Jesus Circumvents People’s Conception of Kingdomermon

Jesus was born into a world that was extremely unfair for anyone who wasn’t born into the right family, right gender, and right citizenship. Jesus’s people had been looking for the Messiah for years to liberate them from the oppression that they faced for a majority of the years since the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the hands of the Babylonians in 586 BC. They looked for someone to come and liberate them from these oppressing nations, restore Israel to the land, and reestablish the Davidic kingdom. As someone raised around within this system of oppression and around His brothers and sisters who longed for liberation, Jesus was tempted quite like Moses was to use violence to avenge His people.

Temptations of Jesus

The temptations of Jesus as listed in passages like Matthew 4 are all about this view of His role as the Messiah and a violent kingdom of God that was quite like the one established in Rome. Jesus was tempted to turn stones into bread which would help feed the many hungry people in the Roman empire. On the occasions that Jesus performed miracles of feeding thousands at a time, He had to retreat to the wilderness because they wanted to make Him king (John 6:15). This temptation stayed with Jesus throughout His entire ministry. Jesus was tempted to cast Himself off the temple to prove to all that He was the Son of David. Yet, He elected to speak in parables and encouraged some of those whom He healed to tell no one (Matthew 13:11-17; Mark 1:44). Finally, Jesus was tempted to bow down before Satan to receive all of the kingdoms of the world. This would have been a simple solution to His people’s problems according to conventional wisdom. Jesus was tempted in quite the same way by Peter:

Matthew 16:22–23 NASB95

Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Peter stood by his word in this passage and lashed out at the servant of the High Priest. Jesus’s response reveals that He rejected such behavior on His behalf, but it also shows that He was well aware of that route:

Matthew 26:52–53 NASB95

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?

Peace through Strength

Christians today still struggle with this new way of viewing the kingdom. In the 2000’s, we would often talk about “peace in the Middle East.” What we meant by that was peace would be achieved through violence. One of the sayings of the Roman Empire during Jesus’s time was “Peace through Strength.” That is, peace can be brought about if you conform to our society; otherwise, we will have peace because you will be enslaved, killed, or sent away. But is this what Paul meant when he spoke of being strengthened in Christ? Is this was Jesus meant when He said He would send peace?

John 14:27 NASB95

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

There are two types of peace: peace of the “real world” and peace that Christ offers. That type of peace can’t be achieved through bullets, swords, or bombs. It can only be achieved through the gospel of Jesus.

Love Your Enemies

Matthew 5:43–44 NASB95

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

This call to love our enemies is revolutionary. When we begin to love our enemies, eventually, there will be no more enemies. This involves seeing all human life as precious regardless of skin color, ethnicity, gender, or any other categories or sub-categories we can come up with. We love others in this way because that is what God does.

Romans 5:8 NASB95

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:10 NASB95

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

It is by this standard which we are judged. In one of the most famous passages about judgement, Jesus speaks of those who would inherit the kingdom. But their inheritance wasn’t based upon following five steps, keeping ten commandments, or observing five acts. Their inheritance was based upon how they treated their neighbor.

Matthew 25:34–40 NASB95

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

This type of living truly turns the world upside down.