Kingdom Word and Kingdom Works

Matt 4:17-25; Acts 1:3.

From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus is focused and consistent on message: the gospel of the Kingdom of God. He taught and preached it, he demonstrated in healing and delivering, he lived the Kingdom of God. This sets the tone for the “Sermon on the Mount” and all of Jesus’ masterclass in life. It is “good news,” where John’s similar pronouncement never was. God has a kingdom. He wants you to be a citizen. This sets the stage for what the Sermon on the Mount is. Tt is a revelation of the kingdom of God and it’s radical new availability. It is a illustration of the new inside-out righteousness of the Kingdom Citizen. Let’s prepare for Jesus to preach and teach us how to live, that we might be healed and delivered. The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Who’s the Boss?

In my search for ever more dated pop culture references, here we go.

80s tv show, based on the “crazy premise” that a man could be a nanny… and a woman could run a household. Surely this is an impossible scenario with hilarious power dynamics.

Angela’s the boss, by the way. Tony works for her. Boom. Solved.

So, help me with a question I have… who’s the boss in my house?

You laugh, because you can imagine the various answers to that question.

KK, sure, she’s a strong willed and intelligent woman. She has her own will and domain, her own ideas and choices.

My kids, so much of our life revolves around them and where they need to go and how to get them there. When they say “yes” to a sport or activity, it is a reshuffling cascade of our plans.

Or me. I have choices, influence, authority, I have will and I exercise it, too.

It’s… complicated.

For example: earlier this week, Logan asked me permission to go to his friend’s house.

He’s 18 years old. A “man.” But he does recognize authority of his father… and he lives in my house… and he is being respectful… and there’s a lifetime of habit in there too.

It’s complicated at the edges… but each of us has a “domain.” A place where our will decides what does and doesn’t happen. That is a huge part of what it means to be a “person.” It may be your thoughts, it may extend to your body, it may extend in scope beyond your body to your house or family or business.

It may not extend as far as you think it does… or as you think it should.

The extreme of this is a “King.”

When we jokingly say someone is “Lord of their domain” (and it isn’t Seinfeld), we mean they act like a King. Sovereignty. Absolute authority over their domain.

There are borders to that domain. A king’s word is law up and to that point… afterwards they may have influence to different extents… but their will may or may not actually be accomplished there.

Recap

Jesus has endured the trials and temptations of the enemy, the adversary, Satan.

When he heard that John had been arrested, he moved to Capernaum. Right place, right time. And he begins to preach… and it sounds like the exact same message as John the Baptist was preaching.

Matthew 4:17 ESV

17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Then Jesus calls his first four disciples, “follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men.” Andrew, Simon Peter, John and James followed him. Three of them, Peter, James and John would become his inner circle.

And then Matthew, who will be another of his 12 apostles, gives us this summary of his teaching.

Matthew 4:23 ESV

23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

So let’s get a picture of what Jesus is doing. Town to town, Jesus is coming to town. Josephus writes a generation after Jesus and estimates something like 204 towns in the region of Galilee

The cities are numerous, the multitude of villages everywhere are crowded with men owing to the fertility of the soil so that the smallest of them contains above 15,000 inhabitants.

-Josephus

Town to town, going to the “church” in the center of each town. The synagogue is the center of life in each of these towns, so Jesus is strategic. As a Rabbi, a visiting Rabbi, he would likely have opportunity to explain the reading of Scripture that day… and there is his invitation to “teach and proclaim the gospel of the kingdom.”

Matthew 4:23 ESV

23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

Kingdom Word

“Proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.”

There’s a new word here in the “kingdom” language. See it?

Gospel. Literally means “good news.”

But here’s a funny thing. Jesus and John appear to be saying the same thing. Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is “at hand.”

But when Jesus is teaching and preaching it… it is “good news.”

There is something new, even since John the Baptist. The “good news” of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus is laser focused on this.

He never gets dragged into other matters. Into local politics or thorny theological questions. He cuts through all of that and back to Kingdom of God.

Even after his resurection:

Acts 1:3 ESV

3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

Jesus stays on message. The Kingdom. The other gospels use the phrase “Kingdom of God.” Perhaps because Matthew’s audience is Jewish, he uses the common practice of “heaven” as a stand in for actual saying “God” to avoid any hint or appearance of taking God’s name in vain. But the meaning is the same.

Heaven is the realm where God is. This is his Kingdom.

And scholars have taken some different positions on what “kingdom” Jesus is talking about.

Eschatological:

Some scholars read “Kingdom of God” or “Heaven” to describe some “soon coming” future fulfillment of all the prophecies about new Jerusalem and the like. It fits with prophecy beautifully and Jesus is indeed returning in power and glory to bring his Kingdom… and every knee will bow and every tongue confess He is Lord. Is that what Jesus means by the “Kingdom of God” is at hand? That he is coming soon?

It’s an odd way to phrase it when he is there… but not this time coming in power, but coming to suffer and sacrifice… and then not coming in power for at least a couple thousand years.

But when Jesus says “the Kingdom is at hand.” That word is in the “perfect” tense, which indicates past completed action with ongoing results. Like “I have arrived at church.” I arrived… and I’m still here. I wouldn’t say that if I was coming soon… and I wouldn’t say that if I had left. It is best translated “the Kingdom is come.”

The Kingdom of God is a present and available reality.

Which makes TONS of sense if we break down quite literally what “Kingdom” means.

Kingdom - King’s Dominion

That is what “Kingdom” literally means. Not just a fun play on words in English. The Greek word is more about the “act of ruling”, the expression of will into the world, then borders on a map.

Now God’s own ‘kingdom,’ or ‘rule,’ is the range of his effective will, where what he wants done is done. The person of God himself and the action of his will are the organizing principles of his kingdom, but everything that obeys those principles, whether by nature or by choice, is within his kingdom.

-Dallas Willard, “Divine Conspiracy”

The “kingdom of God” is the place where “He’s the Boss.”

It would be no surprise to the people of Galilee, Jews, Israelites, that God has a Kingdom. The “gospel” of the Old Testament is “Our God Reigns.”

The surprise, the new good news is something else. Repent for the Kingdom of God is here. And then Jesus is going around teaching the “good news” of the Kingdom. What is it?

The good news that John couldn’t possibly offer. Jesus comes announcing the radical new availability of the Kingdom of God. It is open for business in a way it never has been before. It is inviting citizens in a way it never has been before.

Because the Kingdom of God is the place where God’s Word rules.

Who is Jesus again?

Jesus is the Kingdom

Jesus is the very Word of God, the Logos of God. He is the Word God spoke the universe into being. He only does what He sees His Father doing, by the power of the Spirit, the Trinity in action…

Where Jesus is going and speaking and being… that is the Kingdom in action. In person. Incarnate.

So it is “at hand.” I’m right here! And radically available. Right here.

And they don’t know the HALF of it… because the Kingdom is taking action among them.

Jesus is not just bringing Kingdom Word, it is Kingdom Action. Kingdom Works. For the Kingdom is not just where the King says he rules… but where his rule actually takes form in flesh and blood.

Jesus authenticates his claim in miraculous action.

Matthew 4:23–24 (ESV)

23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them.

Kingdom Works

All diseases and pains. Casting out demons. Seizures and paralytics. It doesn’t matter what someone was suffering or afflicted with, Jesus healed them.

This is the Kingdom of God in action. When God walked with Adam and Eve in the Kingdom, they were connected to the source of healing continually. Of course there was no death, no demonic possession, no addiction, no affliction.

Here Jesus gives miraculous demonstration of physical healing… but it’s actually just a taste of the totality of healing and restoration he is offering. All those folks got sick again later. They ultimately died. That healing was a partial demonstration of the true healing. Invitation to the now and eternal Kingdom of God.

The healing brought them in… but it was the Kingdom they were truly hungry for. Starving for. Life, and the Words of life flowing from Jesus. The Righteousness he was living out in front of them.

This is life right-side up. Lived from the inside out. He was different, he was extraordinary… and he said they could have that too!

So of COURSE he got famous:

Matthew 4:24–25 ESV

24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Sermon on the Mount

This is important because it sets the stage for what’s coming. The “Sermon on the Mount.”

I believe this is an actual sermon. It isn’t a collection of random sayings smushed together. It is a thoughtful sermon, where the order matters, pieces building on pieces.

It is not “new laws” for the Kingdom. It is a revelation of what life is really like in the Kingdom of God… it is righteousness from the inside out, with example after example bursting forth. “Turn the other cheek” isn’t a new law Jesus is declaring, it is demonstrative of a soul redeemed and living out the Kingdom of God through actual interaction with other people.

The subject of his sermon: “the gospel of the Kingdom.” Start to finish. All of it holding together to teach Kingdom life.

“Great crowds followed him from Galilee...”

Peter, Andrew, James and John left everything and followed him.

Of course they did… He is the Kingdom. And he proclaims “good news”… you too can have this kind of life.

I think we settle for way too little as “Christians.” If Jesus’ “Kingdom” is a far off promise of his return and new Kingdom, that makes sense. We need to grin and bear it until he comes. We are in survival mode.

That’s really good life insurance. Car insurance.

But would you rather have a car that runs or a broken one with really good insurance?

But if Jesus was offering a present reality, a new way to live moment by moment as the Kingdom of God… shouldn’t we see more transformation in our lives?

This is why the crowds gathered around him. Because he was acting out life, bringing healing and life, and speaking Word of life.

We are preparing to start the Sermon on the Mount. In two weeks, Wayne is bringing the Word next week. In two weeks we start the Sermon on the Mount. These are the words thousands gathered to hear. To hear Jesus reveal what life could and will look like, an actual invitation to an actual new way to be and live and relate to God and others.

Are we ready for it? Are we hungry for it?

May God cultivate in your heart a divine dissatisfaction for the status quo. Whether you’re new in church or been here for 50 years… I hope you’re hungrier for it the longer you’ve been following Jesus.

Most especially if you have been a “Christian”… but you haven’t seen transformation in your actual relationships. In your actual emotions. In your actual actions.

You can do good things, you’re doing one right now, church is good, Sabbath is good, serving is good… but Jesus is promising life free from anger, life full of generosity and forgiveness, even love for just the worst people.

Are you ready for it? Are you hungry for it? If you aren’t hungry and thirsty for it… then you’re not ready for it. Ask God to give you that desire. The desire that brought people out of the woodwork, across the miles, across the lake, walking for days to meet this guy...

Who Proclaims the Kingdom… who is the Kingdom.

God has a Kingdom. He invites you to be a citizen. Jesus is how.