This morning I am thinking about Jesus' core message. I was reading about the start of His ministry in Luke's Gospel. Here are three short verses that caught my eye - Luke 4:42-44 NIV:
[42] "At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. [43] But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” [44] And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea."
Here are similar verse from Matthew's Gospel - Matthew 4:12-13, 17 NIV:
[12] "When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. [13] Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali--- "
[17] "From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
And finally a few verses from the Acts of the Apostles - Acts 1:1-3 NIV:
[1] "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach [2] until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. [3] After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God."
It is pretty clear what Jesus' primary message was all about, namely the Kingdom of God (Heaven). This was pretty much the first thing He talked about and pretty much the last thing He talked about, after having risen from the dead. He spoke about the establishment of God's Kingdom multiple times and yet I had rarely if ever heard anyone do much teaching on this topic. Paul spent his final days, as recorded in the last verses from Acts, speaking about the Kingdom - Acts 28:31 NIV: "He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ---with all boldness and without hindrance!"
I remember a particular day where I was reading one of the Gospels through in a single sitting (it was either Matthew or Luke) and the consistency of His speaking about the Kingdom finally sank in, as I read over and over about Him speaking and teaching about the Kingdom. I remember thinking, how is it that I have never heard, nor ever realized that this is probably the foundational message of Jesus' ministry, and apparently the Apostles as well?
That day I started reading and thinking about the Kingdom of God consistently, trying to work through and understand this core message. Between the two (Kingdom of God/Heaven) there are 112 mentions in the New Testament. It is interesting that although Jesus spoke about it numerous times, it also seemed to be something that people just didn't understand. The apostles pretty much misunderstood Jesus right up to the day He ascended into Heaven (See Acts 1: 6), for they thought it meant an earthly kingdom, like Israel experienced under David and Solomon. The Apostles weren't the only ones who misunderstood, for the Pharisees and Sadducees were all expecting the same earthly kingdom, and one of the reasons they didn't recognize Jesus was that He didn't act like someone who was going to establish a kingdom here on earth. He wasn't trying to gather followers or unite the people for a populous uprising!
So if this was one of Jesus' and the Apostle's foundational themes, and something that was consistently misunderstood or missed, I think it is critical for us to understand and embrace this message. We should endeavor to grasp what Jesus was talking about, and figure out how it applies to our lives here and now. It is my prayer that I fully live out this message in my life, for this is the Good News (Luke 4:43).
No comments:
Post a Comment