Christ's Kingdom

Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God, which will be ruled by the Servant of Yahweh, the one who gave his life “to ransom many.”

Jesus arrived in Galilee proclaiming the Kingdom of God. In his ministry, the reign of God began to invade the Earth. However, the nature of the messianic kingdom differs radically from the governments, rulers and political ideologies of the present age, and it defies human expectations, experience, and wisdom.

On more than one occasion, Jesus refused political power, especially when Satan offered it to him in the wilderness following his baptism. Who claims the right to rule the nations but rejects the mechanisms of power necessary to do so, the power structures characterize the present order?

[Steep Path - Photo by Germano Tarricone on Unsplash]

The Devil promised the Nazarene control over “all the kingdoms of the world.” Was this not his destiny? However, to acquire political power, the Messiah must first acknowledge Satan as his overlord. Submission to the Devil, it seems, is the cost of imperial power and prestige.

According to Satan, the kingdoms of this age “have been delivered to me and I give them to whomever I will.” The Son of God did not dispute the Devil’s right and authority to dispense political power, but he refused it all the same. Instead, he submitted to his Father’s will by taking the path of the ‘Suffering Servant of Yahweh’, the Royal Road that would end in his execution on the Roman cross - (Matthew 4:8-11, Luke 4:5-7, Isaiah 53:1-12).

Ever since, the disciples of Jesus have faced the same test whenever the opportunity to obtain political power presents itself. The choice is between succumbing to the temptation to wield power over others or walking the same self-denying path that Jesus walked.

But how could God’s appointed king reign over the rebellious nations of the Earth without the military and economic might of Rome? Did not Scripture promise this very thing to God’s Son and Messiah?

• “I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will tell of the decree. Yahweh said to me, You are my son. This day, I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron. You will shatter them in pieces like a potter's vessel”- (Psalm 2:6-8).

• “Yahweh said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Yahweh will send forth the rod of your strength out of Zion. Subjugate in the midst of your enemies”- (Psalm 110:1-2).

Nevertheless, rather than resorting to the political methods of the existing world order, Jesus embraced the way of the Cross.

In the Kingdom of God, victory is achieved through sacrificial service for others. Rather than dominating nations through force, the Son of God gave his life to ransom humanity from enslavement to sin, Satan, and Death. The man exalted by God to reign over the Cosmos was the ‘Servant of Yahweh’, not Caesar:

• “You know that those who presume to rule the nations subjugate them, and their great men tyrannize them. But it must not be so among you. But whoever would become great among you, he will be your servant. And whoever would be first among you, he will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many”- (Mark 10:42-45).

• “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. <…> And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also, God highly exalted him, and gave him the name which is above every name”- (Philippians 2:5, 8-9).

• “He will see of the travail of his soul, and he will be satisfied. By the knowledge of himself, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors”- (Isaiah 53:11-12).

The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness was not the end of Satan’s political intrigues. Following his rebuff, “the Devil departed from him until an opportune time.”

For example, after Jesus miraculously fed a multitude in Galilee, certain men plotted “to seize him and make him king.” However, he walked away just when the mob had determined to crown him. This decision turned many minds against Christ- (Luke 4:13, John 6:15).

A VERY DIFFERENT MESSIAH

The man from Nazareth would not become the militaristic messiah that so many of his contemporaries desired. Jesus did not come to overthrow Rome. The closer he came to his crucifixion, the more the fickle crowds rejected him. A messiah who sacrificed his life for friend and foe was the last thing they wanted. The very idea was contrary to the way the world works - (Luke 4:13, John 6:15).

• “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the sophist of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe. Seeing that Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified. To Jews, scandal! To Gentiles, folly! But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God!” – (1 Corinthians 1:20-24).

We, as disciples of the Crucified Messiah, are called to adopt the same mind that Jesus demonstrated when he gave his life for all men, and this includes giving our own lives if necessary to preach his message of reconciliation to the world:

• “But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation. Namely, that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation. We are ambassadors, therefore, on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God! Him who knew no sin he made sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him”. - (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).

Our choice is between the cross-shaped and rough pathway of Christ, or the self-serving and smooth superhighway offered by Satan. In the context of the political systems of this world, the Sword or the Cross.

Jesus declared that when he was raised up on the Cross, he would “draw all men to me,” and not by seizing Caesar’s throne, clever propaganda, military force, or impressive displays of miraculous power – (John 12:32).

Jesus has summoned us to “deny ourselves, take up the cross,” and follow him regardless of where he leads. His royal road is the only one that leads to the Kingdom of God and everlasting life in the holy city, “New Jerusalem.” All those who refuse to do so are “unworthy” of him and, in the end, unfit for citizenship in his Kingdom.

[Note: Text printed in small capital letters represents quotations of or allusions to Old Testament passages]

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SEE ALSO:

• Suffering and Death - (To be the Messiah of Israel meant suffering and death for others, and Jesus summoned his disciples to follow that same path – Mark 8:31)

• The Kingdom of God - (Jesus proclaimed a new political reality, the Kingdom of God, which bears little resemblance to the political systems and regimes of this age)

• Ransom for Many - (Christ’s disciples are called to self-sacrificial service for others just as Jesus gave his life to ransom many from sin’s bondage – Mark 10:35-45)

• El Reino de Cristo - (Jesús proclamó una nueva realidad política, el Reino de Dios, que se parece poco a los sistemas y regímenes políticos de este mundo)