March 3, 2013 Kingdom is Near

Matt 4  Jesus starts teaching that the kingdom of heaven is near.  Matthew equates the good news with information about the kingdom of heaven.  So Jesus was teaching the good news.  The word "gospel" means good news, so to preach the gospel, means to preach about the kingdom of heaven, specifically, that it is "near".   

Jesus also starts healing all the sick people.  The kingdom of heaven being "near" seems to mean that sick people are made well.  The "good news" and sick people being made well go hand in hand, like a shadow on a sunny day.  

What Jesus explains, in teaching people about the kingdom is really good, but it may not make any sense, it may seem unreasonable, unable to be proven, or even explained, much the way people were being healed.  The kingdom is NEAR!   

Where is it?  When is it?  What does it look like?  

So far in reading of Matthew it looks like a ruler killing thousands of helpless baby boys for fear that one of them might bring this kingdom to earth.  It looks like being baptized in fire.  It looks like being led by God to starve in the desert.  It involves resisting the temptation to satisfy yourself with food of your own, thrill seek at God’s expense, or accept a handout by an accuser.

It is something that angels, those mighty beings who can wipe out hundreds of thousands of humans without breaking a sweat, are super excited about, and have been secretly anticipating for hundreds and thousands of years.  It is something that pisses off politicians, and makes leaders want to kill people who talk about it.  It is definitely a big deal, and worth looking into.

How "near" was the kingdom of heaven as Jesus was teaching and healing those people?  John announced it was almost, just about here.  And when Jesus was baptized, heaven opened up into the earth.  Presumably the kingdom of heaven had revealed itself as Jesus submitted to his father during his baptism.  

So as Jesus was teaching, was the kingdom actually here already, or was it still just close by, or near?  Or was it here for some and not here for others?  Was it here for Jesus?  Was it here for John?  Was it here for the people being healed?  Was it here for the politicians who were afraid and had started to try to imprison and kill John, and eventually Jesus?

Jesus proclaims the kingdom of heaven is among you, it is at hand. How near is at hand?  It is very near.  Very, very near.  In fact, it is right here.  If it is right here, then when is it?  Well, it must be right now.  And if it is right here, and right now, what does it look like?   

Well, Jesus is here to teach us what it looks like, and He promises it is good news.  Even though it doesn't seem to look like good news to us, from inside the borders of the kingdom of the earth.  Since Jesus showed up, babies were murdered, families destroyed.  His cousin and favorite person JTB is jailed and killed for making people ready for it, and Jesus does absolutely nothing to rescue him.  If we are to understand the good part of the news, it is clear that we will need a new way of thinking.  Because according to the old way of thinking, the kingdom is bad news.

How can we understand it, or recognize it?   

Jesus came to teach about the new kingdom, now at hand.  Do you think it would be better to try to understand, maybe argue a little to make sure he got it right, or would it be better just take notes and hope to slowly grasp the concepts which at first seem “out of this world”?