The Kingdom of Heaven

Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. -Mt. 4:23

Ultimately, the kingdom of heaven (or, kingdom of God, as Mark and Luke like to call it) is the state of God accomplishing what He wants done in the world. The Greek word for kingdom stresses the de facto notion of ruling and could be translated rule (as in, "the rule of God"). In other words, God is every moment on His throne taking care of business. His kingdom, or rule, is the great theme of the sermon on the mount.

No doubt, this sermon is one of the greatest sermons ever preached. It reaches to the heights of heaven; and, it descends to the depths of hell. It is poetic, and the imagery is vivid. It speaks to all the great issues of life—money, love and sex, fame, and power—and does so with remarkable tact. It boils all the Law and the Prophets down to one sentence! It's frank. It's honest. It's utterly challenging.

The closing thoughts of Jesus' sermon is an allusion to Israelite wisdom tradition*, "...the way is broad that leads to destruction...and the way is narrow that leads to life..." (7:14). The Jewish listeners would hear these words of Jesus and immediately think of Moses in Deuteronomy, staring at the promised land from Moab east of the Jordan River, "See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity...I have set before you life and death...So choose life in order that you may live..." (30:15-19). Jesus pulls a Moses on everybody, and the crowds are stunned.

When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority... -Mt. 7:28





*See my last post "Two Ways" for more information on Israelite wisdom tradition.