Jesus follows the teaching of the beatitudes and that of salt and light with a series of vignettes on life as citizens of the Kingdom of God. I promised a few blogs ago that I would clarify the meaning of the Kingdom of God, used in the gospels synonymously with “Kingdom of Heaven.” Here goes.
The Kingdom of God is not found in the Old Testament or in Jewish literature, but its source is to be found there, especially in the Psalms and apocalyptic prophets. The Old Testament Messianic promises foretold a king who would reign. The apocalyptic prophets stressed God’s reign as something which would break into the present world order and establish a new one, a new order. Hold that thought for a moment.
It has been tempting in the Christian movement to institutionalize the Kingdom of God by identifying it as the church. That does not capture its meaning. It is greater than that. Another temptation is to identify it with a realm, with physical borders, within which all citizens are unified in faith. This is the way some Islamic nations are structured today. That’s not it. During the middle ages, in the age of “Christendom” the Kingdom of God was understood to be the unified faith of all believers, united under political and ecclesiastical structures…i.e. with a king who was the ‘defender of the faith’ and the church as source of authority. But the events of history shattered “Christendom.”
If it is not those things, then what is it? It is quite uncomplicated. The Kingdom of God is the sovereign rule of God in the hearts and minds of his people, irrespective of their political or geographical environment, irrespective of their association with Catholic, Baptist, Episcopal, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Methodist…(ad infinitum) movements illustrating the foolish and divisive nature of man, and irrespective of one’s level of theological sophistication. If God rules our hearts and minds, we will be the light and salt of society, and we will be blessed because of his presence in all our circumstances of life.
As Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount it served as a description of the social, relational, and spiritual economy of the Kingdom of God, impossible to bring about without God’s rule in our hearts and minds. In fact, and this is my opinion, impossible for us to fully realize in this life, waiting for the life to come for its fulfillment, for only there and then will the rule of God be complete and unchallenged.
In talking about the Kingdom Jesus was at his best when describing it in parables. It’s like finding a million dollars in the field he says, or a jewel worth a king’s ransom. It’s like finding something you hated to lose and thought you’d never find again—an old keepsake, a stray sheep, a missing child. Once found, it is the most precious thing you can imagine.
Prayer: “Great King of my heart, rule in me today and forever. Root out, relentlessly, obstacles to your unchallenged rule. You are my sovereign and my God. I gladly place my allegiance completely in your care. For Jesus, Amen.”