The Gospel of the Kingdom

Recently I have renewed my interest in studying about the Kingdom of God as Jesus' primary message.  At church this past Monday, the gospel was from Matthew 9:35-38 NIV:

[35] "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. [36] When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. [37] Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. [38] Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

The phrase that stuck out to me was "proclaiming the good news of the kingdom!"  In other words His gospel (good news) was that the Kingdom of god was being established in their midst!  And then to back that proclamation up, He demonstrated it with healing and miracles.  I have thought and written about this in the past, but I guess it just grabbed me, that the message of the Kingdom is Good News, it is the Gospel!  

I guess I need to revisit and refresh my studies on the Gospel of the Kingdom, and what that proclamation is!  The word Kingdom is used 53 times in Matthew's Gospel, 152 times in the NT.  It is Jesus' key message, it was what Jesus taught about after His resurrection, It was what Paul preached, and is the final entry in Acts... 

Acts 28:30-31 NIV:

[30] "For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. [31] He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ---with all boldness and without hindrance!"

I was just thinking about the parable of the good soil, and thought it might be a good message, to look at for us, as the Church.  It is found in the three synotpic Gospels, but Matthew's version is the one that I am using today.

Here is what that parable means, in Jesus' words, paying close attention to the Kingdom - Matthew 13:18-23 NIV:

[18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: [19] When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. [20] The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. [21] But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. [22] The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. [23] But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” 

Note that the seed =  "the message about the Kingdom" = Good news about the Kingdom of God!

As I was reading this, I was thinking about the very few times I have heard the Good News about the Kingdom preached.

Questions:  What has happened to the Gospel of the Kingdom in the church?  Have we lost this word as our primary message?  Have we moved onto other things that are easier to discuss, and demonstrate

Going back to Matthew's Gospel, Jesus continues to speak about the Kingdom - Matthew 13:24-30 NIV:

[24] Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. [25] But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. [26] When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. [27] “The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?' [28] “ 'An enemy did this,' he replied. “The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' [29] “ 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. [30] Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' ”

Later the disciple asked Jesus to explain the second parable and we find this and His response in Matthew 13:36-43 NIV:

[36] Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” 

[37] He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. [38] The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, [39] and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 

[40] “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. [41] The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. [42] They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [43] Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear."

Here Jesus is clearly indicating that the Kingdom is made up of people, and not just a region, a land or some earthly Kingdom.  The Jews initially thought that the message of the Kingdom of God was a revisiting of God's glory on the people of Israel, and that Messiah come and reestablish God's literal Kingdom on earth, and would be their King.  Clearly this is not what Jesus is describing here.  Jesus essentially says that the Kingdom of God will exist in this form until the day of Judgement.  Here we have the good seed = people of the Kingdom.  In the previous parable, the seed was the Gospel, or Good news about the Kingdom of God, present on the earth.  The reality is it is both, for the people are the message bearers (good seed), and our response is what reproduces and spreads the Message, the Good News about the Kingdom.  

Going back to the beginning, if the Gospel of the Kingdom is Jesus' primary message, one would think that it should be ours as well.  We don't want this message to get lost, forgotten, carried away or trampled, so we must refresh our commitment to it and allow this message to continue ot cover the whole earth.

Lord, please help us all!