Category: Supporting Texts (Page 1 of 2)

Matthew 13.19: The Parable of The Sower and The Kingdom of God

May 23, 2017 / Jacob Rohrer / 0 Comments

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. (Matt. 13.19 NASB)

Matthew 13 can easily be called the kingdom chapter. In this chapter Jesus disseminates seven parables that unveil the message of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is compared to a costly pearl, where everything should be sold to obtain it. The Kingdom of God is like leaven. That is, it’s influence starts small but soon grows and infects everything. The first parable that Jesus compares the kingdom with is about a farmer tossing seed and it falling on various surfaces. The farmer’s seed lands upon four surfaces: the road, the rocky places, the thorns, and the good soil.

Jesus identifies that the seed the farmer is tossing is really “the word of the kingdom”. In other posts on Matthew, we have seen that Jesus has been preaching the gospel of the kingdom of heaven (the terms ‘kingdom of heaven’ and ‘kingdom of God’ are identical to each other click here). Thus, “the word of the kingdom” that Jesus is speaking of is the gospel of the kingdom.

Notice what Jesus says about this ‘word of the kingdom’. Anyone who hears it and does not understand it, the evil one, the adversary, the enemy comes and snatches away the kingdom message that has been sown in their heart. The verb translated “snatch” has the image of taking something by force or taking something violently. In short, the enemy wants to rip the gospel of the kingdom out of the hearts of those who hear it. We also learn other important bits of information concerning this parable in the parallel accounts of Mark and Luke.

According to Mark:

And [Jesus] said to them, “Do yo not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones who are beside the where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. (Mark 4. 13-14 NASB italics mine)

We learn two details from Mark’s account:

The parable of the sower is the most important parable that Jesus teaches. We must understand it or we can’t understand the other parables.
Not only is Satan violent in taking the kingdom message, but also he reacts immediately to it.

According to Luke:

Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. (Luke 8. 11-12 NASB)

We learn two details from Luke’s account:

The “word of God” as defined in the gospels, is not the bible, but the gospel of the kingdom of God.
This message of the kingdom is a matter of life and death.

The parable of sower, found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke is the most important parable Jesus taught and it was about the kingdom of God. In short, we learn that kingdom message is meant for all, but the enemy does not want you to have this life giving message of hope.

Matt. 9.35: The bookend of Matthew’s kingdom section

May 17, 2017 / Jacob Rohrer / 0 Comments

Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. (Matt. 9.35) NASB

Matthew 9.35 is nearly parallel to Matthew 4.23-together they form an inclusio. An inclusio is a rhetorical device used by an author to bracket a section of material that belongs together. The beginning of the inclusio starts the section, the inclusio at the end marks that section off. In addition, the inclusio informs the reader what the contents will be about. In the case of Matthew 4.23 through 9.35 the contents are focused on three actions that Jesus preforms: teaching, proclaiming, and healing. The foundation that these three actions are rooted in is the kingdom of God.

The material between Matthew 4.23 and 9.35 can be broken into two sections: chapters 5-7 and chapters 8-9. What was Jesus teaching? What was he proclaiming? The kingdom of God. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 expound on what Jesus was proclaiming and teaching, otherwise known as the sermon on the mount. But Matthew also tells us that Jesus was healing all diseases and sicknesses that were brought to him. In chapters 8-9 a bevy of miraculous healings are reported:

Jesus cleansed a leper – Matt. 8.2-3
Jesus healed a Centurin’s servant is healed from paralysis – Matt. 8.5-7
Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law from sickness and fever – Matt. 8.14-15
Jesus exercises demons from two men in the country of Gadarenes – Matt. 8.28-32
Jesus heals a paralyzed man – Matt. 9.2-6
Jesus raised back to life the daughter of a synagogue official – Matt. 9.18, 23-24
Jesus heals a woman with chronic bleeding – Matt. 9.20-22
Jesus heals two blind men – Matt. 9.27-30
Jesus heals a mute demon possessed man – Matt. 9.32-33

What is Matthew trying to tell his audience? What is he telling us? The gospel of the kingdom that Jesus is preaching manifests itself in an enhanced ethical system that cuts to the heart of the matter and the reality of that kingdom brings with it great healing power for all: Jews, gentiles, men, women, and children.

What does it mean when we read that Jesus was preaching and teaching the gospel of the kingdom? Matthew 4.23 – 9.35 tell us the power, reality, and true good news that the kingdom of God brings. For Jesus, this kingdom was gospel.

Don’t You Know That the Saints Will Judge the World? (1 Corinthians 6.1-11)

June 17, 2015 / Sean Finnegan / 0 Comments

My future determines my present. As I write these words I’m in training; I run almost every day. Each week I log over 50 miles on the road, in the woods, or in the park. October is pulling me forward like a magnet, determining my daily activities in June. This is because on October 13th, I intend to run a marathon. Running 26.2 miles is not something I can just go out and do. It requires months of intense and consistent training. Day after day, I put my shoes on and run countless hours so that on that one day, for about three hours, I will achieve my peak performance. Like someone whose signed up for a marathon, the coming kingdom should affect how we live in the present. This is what Paul is getting at when he writes the following.

1 Corinthians 6.1-11
1 When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! 4 So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? 5 I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, 6 but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers?

7 To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 But you yourselves wrong and defraud– even your own brothers! 9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Paul was bewildered that Christians were taking each other to court. He could barely believe that something so absurd could even happen. Of course, from an old covenant perspective, there is nothing wrong with taking one’s neighbor to court if there was a just cause. In fact, extensive provision was made for exactly such a scenario under the Mosaic Law. So, what was so shocking here? Why was Paul beside himself? There were two offenses: (1) they were taking their fellow Christians to court and (2) they were going to court before non-Christians. His core driving thought was expressed by the question: “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?” Since the Corinthians disciples were destined to rule the world, could they not figure out how to do community without appealing to outsiders to settle matters? Was there not even one wise man among them before whom the two could go? In fact, Paul argues, it would be better to be defrauded than go before unbelievers since that would testify to the opposite of the kingdom message. Besides, the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom. Notice how the people’s future role as kingdom citizens was to affect how they lived. The first question is, “How will it be in the kingdom.” The next is, “How can I embody kingdom living now in this situation?”

Note how many times Paul mentions the future kingdom when he’s reproving the Corinthians. Over and again he brings their focus to their destiny. Look, you are going to rule the world one day, so I’m sure you can figure out this insignificant matter without having to go to unbelievers. The kingdom does not only give us hope for the future. It is not restricted to our gospel message. It also needs to affect what we do now. If we are the kingdom people, then we need to act like it.

History in the Making (Psalm 110)

June 3, 2015 / Bethany Reise / 1 Comment

Time for a little trivia! What Old Testament scripture is the most frequently quoted scripture in the New Testament?

In case you hadn’t already figured it out from the subject of the article, Psalm 110 is the most quoted scripture in the New Testament, and it can be found a total of 33 times! That sure says something about the importance that the New Testament writers placed on this biblical passage!

Let’s take a look at this popular text:

Psalm 110 [NASB]
¹The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

² The LORD will stretch forth
Your strong scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
³ Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power;
In holy array, from the womb of the dawn,
Your youth are to You as the dew.

⁴ The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”

⁵ The Lord is at Your right hand;
He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath.
⁶ He will judge among the nations,
He will fill them with corpses,
He will shatter the chief men over a broad country.
⁷ He will drink from the brook by the wayside;
Therefore He will lift up His head.

In the New Testament, the first verse of this psalm is regularly applied to Jesus. In this way, the writers of the New Testament are identifying Jesus as the Davidic ruler to whom this psalm ultimately points, the one who is currently seated at the right hand of God in heaven and waiting for Yahweh, the LORD, to subdue his enemies before him.

The psalm goes on to say that Yahweh will extend the power of this Davidic ruler out from Zion, Jerusalem, and give him the authority to reign “in the midst of his enemies” and to crush opposing rulers and nations of the earth “in the day of his wrath.” Sure sounds like this Davidic ruler will be reigning over (and on) the earth, doesn’t it?

Well, that’s because he will be. In fact, that’s the good news that Jesus went around proclaiming: namely, that God, through his appointed agent Jesus, would establish God’s kingdom on the earth, and with it bring the justice and peace of God’s government into the created realm once again.

So, as you have probably figured out, we have yet to see this psalm brought to complete fulfillment because we are waiting on Yahweh to send back his son from heaven. When he returns, he will destroy those who oppose God and establish God’s just government.

Come, Lord Jesus!

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.

Jesus Destined to Rule on David’s Throne (Psalm 2)

May 11, 2015 / Bethany Reise / 0 Comments

Psalm 2 is a short, but powerful psalm which effectively dispels the common notion of many believers today that “heaven is our home.” Let’s take a look and see what it says.

Psalm 2

¹ Why are the nations in an uproar,
And the peoples devising a vain thing?
² The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
Against Yahweh* and against His Anointed, saying,
³ “Let us tear their fetters apart
And cast away their cords from us!”

⁴ He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.
⁵ Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His fury, saying,
⁶ “But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

⁷ “I will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
⁸ ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,
And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
⁹ ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like earthenware.'”

¹⁰ Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;
Take warning, O judges of the earth.
¹¹ Worship Yahweh with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.
¹² Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry,
and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

[quotation from NASB]
*Note:“Yahweh” substituted for “the LORD” throughout psalm for clarity

In verses 1-3, the psalmist begins by rhetorically questioning the foolish behavior of the nations and the kings of the earth. Together they plot, seeking to free themselves of the dominion of the sovereign God and his messiah, (an anointed, earthly representative of God), the king.

The second section, verses 4-6, contains God’s response to the uprisings of the nations and the kings of the earth: derisive laughter. (It’s never a good thing when the God of the universe laughs at you with contempt!) Did the nations of the earth seriously think that their rebellion against the exalted Lord, the one enthroned in heaven, would succeed?

Yahweh’s mocking laughter leads to action, and God utters a decisive statement in his anger, in which he affirms the authority of his messiah: “But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

In this statement, he not only affirms the authority of this king, but he gives us the locality from which he will reign: Zion, God’s holy mountain. Zion is another name for Jerusalem, the city of David (1 Kings 8:1).

According to God’s decree, this anointed king will reign on the earth, from Jerusalem.

In verses 7-9, the third section, Yahweh’s anointed declares the decree of the Lord, which further enforces the legitimacy and locality of his reign.

In verse 7, we read that the anointed king is considered to be “God’s Son.” This language of sonship recalls the covenant that God made with King David, in which God promised to raise up a descendant after him, the throne of whose kingdom, centered in Jerusalem, would be established forever:

“When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7:12-16 NASB)

Though David had many descendants, the fulfillment of this promise ultimately came to pass in Jesus (See Paul’s sermon in Acts 13:20-33). Thus, Jesus is the anointed king who will reign from Jerusalem, of whom this psalm speaks.

Verse 8 further confirms the reality of Jesus’ earthly reign, for in it, God announces that upon the request of his anointed, he will give to him the nations and the ends of the earth as his inheritance and possession!

Jesus is promised by God to reign over an earthly kingdom, centered in Jerusalem!

Typically, believers today are promised eternal life in Heaven, God’s abode, by their well-meaning pastors.

However, according to Jesus (and Psalm 2), this is simply not the case.

John records the promise of Jesus to believers in Revelation 2:26-28 [NASB]:

“He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; and I will give him the morning star.”

According to Jesus, his followers who overcome will share in his authority and earthly rule! (Notice where this verse is coming from: Psalm 2:9!)

He also writes in Revelation 3:21 [NASB]:

“He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

Believers will reign with Christ. Where will Christ be reigning? Earth.

Heaven is not our home.

Kingdom Ethics in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)

May 7, 2015 / Sean Finnegan / 2 Comments

The sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7) is the most comprehensive and well-known teaching about how we should follow Jesus. In it Jesus addresses topics as diverse as anger, lust, divorce, retaliation, prayer, fasting, forgiveness, and handling anxiety. Jesus clearly meant for his disciples to immediately put into practice the instruction he gave them in this sermon. All of this is non-controversial and generally well-known, which leads me to my question. Why does Jesus feel compelled to mention the kingdom eight times in a sermon that has nothing to do with the future? Before moving on, here are the texts:

Matthew 5.3
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5.10
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5.19-20
19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Mattehw 6.10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6.33
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 7.21
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Beyond these explicit 8 usages of God’s coming “kingdom,” we find these 2 additional references to the age to come:

Matthew 5.5
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Matthew 7.13-14
13 Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Altogether we find 10 references to the kingdom in Jesus’ teaching on ethics. This wouldn’t surprise me if I were examining, say, Jesus’ Olivet Discourse in which he details the events at the end of the age, but to find so much kingdom focus on a sermon on daily living really grabs my attention.

The simple fact is that Jesus cannot separate his present from his future or his ethics from his hope. He sees them together. Because of the coming kingdom we need to live this way now. We should feel the pull of the future in the present such that we already begin conforming our lives to a new standard, beyond what Moses had commanded. We seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness in the present. As we do this we testify to the coming age when God makes everything wrong with the world right.

Will the Meek Inherit Heaven? (Matthew 5.5)

April 14, 2015 / Sean Finnegan / 0 Comments

Matthew 5.5 [ESV]
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

If Christ knows his followers will end up in heaven with him, why in the world would he teach that the meek will inherit the earth? Is it the case that redeemed people in general will go to heaven, and only these meek ones will find themselves restricted to a terrestrial landscape? The meek are the ones that the proud power brokers of our age squeeze out and out maneuver at every turn. The meek are the very ones that will never take over the earth, yet it is they whom God wishes to inherit his renewed world. Consider these words by the famous Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

They [the meek] show by every word and gesture that they do not belong to this earth. Leave heaven to them, says the world in its pity, that is where they belong. But Jesus says: ‘They shall inherit the earth.’ To these, the powerless and the disenfranchised, the very earth belongs. Those who now possess it by violence and injustice shall lose it, and those who here have utterly renounced it, who were meek to the point of the cross, shall rule the new earth. We must not interpret this as a reference to God’s exercise of juridical punishment within the world, as Calvin did: what it means is that when the kingdom of heaven descends, the face of the earth will be renewed, and it will belong to the flock of Jesus. God does not forsake the earth: he made it, he sent his Son to it, and on it he built his Church.

–Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, (London: SCM Press, 2001), originally Nachfolge published in 1937, p. 63.

Furthermore, comparing the other beattitudes in the same context we observe that each of them ends with a promise of future reward. Putting them all together we get:

poor in spirit -> kingdom of heaven
those who mourn -> comforted
the meek -> inherit the earth
those who hunger/thirst for righteousness -> satisfied
merciful -> receive mercy
pure in heart -> see God
peacemakers -> sons of God
those persecuted for righteousness -> kingdom of heaven
reviled, persecuted, falsely accused -> reward is great in heaven

Putting this altogether we can see that the kingdom of heaven is when the mourning receive comfort, the righteousness seekers get satisfied, the merciful receive mercy, the meek inherit the earth, pure-hearted see God, etc. When the kingdom arrives our reward, currently stored in heaven, will be manifest on earth. This is God’s master plan.

Category: Supporting Texts (Page 1 of 2)

Matthew 13.19: The Parable of The Sower and The Kingdom of God

Matt. 9.35: The bookend of Matthew’s kingdom section

Don’t You Know That the Saints Will Judge the World? (1 Corinthians 6.1-11)

History in the Making (Psalm 110)

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

The Kingdom of Heaven Defined (Matt. 4.23)

The Inaugural Statement of Jesus’ Ministry (Matthew 4.17)

Jesus Destined to Rule on David’s Throne (Psalm 2)

Kingdom Ethics in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)

Will the Meek Inherit Heaven? (Matthew 5.5)

Recent Posts

Archives

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Meta

Pages

Recent Posts

Connect to the Kingdom Uprising

Archives

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Meta

Pages