Student: Grant Mitchell

Student ID: C9901028

Subject: The Life of Christ - BCB153

Lecturers: David Timms

Title: Discuss the key principles undergirding Jesus' teaching on the Kingdom.

No. Words: 2548

Due Date: Friday 9^th July 1999

Submission Date:

Jesus' teaching on the Kingdom builds upon what the Old Testament beliefs of Kingdom were. Thus the key principles of Jesus teaching on the Kingdom can be placed into three main points:

(1) God's people in (2) God's place under (3) God's rule. [1]

The people of the Kingdom are called "poor" (Luke 6:20), or "poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3). These are people who may be viewed as part of the needy of humanity who God wills to save. [2] In total contrast is the reference to the rich man called to sell everything and give to the poor - Jesus was teaching to store treasure in heaven, not here on earth. "It means nothing can save us except total reliance on God's infinite love … The things of this world cannot save and those who rely on their riches and possessions will perish (Mark 10:23-27)." [3] God's people rely on God, not on their own riches.

Jesus attributed greatness to John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11), but also stated that "he who is least in the kingdom is greater than he." Jesus is showing that "… greatness in the Kingdom is accorded differently than greatness among men in this age - it is a matter of grace rather than of human achievements…" [4] Amongst God's people the way to be great is quite different to what people normally expect - there is a call to humility.

Jesus stated that greatness in the Kingdom involved humbling oneself like a child (Matthew 18:4). Jesus taught something similar in Matthew 23:11-12. Here Jesus notes that greatness involved servanthood - a state of total humility and love. God's people are those who humble themselves and seek greatness by being a servant to others.

To enter the Kingdom people were called to become like little children (Matthew 18:3), because the kingdom belonged to "such as these" (Mark 10:14). This was not a demand for childish behaviour, nor a romanticizing attitude toward children:

God's people admit they are like children when it comes to earning their place in the Kingdom - they are incapable of doing so. God's people turn in dependency, like children, to receive God's grace for entering the Kingdom.

Those who are to be a part of the Kingdom are not just the Jews, not just the invited as seen in Matthew 22:2-14. Sinners and the like were included in the Kingdom also. [6] "The Kingdom's goal is to create one great family, one people where all will find their home in the family of God." [7]

This call to the Kingdom is an offer of salvation. "This offer is absolutely unconditional and has only one aim: the salvation of all, but particularly of those with the least hope for it, the sinners and the outcasts." [8] God's people will be called from all nations, types, and characters.

The Kingdom will not only include those from all people and types, but all creation will be included and transformed: "In short, the Kingdom encompasses everything." [9]

The people of the Kingdom are called to make the Kingdom their first commitment (Matthew 6:33), and even more so to make sacrifices, like the rich man of Mark 10:23-27, that are quite radical, possibly large and all encompassing. The parable of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great value (Matthew 13:44-46) depict the kingdom as being so valuable that everything is sold to possess it. "The kingdom is of great value and brings great joy; consequently, no price is too high to 'possess' it." [10]

This commitment is also seen in its negative (Luke 9:59-62). Once service in the Kingdom has begun there is no looking back.

God's people see that the Kingdom is so valuable that there needs to be a total commitment to the purposes of the Kingdom.

Many times when Jesus talks about the Kingdom he makes reference to seeds sown in a field: seed scattered on different soils (Matthew 13:4-23), seeds of wheat amongst seeds of weeds (Matthew 13:24-30), a mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32), and a growing seed (Mark 4:26-29).

The seed is described as being the word of God, the field being that of the people of the world, and the sowing is the action of God: "The sowing … symbolizes the intervention of the saving sovereignty of God in the ministry of Jesus." [11]

Different things are being said in each instance about the results of each seed, but the main thrust is that of growth and producing fruit (more is said on this point later). There is also a sense of opposition to the seed producing, and particularly in the "Parable of the Sower" there is "… an appeal to the hearers and readers to renounce the hindrances to God's sovereignty at work in their midst, to open their lives to it, and to identify themselves with its representative [Jesus]…" [12]

God's people are those who allow what God speaks and does, particularly through Jesus, to affect them, and also to be willing to deal with opposition to God's work in their lives.

Finally God's people are those who are prepared. In Matthew 25:1-30, Jesus talks of virgins who are wise and well prepared, and those who are foolish. This parable begins to speak into the "not yet" sense of the Kingdom (which is discussed further below), and so the call for God's people is to be prepared for the future Kingdom in its completeness.

Jesus was preaching (Matthew 4:17), and encouraging the twelve apostles (Matthew 10:7) and the seventy-two he sent (Luke 10:9) to preach that the "kingdom of God is near". Jesus even stated that some of them would not die before they saw the Kingdom appearing (Mark 9:1). This places some belief that the Kingdom is occuring now:

God's place is in the now, and in particularly in the lives of the believers by the power of the Holy Spirit.

There is also a great sense that the Kingdom is yet to come:

The Kingdom was described in future terms by a day of judgment (Matthew 7:21-22, when compared with 25:34), a call to pray for its coming (Matthew 6:10), a Kingdom where Jesus would drink of the fruit of the vine again (Mark 14:25), and the Kingdom of the banqueting table (Matthew 8:12). [15]

God's place is in the future, after the time of the final judgment, after Jesus returns, where a time of "banqueting" will occur.

The parable of the Great Feast (Matthew 22:1-14) brings together these two opposite ideas - the now and the not yet. There is a taste of the future Kingdom to be experienced now when people accept God's offer :

Building upon the idea of the future banquet or feast, there is a sense of great joy, particularly in the presence of the one who has prepared the feast. This is not a new image - it is the long-standing symbol of the Kingdom of God in Jewish expectation. [17]

God's place will be one of great joy and celebration.

In the "Parable of the Net" (Matthew 13:47-50), there is the description of the end of the age where angels will separate the wicked from the righteous. In God's Kingdom there is no place for the wicked. However this is not meant to exclude those who are currently wicked - it is a call to change ways and accept salvation. "[Jesus] offers salvation now and leaves the separation of good from evil to the final judgment …" [18]

God's place is one where the righteous are, and there is no wickedness.

Jesus first call to the Kingdom was for people to repent (Matthew 3:2). This is a call to convert, which "… means first of all to turn around, to respond to a call that reaches me from behind." [19]

The "Parable of the Two Sons" (Matthew 21:28-31) is a small demonstration of this attitude. Regardless of where a person started, what a person has done or said, it involves changing your mind, deciding to respond to God's call of salvation, then act in obedience. "Jesus did not come simply working wonders and teaching with new authority; he came demanding a response from his hearers." [20]

God's rule is established in people that are repentant, that will turn away from following their own way and respond to God's call to live God's way.

Jesus told Nicodemus that to see the Kingdom one must be born again (John 3:3-6). There is the need for God's Spirit to change who we are. There is "… the necessity … to make a new beginning, to have a new responsiveness and openness to God and other people. We are asked to learn or relearn the ways of God." [21] To truly be a part of the Kingdom, the way we know God must change drastically, and the way we respond to God must change.

God's rule will take place in the lives of those who are willing to be born again, who are willing to make a new beginning in the Kingdom from the way they were before.

The coming of the Holy Spirit, and the actions of the Holy Spirit, are described as an action involved in the Kingdom (Matthew 12:28). God's Spirit had not yet been released into the lives of Jesus' disciples, but the Spirit had been operating in Jesus showing that indeed some part of the Kingdom was already present.

God's rule is established in the lives of believers by the Holy Spirit, changing people and working God's purposes through believers.

Jesus taught of the need for righteousness for entrance to and greatness in the Kingdom (Matthew 5:19-20). This does not exclude the need for repentance, nor does it allow for "salvation by works". It shows the seriousness of sin (see also Mark 9:47), and the call to obedience in the lives of those who have responded in repentance, been born again and received the Holy Spirit in their lives. The effect of the Kingdom will show in the actions of the true believer.

God's rule will be demonstrated in the lives of the believer through obedience to God's commands.

Not only is there a call to obedience, but Jesus taught that people of the Kingdom will be productive, doing the will of the Father (Matthew 7:21), and performing the same mission as Jesus - calling others to the Kingdom. "The mission of the one who proclaims the kingdom and bears its grace is none other than the mission of God acting in sovereign graciousness toward men." [22]

God entrusts to his people resources to increase the people who will be a part of the kingdom (Matthew 21:33-44; 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27). However, God expects faithfulness with these resources to put them to use, and to produce fruit - otherwise the Kingdom will be taken away from those who are unproductive (Matthew 21:43). It is "… the responsibility of the faithful to share the attitude of the Lord of the kingdom toward the impenitent and in the spirit of divine grace show them the power of redeeming love." [23]

Similarly in the "Parable of the Two Sons": "Saying 'yes' to God verbally yet failing to do the will of God excludes one from the kingdom." [24]

God's rule is conducted in the lives of the believers who are willing to do the will of God the Father, and be active and productive in the increase of the Kingdom.

Three particular characteristics stand out in the teaching of Jesus about the Kingdom: forgiveness, generosity, and love.

In the "Parable of the Unmerciful Servant" (Matthew 18:21-35) the picture of God is one of mercy and forgiveness, and then a call for Jesus disciples to forgive in the same way.

In the "Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard" (Matthew 20:1-16), the landowner is depicted as being generous in wanting to pay all the workers the same amount, in contrast to the Pharisee's attitude toward the sinners and outcasts receiving Jesus' attention and God's forgiveness.

In answering a teacher of the law regarding commandments (Mark 12:28-34), the focus becomes that of love toward God, and love toward your neighbour. Jesus commended the teacher in recognising the importance of love and described him as "not far from the kingdom of God" (v.34).

God's rule operates in the lives of believers by reflecting his forgiveness, generosity, and love.

Finally, the kingdom is all about relationship - between God and man: "The Kingdom of God is ultimately a personal relationship between God and human beings." [26] God's rule is established through his relationship with people in his Kingdom.

God's people are those who rely on his grace to enter the kingdom. God's place is in the now, and also in the future. God's rule is in the lives of those who choose to be in relationship with God. God is the focus of Jesus teaching of the Kingdom of God.

1 Graeme Goldsworthy, Gospel and Kingdom (Homebush West, NSW: Lancer, 1981), 100.

2 G.R. Beasley-Murray, Jesus and the Kingdom of God (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1986), 158.

3 John Fuellenbach, The Kingdom of God: the Message of Jesus Today (Maryknowll, New York: Orbis, 1995), 145.

4 Beasley-Murray, 96.

5 Fuellenbach, 180-181.

6 Beasley-Murray, 118.

7 Fuellenbach, 78.

8 Ibid., 142.

9 Ibid., 96.

10 Wendell Willis (Ed.), The Kingdom of God in 20^th-Century Interpretation (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson, 1987), 129.

11 Beasley-Murray, 198.

12 Ibid.

13 Mark Saucy, The Kingdom of God in the Teaching of Jesus: in 20^th Century Theology (Dallas, TX: Word, 1997), 335.

14 Ibid..

15 Ibid., 336.

16 Beasley-Murray, 122.

17 Ibid., 120.

18 Fuellenbach, 144.

19 Ibid., 179.

20 Saucy, 330.

21 Fuellenbach, 182.

22 Beasley-Murray, 129.

23 Ibid., 134.

24 Willis, 129.

25 Fuellenbach, 77.

26 Ibid., 98.

 

Bibliography

Beasley-Murray, G.R.

1986 Jesus and the Kingdom of God. Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA: Eerdmans.

Fuellenbach, John.

1995 The Kingdom of God: the Message of Jesus Today. Maryknoll, New York, USA: Orbis Books.

Goldsworthy, Graeme.

1981 Gospel and Kingdom. Homebush West, NSW, Australia: Lancer

Saucy, Mark.

1997 The Kingdom of God in the Teaching of Jesus: in 20^th Century Theology. Dallas, Texas, USA: Word.

Willis, Wendell (Ed.).

1987 The Kingdom of God in 20^th-Century Interpretation. Peabody, Massachusetts, USA: Hendrickson.

All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.