Essay: Give an outline of the teaching of JesusJesus & Paul (Course Code FFRS096UACB)
On the kingdom of God.BirkbeckCollege , University of London
Is there one essential idea in this teaching?Patrick LAM
BirkbeckCollege, University of London
Course:Jesus & Paul (Course Code FFRS096UACB)
Student:Patrick Lam
Date:20-Nov-07
Essay: Give an outline of the teaching of Jesus on the kingdom of God.
Is there one essential idea in this teaching?
Word Count: 1,482
On surface, Jesus’ teachings on the citizens, spatial and temporal dimensions of the Kingdom of God appear diverse. This essay will examine these through Jesus’ teachings via proclamations and parables and more importantly His actions.
According to Hooker, the Kingdom of God could be better translated as “‘the kingship of God’: the emphasis is on the rule of God, rather than on the territory where this rule is exercised”[1] Matthew normally referred to this as “the Kingdom of heaven”, reflecting Jewish avoidance of reference to God.
Jesus proclaimed from the beginning of his public ministry in Mk1:14-15 and Mt 4:17 that God’s Kingdom has come near. From Mt10:7-8, Jesus also sent out his disciples to proclaim the same gospel, and also to heal and cast out demons. The narration of Jesus’ proclamation of the good news of Kingdom is often followed by His action of healing (Mt 4:23). An example of this can be found in Mt 8:5-13. Jesus’ instructions for his disciples reflect on this (Mt 10:7). The Jewish eschatological tradition associate Healing and the presence of the Spirit with the age to come, in God’s Kingdom. Jesus’ healing, therefore, could be seen as re-affirming his message that the Kingdom “is near” or being realised. This line of though also tie in with Jesus’ response to question from John the Baptist, who could be seen as the last great prophet in Mt 11:2, when “Jesus replied, ‘…report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk….the good news is preached to the poor’ ”(Mt 11:3-5). Hence, as Jesus went on to explain to His disciples in Mt 11:7-19, as great as John was in Jesus’ days, “the disciples of Jesus are more privileged than the prophets and kings who desired the coming of the Kingdom of God, because they ‘see and hear’….because they are ‘within the Kingdom of God’”[2] Jesus himself explained that “…if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Mt 12:28). Jesus’ first coming could be seen as marking the start of God’s Kingdom, when His divine power began to be released.
When Jesus answered the Pharisee about “when the kingdom of God would Come” (Lk 17:20), several scholars have proposed that Jesus’ answer may mean “the kingdom of God is within your reach”, “it can be shared in by you if you want it"[3]. This rare phase entos humōn is referred ESV’s footnote as “within your grasp”.
Although God’s Kingdom is only sparingly mentioned within the Sermon of the Mount (Mt 5-7), from the Beatitudes (Mt5:1-12) to teaching on how to pray (Mt 6:5-14), for instance, Jesus is teaching what lives his disciples should live, following repentance. One possible interpretation could be that through living changed lives, the Kingdom of God would be manifested through Jesus’ disciples. From Jn 3:3-5 Jesus taught that one must be born again of water and the Spirit to see and enter God’s kingdom. The Greek word for born again, gennao anothen, may also be rendered “from above”.
Jesus also taught his disciples to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Mt 6:33a) and reiterated that those who does the will of God will enter the Kingdom (Mt 7:21)
The use of present tense in “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” the Beatitudes (Mt 5) again suggests the Kingdom of God as a present reality.
The Beatitudes also suggests that the kingdom’s citizenship includes those who are “poor in Spirit” or “persecuted”. Those who are “poor in spirit” can be viewed as those who recognise their unworthiness before God. This teaching of humility is repeated in Mk9:33-37 (cf Mt 18:1-9). This call to humility ties in with Jesus’ call to “Repent and believe” (Mk 1:14-15) right from the beginning. Jesus also taught of the importance of leaving everything behind to follow him (Mt 19:16-30), explaining that it is hard but not impossible with God for those materially rich to do so. Jesus enacted such explanation through action by accepting Zacchaeus the wealthy tax collector (Lk10:1-10). Lk 19:10, the narratives on the calling of Matthew in Mt 9:11-12 and the Lk 15’s Parables of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin and the Lost son illustrated that the Kingdom’s citizens include sinners, sick and/or lost.
Jesus’ teaching through action on His call to belief, repent and inclusion of sinners in His Kingdom carried right to the cross to those who put Him through the immense sufferings at and before the Cross (Lk23:34) and as he He responded “…today, you will be with me in paradise” (Lk 23:43) to the criminal who asked “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Lk23:42).
Jesus’ teaching does not explicitly exclude Jewish religious leaders from God’s Kingdom, but through the parables of the two sons (Mt 21:28-32), the parables of the tenants who killed the land-owner’s son (Mt 21:33-41), Jesus explained through Mt 21:43) that it is their lack of repentance and refusal to accept Jesus which would exclude them from God’s Kingdom, which would be given away to those sinners, sick and/or lost who in their eyes would not be in God’s Kingdom.
In terms of the ethnicity of the Kingdom’s citizens, Mt 15:21-28 illustrated through the Canaanite Woman that though he primarily intended His Kingdom be for the Israelites first, Mt 15:28 shows that Jesus also included this gentile woman, tying back to Mt 21:28-41.
However, although one could see Jesus’ first coming as marking the beginning of God’s Kingdom, one could argue that signs of full consummation of God’s Kingdom in Jewish’ eschatological traditions such as completed righteousness, full peace and health are yet to come.
If one interpret Mt 16:28 as the three disciples who would see the Son of Man in His Kingdom through the transfiguration (Mt 17) in this age, then Mt 16:27 could be interpreted as some time in the future when Jesus would return to judge the world and establish God’s Kingdom universally. Indeed, Jesus has also foretold the final judgement and completion of full redemption for those who repented and believed in Him (Lk 21: 25-28) and judgement which lead to eternal death for those who do not believe. This is something He taught through the Parable of the Net (Lk 13:47-52) when the angels “will separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace….” (Lk 13:49-50) at the end of the ages and reflected in Mk 8:38.
When questioned by both his disciples (Lk 21:7) and the Pharisees and Sadducees (Mt 16:1), as to when such a time will be, when God’s Kingdom and kingly rule will be universally established and evil will be completely defeated; Jesus refused to give any sign except “the sign of Jonah” to the Pharisees and Sadducees (Mt 16:3), which could be interpreted as a call to repentance, just as the people of Ninveveh repented following Jonah’s proclamation (Jnh 3), and warning to his disciples not to be deceived by natural disasters, wars, and false prophets as signs of the end of the ages. (Lk 21, cf Mt 24). Jesus further warned that His disciples would be persecuted on account of Jesus’ name, but Jesus reassured that “By standing firm, you will gain life” (Lk 21:19), and that through the disciples’ witness, “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, an then the end will come” (Mt 24:14).
Though one view of Mt 11:12-13 is that on hearing the gospel of the kingdom, the kingdom has been forcing its way forward, including sinners, another interpretation is that the Kingdom of God is being opposed with violence (in this age)[4]
Hence, Jesus taught that one must “deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mk 8:34). This is also reflected through Mt 13:44-45. However, Jesus taught his disciples to pray for “your kingdom come” in Mt 6:10 (cf Lk 11:2) as a future hope. “A Q tradition…declares that people will come from the east and west and eat in the kingdom with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”[5] In preparation for this, Jesus called upon his disciples to store up treasures in heaven (Mt 6:19-24), products of good works following and as a result of acceptance of Jesus. Through parables in Mt 13:31-33 and Mk 4:26-29, Jesus also taught that through those who believe in Him, His Kingdom would grow.
The first coming of Jesus, therefore, mark the beginning of the realisation God’s Kingdom, which shall be fully consummated when Jesus return in full power to judge the Living and the dead, when full redemption for his disciples will be completed and evil completely defeated. The one essential idea of the gospel of God’s Kingdom Jesus came to proclaim is to repent, believe in Jesus and follow Him in order to enter God’s Kingdom.
Bibliography
Dodd, C HThe Parables of the Kingdom (Nisbet & Co. Ltd, 1936)
Fee, Gordon D et al, How to Read the bible for All Its Worth, 3rd Edition,
(Zondervan, 2003)
Hooker, Morna D.Black’s New Testament Commentaries:
The Gospel According to Saint Mark
(Hendrickson Publishers, 1991)
Kingsbury, Jack DeanMatthew: Structure, Christology, Kingdom (SPCK, 1976)
Stanton, GrahamThe Gospels and Jesus 2nd Edition
(OxfordUniversity Press, 2002)
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[1] Morna D Hooker, Black’s NT Commentaries: The Gospel According to Saint Mark, Hendrickson Publishers, 1991, p55
[2] C H Dodd, The Parables of the Kingdom, Nisbet & Co. Ltd, 1936, p47
[3] Graham Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus 2nd Edition, OxfordUniversity Press, 2002, P211
[4] Graham Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus 2nd Edition, OxfordUniversity Press, 2002, P212
[5] Graham Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus 2nd Edition, OxfordUniversity Press, 2002, P209