He was baptized by John, then tempted in the wilderness by the Devil (where he was promised “all the kingdoms of the world”), and then “from that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
I studied through the reality of Kingdom of God during a week that I attempted to consume all 2million hours of NBC’s Olympic coverage. Watching any event and every event in the same way: fast forward until the American Olympian’s turn. Cuz that’s my team, that’s who I root for, that’s the country I belong to … except I really don’t! Paul reminds us in Philippians: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” And Peter’s label for us is a little more jolting: foreigners and aliens (1 Peter 2:9-11). I really don’t belong to USA … I belong to a different Kingdom. The one that Jesus said has come near.
The Kingdom of Heaven has come near. Two questions came to mind this week: “what is the Kingdom of Heaven” and how has it come near?
Question one. What is it?
The first and easiest answer is: God’s rule and reign throughout eternity, past, present, and future. To help us begin to comprehend what our finite brains can’t easily get our heads around, Jesus painted a picture for us through the canvass of story. His parables often began with the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven (or the Kingdom of God) is like …” Check in on a few of these from the book of Matthew: 13:24, 13:31, 13:33, 13:44, 13:45, 13:47, 18:23, 20:1, 22:2
Question two. How has it come near?
The first and easiest answer is: Jesus. Christ embodied and fulfilled the Kingdom of God. Through his sacrifice, we can experience mercy, and thereby be a part of the Kingdom of God.
1 Peter 2
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
So during this Season of the Cross, please take time to absorb how His death, burial, and resurrection provided us with the right to be in the Kingdom. It’s a Season of reflection that reminds us of what Kingdom has ultimate authority over us. It’s a Season to “repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”