The Gospel of . . . the Kingdom

Do you want to see one of Christ's greatest moments in teaching?

One of His greatest moments, that is, in terms of the amount of Divine wisdom he allowed us that day ... and in terms of the shock that it put on the crowd?

Check Matthew 13. A few of the verses:

Mat 13:1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
Mat 13:2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
Mat 13:3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow...

Mat 13:24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
Mat 13:25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Mat 13:26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. ...

Mat 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

Now, we have to keep in perspective, what the people of the day were hearing from the rabbis of the time. They heard things like, here is when you should give to the temple, and here is where you are exempted. They heard, Here is why you can give tax money to Caesar, or here is why you can't. They heard, Here is what the Gentiles do, and here is why you must live better than the goyim do. They heard, here is what you must not eat, and here is when you should wash, and here is what Deuteronomy 8 means.

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Jesus of Nazareth came along and taught something of rather larger scope. He said, When the spiritual Kingdom comes... here are the concepts behind its design. Here is the intent in the mind of God for this great Environment, and here is how different men will react, and here is why God will respond.

You remember the physics teacher that couldn't hold your attention. :- ) Blah blah speed equals distance divided by time, and if you have vector F at 15 degrees, you can find angular momentum by... blah blah.

Imagine Einstein breezing into the room and beginning a talk about why the universe works the way it does...

Jesus preached differently.

Mat 13:53 And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence.
Mat 13:54 And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
Mat 13:55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
Mat 13:56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

The basic reaction of the people was not merely astonishment that Jesus should teach such stunning doctrines. It was also astonishment that -anybody- should tackle such subjects.

And notice in Matt. 13:19, this same chapter, Jesus tells us what is the essence of wisdom (in this case, at least):

Mat 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

The word of ... what?

The word of the Kingdom. This was a doctrine that Jesus loved, and a doctrine that He wanted us to love too. Yet, how many times have you passed a church on the street and its sign read something like, "NOT CHURCH, BUT CHRIST!"

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Jesus taught us that our environment would be important. A cow would rather be roaming a free range, protected by a rancher, than in a crate, being confined for future presentation as a veal cutlet. The setting in which you live matters.

He taught us that He would establish a Kingdom, and in this Kingdom, His sheep would have the setting that they needed for love, and blessings, and salvation, and Christian living.

That setting was the kingdom.

Any setting designed by men, any setting designed by anyone other than Christ, is not the setting that Christ designed. So, we don't want any setting that men had anything to do with designing.

The day will never come when Joe Shlabotnik of Tracy, CA, figures out the magic improvement to Christ's church, that makes it the right place to be. Christ's kingdom was announced 2,000 years ago, and every change since has only made it worse.

The word of the Kingdom. Is it self-contained in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John?

Kind regards,

Jeff

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