In May of 2021, I wrote a devotional about drifting as a way of life concluding that while appealing on the surface, drifting doesn’t bring satisfaction. Nothing is accomplished leaving a sense of emptiness. God has created us to be purposeful. Aimless drifting thwarts His design for us.
Jesus definitely did not drift through life. As I wrote in the earlier devotional, “In the gospel accounts we don’t discern a routine or pattern to Jesus’ travels but you can be certain that he was not just drifting from town to town. In route to Jerusalem, for instance, John tells us that Jesus needed to go by Samaria. Or when the disciples advised Jesus that everyone was looking for Him, He responded that He could not stay, but must go on to other places. And Isaiah tells us that He set his face like flint toward Jerusalem.” Jesus was an intentional person.
Jesus acquired a following but one that was often inflected with fickleness—loyal today, gone tomorrow. Even His faithful twelve pretty much misunderstood what He was about. When the disciples and others heard the term, it raised ‘kingdom’ visions of Jesus overthrowing the prevailing oppressive political system. This was not Jesus’ intention. He never made plans to march His disciples to Rome and confront Caesar in a revolutionary take-over of the Roman government.
THE KINGDOM
So, what were Jesus’ intentions? Matthew’s gospel often speaks of Jesus declaring that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. If Jesus intended to establish a kingdom what should we expect from Him? Asked by Pilate if He was a king, Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world, (John 18:36).” On another occasion, the Pharisees asked Jesus when was the kingdom coming and He replied, “The kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21).” In Romans, Paul defines the kingdom as righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). It is a spiritual kingdom.
Jesus often referred to the gospel as the gospel of the kingdom and instructed us to pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven. So, what is the significance of His kingdom? If Jesus did not conceive a political kingdom, how would it matter? How would His kingdom have any consequence? Kingdoms are about authority. When Jesus said to pray and bring the kingdom of God to earth as it is in heaven, He was instructing us to establish God’s authority on earth.
God created us not only as physical beings but spiritual. As God intended, the spiritual dimension affects the physical. When Jesus brought the kingdom of God to earth it was intended to affect the world through changed lives born of His Spirit. This is the gospel of the kingdom. When Jesus radically changes our heart giving us a new Spirit, we behave differently. Does it then not follow that we should see His kingdom invade our families, workplaces, government, entertainment, every area of our lives? Should not we witness transformation in government because the people running the government have been changed? Should not we witness transformation in media and entertainment because the producers of media and entertainment have been changed? Should we not witness transformation in family life because parents have been changed? Jesus understood the power of a spiritual kingdom that works from the inside out.
Jesus was not content to let His kingdom be only a possibility, He was intentional about it. Knowing we live in a fallen world ruled by the prince of darkness, He took the first essential step to take back that authority and rulership. On the cross, Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” The work of forgiveness was complete and the ground was laid for God’s kingdom to come on earth. He purchased the authority to remake the world in God’s image. “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).” Transformed hearts, willing to submit to and use God’s authority will bring His kingdom to earth.
SALT & LIGHT
Jesus taught that the people of His kingdom were to be salt and light—the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Jesus meant for His kingdom to have influence. When we are born of His Spirit, He does not remove us from the world, but assigns us to be salt/light in our spheres of influence. Why else would Jesus give us the keys of His kingdom if we weren’t called to lock and unlock what is and is not of heaven (Matthew 16:19)?
Jesus emphasized the significance of His kingdom with over one hundred references in the gospels. Reading Matthew’s gospel through the lens of Jesus’ focus on the kingdom opened my eyes to the stress Jesus placed on the kingdom of God. Many parables of Jesus depict what the kingdom of God is like such as wheat and tares growing up together, a tiny mustard seed flourishing into a mighty tree, leaven invading all parts of the dough, a merchant of pearls finding the pearl of great price, a hidden treasure worth all one could pay, and a dragnet cast into the sea catching the good and the bad. Jesus further taught that we are to seek the kingdom while we live on earth (Matthew 6:33), take the kingdom by violence (Matthew 11:12), know the mysteries of the kingdom (Matthew 13:11) and enter the kingdom as little children (Matthew 18:3).
If Jesus devoted such careful attention to His kingdom, it must have had considered import for Him. He constantly preached and taught the gospel of the kingdom. He wants a people but He also wants His people to act as members of His kingdom. The kingdom is truly within us. We take it wherever we go, but does it add salt and light to our circumstances and those around us? Do we know what it means to take the kingdom by violence, to enter as little children without being childish, to understand the mysteries of the kingdom, to be wheat living among tares? Do we value the kingdom of God enough to find out?
THE PAINTING
Arrows signify intention. They point, they direct, they guide. The painting accompanying this devotional, populated with arrows moving up and down, left and right twisting and turning, suggest deliberateness, design, calculation, forethought, premeditation, purpose, preconception, pre-planning, motive, determination, all qualities inhabiting Jesus’ intentions for bringing God’s kingdom to earth. Some arrows move swiftly and directly, others twist and turn but they still move purposefully. Some move as solo efforts while others advance in unison. Such is the work of the kingdom, never a single form or pattern but tailored to individual lives.
Lord Jesus, help us to see ourselves as members of Your kingdom, to repent of not taking Your kingdom on earth seriously. Show us what it means to change our world—our families, friends, workplaces and the institutions of education, government, media, entertainment (the seven mountains that are fundamental to culture) through the authority of Your kingdom.
Lord Jesus, make Your kingdom become alive in our hearts and imagination. Let us see ourselves furthering it wherever You place us. Holy Spirit, these are wonderful, high ideals but without You, that just where they will stay, high above us. Let us look to You to make Jesus’ passion for God’s kingdom on earth a reality in our lives. Let us know Jesus, not only as our personal savior, but as the ruler of a kingdom.
Sydney Walker, January 15, 2023