What kind of kingdom?

Psychologists confirm what we already understood. Watching the news is more likely to make you sadder and more anxious, and more likely to make you amplify your own troubles. Every hour of every day we see the effects of our kingdom and we long for something better.

Jesus taught us to pray,”May Your kingdom come.”  What kingdom is that? What would the disciples have understood?

To do that, we have to go back to the time of the judges in Israel. The people came to Samuel demanding a king like the other nations, and God’s response to Samuel was, “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.” (I Samuel 8:7)

Five hundred years later Israel finds herself captive in Babylon, and Daniel makes many prophesies about a coming kingdom. Dan 2:44 promises the end of all earthly kingdoms and the establishment the kingdom of heaven that will never end. Daniel calls the One with authority in this kingdom the son of man. (Dan 7:13-14)

The prophet Isaiah calls this ruler the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) and describes His kingdom as a kingdom of true justice and of peace. “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:3-4) “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift the sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2:4)  ^“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together…and the lion will eat straw like the ox… They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:6-9) 

Into this background walks Jesus, whose favorite name for Himself was “the son of man,” calling people to repent because the kingdom of God was near. (Matt 3:2) Thirty-two times in the Gospel of Luke Jesus talks about the kingdom of God. He sent the disciples out to proclaim the Kingdom of God. They had to put feet to their prayers.

I confess that many of the parables Jesus taught about the kingdom of God leave me both mystified and awed. Probably most significant to me is Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees when they asked when the kingdom would come. They were looking for a physical kingdom – rescue from the tyranny of Rome - and Jesus told them that the coming of the kingdom can’t be observed, but that “the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21)

I look at the world around me and I long for the peaceful kingdom of God. I think most of us do. But we – I - often go about trying to make the kingdom come in the same manner as the Pharisees. They were looking for a political or military answer. Way back in the book of Samuel, God made it clear that His kingdom was not like the other nations. He is our King.

How did Jesus usher in the kingdom? He forgave, He healed, He served, He reached out to the outcast. He fought evil with the most powerful of weapons – love.

Jesus told Pilot, “My kingdom is not of this world.”(John 18:36) He certainly did not behave as any earthly king would have. “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them…But I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:25-27)
 

When I name the name of Jesus, when I declare Him to be my king, I am choosing to live by the values of the Kingdom of God. I am choosing to forgive, to heal, to serve. I am choosing to overcome evil with good.
 

 I am so grateful to be included in His kingdom. “For he has rescued us (me) from the dominion of darkness and brought us (me) into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Col. 1:13-14) I can show my allegiance by living as Jesus lived.

And so LORD, let your kingdom come within me.

“Look what Mercy’s overcome; Death has lost and Love has won.” Natalie Grant, “Alive”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap2vrLCU85w

Choosing to bring the kingdom to my crooked straight path...