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THY KINGDOM CAME - CHAPTER II
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The glory days of the Kingdom of Israel were such a distant memory. David had been a mighty leader. He brought a period of peace and his son Solomon would reign during that period. Then came the division of the Kingdom, the eventual loss of the ten northern tribes, and finally Judah the southern Kingdom would go away into captivity. The prophets sought again to turn the hearts of the people to their God. There were promises of deliverance and a time when God would, through that surviving remnant, once again build a great and mighty kingdom. That Kingdom would be brought into existence when the Messiah came in all His glory.
Years of Roman domination caused a restless longing for the Messiah. They wanted to be free again - free like the days of David and Solomon. They wanted power and vengeance over those who had oppressed them for so long. The Zealots, a sect among the Jews, rebelled against Rome and refused to pay taxes. They were soon scattered into vigilante type groups, but dreamed of the days when they would battle Rome and free their nation from oppression.
Such was the mind set of the Jewish nation when Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. There were definitely mixed feeling about who Jesus was. He didn’t look, or act like the King they expected, but on the other hand, He could take a small amount of food and feed multitudes of people. He could heal the sick and lame, even raise the dead. At the occasion of feeding the five thousand, they were so impressed that they were ready to make Him King by force, 14 “Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.” (John 6:14-15). Jesus fought every attempt to make Him the kind of King they sought, but they just didn’t seem to get it.
When He makes His entry into Jerusalem Jesus doesn’t ride into town on a powerful white steed, dressed in armor with a sword. This King comes riding on a donkey’s colt according to what was prophesied by Zachariah in, (Zach. 9:9). The crowd is in a frenzy, shouting and laying palm leaves in front of Him, giving Him Kingly glory. John tells us this crowd was there because they had seen Him raised Lazarus from the dead, (John 12:17-18). What a King! If we get killed in battle, He can raise us up again. They still had not understood the kind of King nor the nature of the Kingdom Jesus came to establish. How do we know that? In just a matter of hours these very same people will be shouting from the top of their lungs, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” (John 19:15a).
I am going to make a bold statement here, but I believe with all my heart it is true to God and the inspired Word of God. IT WAS NEVER THE PLAN OF GOD TO ESTABLISH AN EARTHLY, PHYSICAL KINGDOM TO RULE OVER THE PHYSICAL WORLD, NOR TO MAKE JESUS A PHYSICAL KING OF THAT KINGDOM. The Kingdom that Jesus came to establish was SPIRITUAL in nature, not physical. The Jews missed that point, and so have the multitudes in the 21st Century that are still waiting for a physical King and Kingdom to be established.
Now when you make a statement like that someone will always say, “ You can’t seriously believe that Jesus is reigning over the world today. Just look at all the sin, evil, chaos and turmoil in the world.” That response also comes from a lack of understanding of how God rules in the affairs of mankind and the world. If you find that hard to believe and accept, just ask King Nebuchadnezzar what he learned while he was out in the field eating grass with the beasts of the field.
28 “All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king. 29 “Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. 30 “The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ 31 “While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to
you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, 32 and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’ 33 “Immediately the word concerning
Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws. 34 “But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him
who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth;
And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’ 36 “At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. 37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of
heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.” (Daniel 4:28-37).
If we will look closely at the teachings of Jesus and the inspired writers of the New Testament, we will see clearly that the nature of the Kingdom that Jesus came to establish, and did in fact establish, was spiritual not physical.
Listen to the words of Jesus Himself, 33 “:Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?” 35 Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” 37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:33-37.)
Jesus came preaching the the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. He tells Pilot that He came into the world to be a King. He also told his followers that some of them would live long enough to see this Kingdom come, (Mark 9:1). The only reason people have difficulty seeing the Kingdom, is that they are looking for the physical trappings of a physical kingdom. Jesus did not come to sit on the physical throne of David, but that in no way diminishes His sovereignty. He doesn’t need the temple rebuilt in Jerusalem, 24 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;” (Acts 17:24,25).
This Kingdom doesn’t fight physical battles anymore.
2 Now it will come about that
In the last days
The mountain of the house of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains,
And will be raised above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.
3 And many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
That He may teach us concerning His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law will go forth from Zion
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 And He will judge between the nations,
And will render decisions for many peoples;
And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
And never again will they learn war.” (Isa. 2:2-4).
The “:last days” that Isaiah refers to are the same last days that the First Century Christians lived in: (Heb 1:1,2). Jesus said if His kingdom were of this world then his servants would fight. The Kingdom is not of this world, and His servants don’t fight earthly battle for their King. That is why in this Kingdom we don’t need swords and spears. This Kingdom is not going to go out and beat all other Kingdoms into submission to its King. That is just not the way this Kingdom functions, 11 “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Eph. 6:11,12).
Our very entrance into the Kingdom is not physical, but spiritual. This concept just blew the Jewish mind set. If you were a Jew, you were entitled by physical birth, but not in this spiritual Kingdom. 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ (John 3:3-7). Immediately Nicodemus thought of the physical, but Jesus again emphasizes the
spiritual. You can’t “see” the Kingdom without the new birth. It takes spiritual eyes. Entrance is also a spiritual entrance, not physical. Doesn’t it stand to reason that entrance into a spiritual Kingdom would be through a spiritual birth?
This spiritual Kingdom is governed not by laws written in stone, but on the hearts of men and women who come into it. 33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jer. 31:33,34; Heb. 8:16,17). Note three things from these verses. The law would be written on hearts (that is spiritual) not on stone. Second, when you were born a Jew, you had to be taught the principles of God to know Him. In the spiritual Kingdom you will learn, be born again, and then know Him. Third, forgiveness in this Kingdom is immediate. Those who lived prior to the Kingdom did not
have their sin forgiven until the sacrifice was made to atone for that sin. The Jewish sacrificial system was a constant reminder that there sins had not been forgiven. This sacrificial system was a constant reminder of a future time when their sins would be forgiven and forgotten. (Heb. 10:1-4).
In this Kingdom there is a spiritual priesthood that can with confidence enter the holy place and not have to wait in the court while a priest with his own sins enter for us. (Heb. 10:11,19.)
In this Kingdom we celebrate a spiritual feast, the Lord’s Supper, with the very one who became the sacrifice for us. (Matt. 26:26-29). (We are going to look at this more in detail in a later chapter).
Our worship in the Kingdom is not limited to a physical location or structure. It is spiritual by its very nature. 21 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:21-24).
How does all of this translate to our being apart of a spiritual Kingdom, but living in a physical world? When Jesus was ask about the greatest commandment of all He replied, 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ 31 “The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM;33 AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE’S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”34 When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions. (Mark 12:29-34).
This Scribe got the point. It is not the physical sacrifices and offerings that bring God pleasure, it is when people’s hearts are changed. Changed in the way they look at the world, the way they look at their fellowman. Jesus said, “You are not far from the Kingdom”, or in other words you are close to an understanding of the nature of the Kingdom. The Kingdom is not “seen” as in physical buildings,temples, sacrifices, etc. It is within you. This is what Jesus meant when He was questioned about when the Kingdom was coming, 20 Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
The question for our century is simply this. Will we learn from their mistakes, or will we repeat them?
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