of changed thinking. Jesus is saying: “Following me into this kingdom of God is a completely new ball game, a whole new way of thinking and operating, a whole new set of priorities, attitudes and markers – so different from the way you are living now. We are saying good-bye to religious-act style religion and getting into bringing God’s kingdom and following Jesus style. Reflect on that!”

In fact his whole ministry approach seems to be quite new. Calling fishermen to be disciples? Dealing with the sick? A ministry focussed on people – catching men and working with them. On the road a lot. First century rabbis had their cream-of-the-crop talmidim for sure, but there is something different about this guy.

The euangelion

And then there is this good news of the kingdom (Mt 4:17). Sometimes translated as the gospel or glad tidings, the Greek word is εὐαγγέλιον – euangelion. This word pre-existed Jesus but Jesus is giving it a new twist.

In Jesus’ day, euangelion was a word used in proclamations in the political world. A well-known example is from the so-called Priene calendar inscription, published in 9 BC. It was found in Priene (an Ancient Greek city in the west of Turkey) in 1899. It reads:

“Since Providence which ordains all things in our life, has restored enterprise and love of honor, it has accomplished for [our] life the most perfect thing by producing the August One, whom it has filled with virtue for the welfare of the people; having sent him to us and ours as a Saviour who should stop war and ordain all things. Having appeared, however, the Caesar has fulfilled the hope of prophecies, since he has not only outdone the benefactors who had come before him, but also has not left to future ones the hope of doing better; the birthday of this God has become through him a beginning of the good tidings.“

The purpose of the inscription was to announce a realignment of the calendar to begin with the birthday of emperor. Notice the themes going on here : the emperor is a Saviour, he fulfills prophecies, he is God, his birth is extremely significant, and the very coming of this king is good news – the euangelion. 

Sound familiar? The gospel writers portray Jesus as a direct challenger to the gospel of Rome. Jesus brings the true gospel of peace (Eph 6:19), not a Pax Romana enforced by the tip of a spear.

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Matthew 5:1-10

From the The Kingdom series.

Matthew 5:1–10 (HCSB)

The Beatitudes

Itinerant preacher goes up mountain, sits down on the ground and starts to teach his followers.

The Beatitudes. The blessings. The makarisms.

When He saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain,  and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.  Then  He began to teach them, saying: “The poor in spirit are blessed,  for the kingdom of heaven  is theirs.  Those who mourn are blessed,  for they will be comforted.  The gentle are blessed,  for they will inherit the earth.  Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed,  for they will be filled.  The merciful are blessed,  for they will be shown mercy.  The pure in heart are blessed,  for they will see God.  The peacemakers are blessed,  for they will be called sons of God.  Those who are persecuted for righteousness are blessed,  for the kingdom of heaven  is theirs.“

So this how God wants us to be then? Find something to mourn about?  If we live out these 8 points  we will get some kind of blessing? Or maybe this is a handy to-do list to get through before you die so you can get into heaven?

That is not the way to read the Beatitudes.

One clue is that there is a phrase that book-ends these verses – v3 an v10 both mention the kingdom of heaven. Perhaps Jesus is talking about the way the kingdom of heaven operates. He is describing what it is like when the kingdom is reigning. It is a complete reversal of everything the world holds dear. This kingdom is starting to look like an upside down world where the loser wins. Right up front in this block of Jesus’ teachings the blueprint is being laid out. The kingdom is near (Mt 4), and this is what it looks like (Mt 5).

Look at it:

  • In V3 poor in spirit gain the kingdom.
  • In V4 mourners are comforted.
  • In V5 the gentle get the inheritance.
  • In V6 the hungry are filled.
  • In V7 the merciful get mercy.
  • In V8 the pure get to see God.
  • In V9 the peacemakers will be in God’s family.
  • In V10 the persecuted get the kingdom.

Normally, the poor in spirit get trampled, the mourners get depressed, the gentle get nothing, the hungry starve, the merciful get taken advantage of, the pure get laughed at, the peacemakers lose territory and the persecuted get locked up.

But now Jesus is saying that his followers will have a different spirit and way of behaving in this life because they want to bring the kingdom of God to this earth. They will no longer operate using the ways of the world. Instead they employ meekness, mercy, and a desire for peace rather than a desire for division. And the world will think they are nuts for doing it. Nice guys finish last right?

But Jesus knows all this and still says that “in My kingdom – this is how we do things. And if you do too, you stand to gain more than you ever could have got through conventional means.’ 

A little word-study

It is easy for us to miss the radicalness of Jesus’ words. His listeners were tired of persecution and oppression. They were ready for a proper fight with their Roman occupiers and likely would have lined up behind any leader who looked like they could mount a decent attack. And now here is Jesus doing his first big stump speech to the expectant crowd telling them that being a merciful peacemaker is the key to their success.

Not only that, but the Greek word used here being translated as blessed, or happy is μακάριος (makarios). This is not your everyday level of happiness. This word describes those who enjoy the absolute best of everything – no mourning or hunger here. Jesus is insulting them now (at least to Greek readers).

The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (the Septuagint or LXX) uses this same word  to translate the Hebrew word אֶשֶׁר(pronounced esher ) which occurs 45 times. For example, Deut 33:29 says:

How happy you are, Israel! 
Who is like you, 
a people saved by the Lord? 
He is the shield that protects you, 
the sword you boast in. 
Your enemies will cringe before you, 
and you will tread on their back

The whole book of Psalms kicks off with this word:

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, (Ps 1:1).

And a few more:

Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. (Ps 32:1).

Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. (Ps 119:1)

Jesus’ audience would have known these Psalms. This type of blessedness comes about from the choices you make about the way you walk. In sync with the Lord, or something else? Your life will go well if you wisely choose to listen to God’s instruction. 

There is also this blessing of having your sins covered (Deut 33:29, Ps 32:1). This has always been part of God’s kingdom plans.

So blessedness seems to be a condition of being in God’s protective realm. Your physical life might not be all that great right now (mourning, hunger), but you still are blessed.

What to do

Do not make economic calculations here, the gain is of far greater value than simple cash – you get to gain the kingdom, receive true comfort, inherit the very earth itself, be filled, receive great mercy, and get to see God, be sons of God, and did I say, receive the kingdom?

So, sit down and listen up! Hearts, ears and minds open. You are in for a radical re-education about what it really means to serve God. 

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