Blog posts tagged kingdom
Goin' Up the Mount
As a church, we are approaching Jesus’ longest recorded sermon in Scripture—the Sermon on the Mount, with a renewed sense of awe and much anticipation. After a time of preparation Jesus began to preach what Matt 4:17 says, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near!” Jesus came to embody, model, and proclaim his kingdom. Those who come in contact with Jesus both then and now, he makes abundantly clear, need to change their lives/change their direction (repent). His kingdom he purposed to be an invading one and not a competing one in the lives of his kingdom subjects. What Matt 4:17 says he began to preach, Jesus unpacks very carefully and directly in the Sermon on the Mount, his Kingdom Manifesto. We desire to be kingdom minded and directed, so we look to Jesus’ words in Matt 5-7 to show us what his kingdom looks like on earth as it is in heaven.
As a church we want to take this journey together. Jesus went through “sermon preparation” before delivering his comprehensive description of kingdom life and we must too before we are willing to let it take root in us. We have been challenged to spend a period of 40 days in fasting and prayer, observing the Lent season. Not because we have to in a religious way, but because we get to and want to! We believe God will be faithful and will speak loud and clear to us during this time, individually and corporately going through the Sermon on the Mount, as he changes our direction and lives. Will you join us?!
“Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt 6:10)
The Kingdom is like treasure
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.” Matt 13:44 (NLT)
Matthew chapter 13 contains some amazing parables that Jesus tells to reveal the wonder and majesty of His kingdom and the sheer life changing enjoyment that it can bring. One of these is found in verse 44; likening the kingdom of God/heaven to treasure. A disciple or kingdom citizen will find this treasure by the grace of God and hide it in the field of their heart. In their excitement of discovering this treasure; the good news of the Kingdom, coming face to face with Jesus, will cause wholesale change. They sell everything they have to be able to buy (maybe better stated, in order to have room for) the field that contains this treasure that they realize is far greater than what they already have their life filled with.
A mere spectator, a person within the “crowd” or “multitude” that follows Jesus from afar will find this remarkable treasure and bury it again. They will then drive by it and sometimes lament that they don’t have enough to buy it. Why don’t they? Because they want it AND what they already have their life filled with. Make no mistake, they are attracted by the treasure, see its worth, but don’t want to completely commit all of their time or resources into one investment. They like it, but would rather keep their options open. They will visit it, handle it, throw a church service around it, devote a day of their week to it (I don’t know, perhaps a Sunday?), but they will not own it!
A critic or a person with a religious mindset or spirit will find problems with the field or the box in which the treasure is stored in and reject the treasure because of their perceived understanding of what holds the treasure. They have their own box and their own field. They question the treasure, because they don’t really need it, because they are so awesome and earn their own treasure. Their field looks so much better than the other one.
Have you discovered this treasure yourself? Are you a disciple, a spectator, or a religious critic? Is Jesus one of many, or is He your one and only? What will you do with His Kingdom?
The Kingdom is like seeds
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32 NIV)
So let’s see here, the kingdom has something to do with the act of planting, even planting something small—the smallest of all seeds perhaps. The kingdom has something to do with growth; even the smallest of seeds produce a new life form—from a seed to a tree. The kingdom has something to do with this new life form being used to hold-up, support, and provide rest and shelter—to have a purpose. All because a man took this seed and planted it. My guess is the man knew it was a seed, knew it had potential, and maybe even wanted a tree, though I doubt he had in mind the benefits that were far reaching even to the birds of the air. My guess is also that this was not the only seed that was planted by this man. He planted many. Perhaps there was more than this one tree that was produced, perhaps not. We know there was this tree though. And we know that the seed it came from and the diligence of the sower shows a picture of the kingdom.
Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both. (Ecclesiastes 11:6 NLT)
We don’t know which seed will grow into a tree. We do know that if we pursue his kingdom, there will be trees and we have seeds!
The Kingdom is like a sower
Continuing our look at the Kingdom of God using the parables that Jesus gave in Matthew chapter 13, we turn our attention to the parable of the sower found in Matt 13:1-9 and his explanation of it, 13:18-23. He once again speaks of seeds. His focus is also on hearing and the condition of soil that receive the seed. When there are many things or people being contrasted in Scripture, it is often helpful to make a chart, to see the results side by side. Please see the chart that I made below:
Observations:
The soils represent the condition of man when hearing the word of God (the seed). Each man compared has the following in common: each one heard the message of the Kingdom of God. Two of the conditions had to do with the understanding of the message; both the soil “along the path” and the “good soil”. There is a great importance in understanding, not just merely hearing or reading the word of God. Likewise, the other two (‘rocky places” and “among thorns”) share something in common; both upon receiving the seed (the word) allowed something to replace or extinguish it. It also bears mentioning that the only soil included that bears fruit is the good soil.
Duration of time also seems to come into focus here. Particularly with the seed that fell on “rocky places”; he receives it at once with joy, but since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. Then when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. Looking at the seed scattered “along the path,” the evil one comes and snatches it away, appearing to have happened right away like birds would do eating up seed scattered atop the ground. The seed planted “among thorns” speaks of a process over time of the cares of this world choking it. Finally, the “good soil” can also relate longevity as the seed has time to bear fruit, producing a crop.
Our job is to make sure our soil is fertile and not fallow ground. For others, we are to plant seeds, never fully knowing the condition of the soil in which we plant. After all, God brings growth.
Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD Until He comes to rain righteousness on you. (Hosea 10:12 NASB)