Tag: kingdom of heaven

Pray for Renewal, not Removal (Matthew 6:9-10)

May 23, 2015 / Bethany Reise / 0 Comments

Time and again, Jesus proclaimed in words and actions the reality that one day, “God is going to make everything wrong in the world right.”

That in itself, the message and enactment of the coming kingdom of God, is incredible.

But what is even more amazing is that God allows us to join him in the process!

Consider Matthew 6:9-10 (NASB):

“Therefore, you should pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,
Your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.”

Through prayer, we can participate in what God is now doing, and will do, here on the earth.

Let’s break down what Jesus is saying.

First, he is telling us to petition our Father in heaven to make his name, all that he is and stands for, be set apart, holy. How do we do that? Well, when we pray that God would be honored as holy, he changes hearts and our perspectives to help us to live in a way that glorifies him.

Second, Jesus is telling us to petition God establish his kingdom and enact his will here on planet earth. This prayer has both a present and future component: when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are praying for God’s reign, his will, to manifest in our lives today, and we are also praying for the establishment of the physical, earthly kingdom which shall come to fruition at the return of King Jesus, which he himself so often spoke of and demonstrated.

There is one thing that I would really like you to notice here: namely that God is concerned about the present and future state of the earth, and that his desire is to transform the misery and corruption that is our current experience. His plan is for the renewal of the earth, through you and I (and ultimately Jesus), not our removal from the earth after death.

That’s some great news, right?

So let’s make an earnest effort to follow in the teachings of Jesus and to participate, through prayer and action, in the restoration of all things!

The Kingdom of Heaven Defined (Matt. 4.23)

May 22, 2015 / Jacob Rohrer / 0 Comments

Matthew defines for his audience what he means by the phrase “kingdom of heaven”.

Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. ( Matt. 4.23) NASB

After reading in Matt. 4.17, that Jesus began to preach the kingdom of heaven, Matthew defines what the kingdom of heaven actually is. According to Matthew, what Jesus was preaching and teaching was the kingdom of heaven as gospel. The kingdom of heaven is not a code phrase for going to heaven as some might think. Rather the kingdom of heaven is synonymous with the kingdom of God (see article on Matt. 4.17). How Matthew defines kingdom of heaven is by calling it gospel or good news. The good news is the kingdom. There are two aspects to the kingdom of heaven or God, and that is a present aspect and a future aspect. Matthew 4.23, shows the present aspect of the kingdom. Verse 4.23 and 24 tell us about all sorts of people coming from all over the area just to see Jesus and be healed. Jesus brought a piece or a glimpse of the kingdom with him in the present. Hebrews 6.5 helps explain this further. In verse 4 the author talks about those who have been enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and partakes of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus fits into that category. Verse 5 says that they have tasted the word of God (the New Testament definition for ‘the word of God’ not the Bible, rather the gospel) and the powers of the age to come. Jesus brought with him in his ministry the powers of the age to come, we saw this through his ability to forgive, heal the sick, raise the dead, and preforms miracles. Jesus was preaching and teaching in the synagogues this gospel of the kingdom continuously. The kingdom message has power for people now, as we see in Jesus’ ministry to those who believed it.

The Inaugural Statement of Jesus’ Ministry (Matthew 4.17)

May 20, 2015 / Jacob Rohrer / 0 Comments

The first words of Jesus’ public ministry outline and provide a foundation for his ministry that changed the world forever.

Matthew 4.17 [NASB]
From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’

In the gospel of Matthew these are the very first words of Jesus’ public ministry. Up to this point in Matthew’s narrative, we have read about his birth, baptism, and temptation in the wilderness. But one of the accounts covered in the first four chapters of Matthew does not directly involve Jesus, but rather John the Baptist. His story is in chapter three, and one of the very first things we learn about John the Baptist is that he was preaching “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3.2). Now fast forward to Matt. 4.12, we learn that John is taken into custody, he is arrested and is not able to preach “the kingdom of heaven” as freely as he once could. And we read in Matt. 4.17, that “from that time”, from the time that John is taken into custody, Jesus takes the responsibility of preaching the kingdom of heaven upon himself and starts proclaiming it. Six verses later in Matt. 4.23, Matthew tells us that the Kingdom of heaven Jesus was preaching is the gospel or good news.

Next I want to look at the phrase ‘kingdom of heaven’. This phrase is unique only to Matthew, the other 65 books of the Bible when they mention the kingdom, it is the ‘kingdom of God’. But even in Matthew’s Gospel there are a few instances where he uses the ‘kingdom of God’ instead of the ‘kingdom of heaven’.

Matt. 6.33 – But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ESV

Matt. 12.28 – But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. NASB

Matt. 19.23-24 – And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. NASB

Matt. 21.31 – Truly I (Jesus) say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. NASB

Matt. 21.43 – Therefore I (Jesus) say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. NASB

Even though Matthew primarily uses kingdom of heaven, he uses kingdom of God a few times. They are the exact same thing. They are not two different phrases meaning two different things. For Jesus and his contemporaries the gospel was about the kingdom of heaven/God. And for Matthew, this is his summary statement about Jesus which is unpacked in the rest of the gospel.