Mediterranean Moments

The New Testament makes many references to the Jewish Scripture to support the claims of early Christians that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah. From the time of Jesus until today, many faithful Jewish believers have not accepted the interpretation of Scripture understood by Christians seeing Jesus has the Messiah. The Hebrew Scripture provided an important source for the New Testament writers. Many scholars see Luke making allusion to all but three Old Testament books. The book of Psalms contains Messianic prophecies as well as explanations of the Kingdom.

Some estimate the Old Testament contains 333 prophecies predicting the coming Messiah. Peter Stoner, in the amazing book, Science Speaks, calculated the chance of one man fulfilling only 48 of these prophecies. He understands the probability being 1:10157 – a statistically impossible number.

The following websites can provide you additional information on the topic of Messianic prophecies.

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Mediterranean Moments

As you can probably tell, the parables that begin with “the kingdom of heaven is like” are fascinating. Although we taste a bit of the flavor of the kingdom of heaven while we are on earth, the experience of the kingdom in heaven surely provides a feast beyond our imagination. Today’s parable leaves us with a couple of vital ingredients for our consideration.

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Celebrations create many strong images in our mind. Your descriptions of your favorite party and its memories reinforce that concept. For the most part, the images are festive and positive. While memories can invoke a flavor of melancholy, the memories are whimsical and encouraging. Jesus reminds us the kingdom of heaven is like a wedding feast. Let’s spend some time thinking about some of the moments found at the wedding celebration.

[su_pullquote align=”right”]You can find this same parable in Luke’s gospel, Luke 14:7-14 NIV

Commentator R.C.H. Lenski believes the differences from beginning to end in this parable and the version in Luke are so great they  must actually be two stories.

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Notice the parable does not say “the kingdom of heaven is like the wedding ceremony.” Wouldn’t that create quite a different image in your mind? It would also teach a completely different lesson. What do you remember about the words of the ceremony for your wedding? I remember who officiated at the ceremony. I remember the relationship we had with the preacher. Some of what he said reflected the long-standing traditions of the church. “Dearly beloved. We gather today to unite this man and this woman in holy matrimony.” In a very profound sense, the ceremony conjures images of formal and legal structure.

But not so with the party afterwards. While the party has some structure – serving lines, special dances and speeches, times for cutting the cake and throwing the rice – the reception following the wedding is a time to enjoy the company of friends and family, to revel in good food and festivities, and to honor the newly wedded couple by your presence. Often the celebration afterwards is the reason we endure the ceremony.

Shortly after COVID restrictions eased, my wife and I were invited to the wedding of a friend of our youngest daughter. During her school years, about ten girls enjoyed twelve years of school together in the same school system. Additionally, the bride shared the college years with our daughter. We would not have missed the wedding.

Sort of. We actually missed the wedding because of the pandemic. The couple were married in a private ceremony during restricted travel times. This celebration was really just for us – for their friends and family. The party was the couple’s way of saying, “Thanks,” and “We appreciate what you mean to us.” The feeling throughout the event was that the parents and the couple really wanted you there.

The grounds for the celebration were lavish. The event was held at a well-preserved property that was had been in a family since the Revolutionary War. The decorations and festivities centered around the theme of horse racing. The entire event appeared to be thrown by a team of professional party-givers. The needs of every one in attendance had been anticipated and met. Every second of the event was an orchestrated as perfectly as a well-rehearsed symphony.

The meal served was something that an Iron Chef would have prepared. The food was topped off by Graeter’s Ice Cream. Oprah considers Graeter’s one of life’s pleasures that is “worth every penny.” Enough said.

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Christian author and sociologist Tony Campolo talks about the concept of celebration in his best-selling book, “The Kingdom of God is a Party.” He tells an amazing story to begin the book. You can catch this video of the story here or on my website.

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There were celebrities at this party. The bride works for the ESPN network and formerly worked for NBC. People who were people knew this young woman and wanted to attend. I didn’t know any of them, but it was fun to just sit a few feet away and gawk. Mingling was the task of the evening.

The table reserved for us was with parents of our daughter’s friends. Although none of these people were close friends, our paths had crossed several times during the lives of our children. They were a bit more than acquaintances because of the common thread. We talked about things we remembered from the past. Questions abounded. Smiles were everywhere. In this instance, the bond between us had never been stronger. We were all there because we were invited. A celebration was in order.

My daughter is a musical entertainer. She sings for a living. On several instances at the party, she mentioned it is nice to be at this event with no responsibilities. She had no pressure to make the evening and the performance perfect. No one had expectations for how she should perform. She can sit back and enjoy the festivities. By midnight, she was on stage singing with the band. Her other friends joined her, dancing and expressing extreme joy. What followed was a rendition of “Proud Mary” that would have made Ike and Tina Turner gasp.

The kingdom of heaven is like a party. You don’t sit and quietly stare at each other at a party. You are actively involved with the relationships of people and with the circumstances. You may not “know” everyone present, but you feel connected because they are at this party for the same reason that you are. Some of the people have ties with you that you don’t even realize. “We lived at the house next door to your parents when they lived in Terre Haute.” “Oh! Mrs. Smith! I have heard so much about you!”

The kingdom of heaven is like a party. The ceremony has already occurred, but it took place during the pandemic of sin. No one was able to venture out because the entire world was covered with illness. Darkness shadowed every step; venturing out was a treacherous adventure. The pandemic has finally ended. Vaccinations through the blood of Christ are 100% effective. (editorial note: Just get the vaccine!) This celebration is because the Father wanted you here. He prepared the feast. He wants you here.

The kingdom of heaven is like a party. You walk around the grounds. “Look at the books in this library! On the top shelf, do you see the title of the book on the end? I first bought that book when I was a freshman in college. In my copy, every word was highlighted because Professor Jones tested on every word.” Even though you have never been there, some how things seem familiar. Even better, every moment of your life is a preparation for you to enjoy this celebration. Name tags are not needed. Your memory doesn’t have to remember names. You recognize people by their hearts.

The kingdom of heaven is like a party. And at this party, you can stay until the end. You don’t become tired. You aren’t tipsy. Work doesn’t need you at 7:00am the next morning. The cats aren’t scratching through your drapes because they are hungry. You aren’t trying to avoid talking to Aunt Martha. There is no earthly reason to go home early.

Ever.

In the beginning, God created. The Bible starts here. The Torah starts here. It was one of the first verses that I had to memorize. The Apostle’s Creed starts here:

 

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

Creator of heaven and earth

 

Why is it important to believe in a God who is our Creator? We will dig into the implications of this topic in today’s lesson.

 

The World in which We Live

Almost 150 years ago, Charles Darwin published what is considered to be groundbreaking work on our beginnings, titled, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Today Americans are still arguing about the concept of evolution. To many in the scientific realm, the idea of evolution is more than a theory, it is the explanation of mankind’s beginnings, just the way that creation is the explanation for the believer.

 

As time and science have progressed, the idea of evolution has slipped from a perfect solution to one of several possible theories for the beginnings of life. But in the last two decades, the argument has been how evolution should be taught in schools. Accompanying this debate are the questions “Should creationism be taught? Is that violating the separation of church and state? What about the idea of intelligent design?”

 

Throughout much of the 20th century the debate was heard in school boards, town councils and state legislatures. Sometimes the debate wandered before the bench of our courtrooms. The famous 1925 Scopes “monkey” trial involved a Tennessee law prohibiting the teaching of evolution in the state’s schools.

 

But something happened in the 1960s that changed the course of the debate. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a number of decisions that imposed severe restrictions on the state governments that opposed the teaching of evolution. As a result, school boards and government bodies are now kept from prohibiting the teaching of evolution. But more devastating, teaching creation science, either along with evolutionary theory or in place of it, is also banned.

 

At the same time, the United States was really wanting to get serious about science. The Soviet Union had launched the Sputnik satellite, and the United States was actually facing a shortage of mathematicians. Fearing that the Soviets would become superior in technology, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Congress passed the National Defense Education Act, a bill designed to fund and improve science education. Evolution and its teachings received a financial shot in the arm made possible by the act.

 

Some local and state school boards immediately began searching for scientific alternatives to evolution. The concept of intelligent design has caught the attention of several stats.  The idea holds that life is too complex to have developed without the intervention of an outside, possibly divine force.

 

Ben Stein, a conservative American writer, lawyer, actor and political commentator, wrote and starred in a 2008 documentary film called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. The film contends that there is a conspiracy in academia to oppress and exclude people who believe in intelligent design.

https://www.discovery.org/v/expelled-no-intelligence-allowed-supertrailer/

 

The scientific community criticized the movie and its arguments, but the film opened in 1052 theaters and grossed over $2.9 million dollars its first weekend. The film is available on Amazon and through other outlets.

 

Lee Strobel is an American author and investigative journalist. He received a journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale Law School. He became a journalist for the Chicago Tribune and he was awarded the UPI Illinois Editors Association newspaper award for public service for his coverage of the Pinto crash trial in Winamac, Indiana.

 

Strobel was an atheist when he began investigating the Biblical claims about Christ after his wife’s conversion. Seeking to discredit her faith, he eventually became a Christian after honestly evaluating the evidence. Since he has authored several apologetic books for Christianity, including The Case for a Creator.

https://www.amazon.com/Case-Creator-Lee-Strobel/dp/0310242096#reader_0310242096

 

Other education officials have begun to require that schools teach critiques of evolution, or that students are forced to read or listen to evolution disclaimers, hoping to help students realize that evolution is a theory and not a fact.

 

The debates rage on, in the courtrooms or on the stage of public opinion. The Pew Research Center updated their polling and analysis of a 2009 study five years later in 2014. According to their findings, six-in-ten Americans say that humans and other living things evolved over time. Interestingly, 32% of those six say that life evolved through natural processes like natural selection, but 24% say a supreme being guided the evolution for the purpose of creating humans and other life forms.

 

According to their research, most of the nation’s scientists defend the position that evolution is a well-established scientific theory and that it convincingly explains the origins of life on earth. They hold that evolution is more than a hunch or guess, but is an explanation of a natural phenomenon, much like gravity. These scientists dismiss creation science, including intelligent design, as religion and not science.

 

Overall the percentage of adults in the United States who believe that God created humans in their present form at sometime within the last 10,000 years has reached a new low. Only 38% now accept creationism, while about 57% believe in some form of evolution – either God-guided or now – saying that man evolved over millions of years from some less advanced form of life.

 

Further damaging the creationist argument, the Gallop poll taken in 2017 indicates that the less-educated Americans are more likely to believe in creation. Of those who believe in creation, 48% have a high school education or less; 42% have had some college classes, while 24% are college graduates and 21% have post-graduate classes or degrees.

 

In a highly hyped event, science communicator Bill Nye and Creation Museum founder Ken Ham debated for almost three hours on February 4, 2014. While Nye championed the evolutionary theory cause, Ham argued his beliefs in a 6000 year old earth. Both sides claimed clear victories, though the actual headway for either side is up for debate. What the episode did prove is that there is still a hunger for answers in this arena.

 

The Psychology Today website carried an article by Ralph Lewis, M.D. Even though the article spoke to “what we lose when we lose belief in God and the supernatural,” he goes on to conclude:

We are probably at a tipping point in the intellectual history of humankind in our understanding of how we, our world, and everything contained in it could indeed have come into existence entirely spontaneously and unguided.

 

Why is our world so opposed to a Creator?

 

Why A Personal, Creative God Matters

To some, the problem of the creator God is a simple “first-cause” question. Who created the heavens and the earth? God. Well then, who created God? This problem leads to an issue of infinite regress where each creator is presumed to have a creator.

 

But those who hold to a form of evolution still have to position the issue of infinite regress. How did the heavens and earth begin? A big-bang theory. What created the first molecules?

[su_pullquote]The Bible Affirms

Let’s look at some of the Scriptures that lay a foundation for belief in a personal, creative God. Examining several Bible verses will help our understanding.

Revelation 4:11

2 Peter 2:4

Genesis 1:1

Hebrews 11:3

John 1:3. Psalm 33:6, Colossians 1:16

Romans 8:19-23

Isaiah 40:28-31

Romans 1:18-23

Psalms 19:1[/su_pullquote]

The issue of first-cause cannot be answered by science. No one was present when it happened. No one recorded its history. The issue is answered in one of two ways. With which do you feel most comfortable? Either the first cause is personal – someone who purposely designed and created the heavens and the earth; or the first cause is impersonal – something that randomly happened with no design in mind, the outcome being pure chance.

 

For many the belief in God comes down to the existence of the supernatural. Things – beings or events – outside of the natural realm cannot be measured or studied. Whether we like to use the word or not, either position requires faith. It takes faith to believe in a supernatural God (He would then be able by definition to perform miracles) or it takes faith to assume that the things of the natural realm are all that exist.

 

An article by Debora MacKenzie on the New Scientist website (www.newscientist.com) in 2012 commented that the vast majority of people still believe in a supernatural god or gods, but that analytical thinking erodes belief in an individual, personal God.

 

Stephen Law, the editor of the Royal Institute of Philosophy journal THINK wrote on the website aeon.co that belief in supernatural beings is totally natural – but totally false. He goes on to cite a 2013 Harris Poll that found 42% believe in ghosts, 64% in the survival of the soul after death, 68% in heaven and 74% in God. But Law surmises we can’t be drawn to those beliefs because they are true. He states, “if we possess good evidence that humans are very prone to false belief in invisible beings when those beliefs are based on subjective experience, then I should be wary of such beliefs.”

 

While not everyone cares to articulate this, for others it is a matter of submission. IF a Creator exists, and if that Creator is interested in how I live, it is imperative that I submit and obey Him.

 

Why is belief in a personal Creator so important? Let’s consider several themes.

 

  • The beginning point is the word “personal.” If the origin of humanity is impersonal, such as a creative force or power, several things are missing in our understanding of our existence. It takes a person to understand purpose, relationships and emotions. The human existence is filled with a desire for meaning and purpose in life. In our hearts, we seek relationships – through our families, through our work and play, and within communities. More pointedly, we desire some of those relationships to be of an intimate nature – of knowing and being known. Finally, we would not expect to be emotional if our origin was impersonal.

 

  • When we speak of a personal God as the Creator, we begin to understand our desire and need to see something beyond ourselves. The writer of Ecclesiastes speaks of God “setting eternity in the hearts of men” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). This inner longing was described by mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal who spoke of a “God-shaped vacuum” in every human being.

 

How We Tell Others

So when people say they don’t believe in God, what does that really mean to Americans today? What are they rejecting? Are they saying “No” to a belief of any higher power or spiritual force in the universe? Are they simply turning their back on a traditional Christian idea of God?

 

A Pew Research Center survey in 2018 found that about one-third of Americans say they do not believe in the God of the Bible, but they do believe in some sort of higher power. Just over half (56%) of Americans say they believe in God as described in the Bible. Ten percent of those polled say they do not believe in any higher power at all.

 

People learn best when they are able to process new information through information that they already know. For the few that say they do not believe in God or a higher power, try to determine their understanding of the spiritual realm. Bring it to a personal level – when you close your eyes, can you ever hear yourself think? The conscience or intuition is evidence of a spiritual dimension. That is the dimension that is home to God.

 

Discuss creation. The personal nature of creation points to the presence of a personal designer or creator. Even if we do not have the Bible, the universe itself cries out about the existence of a creator. A painting has a painter. A five-course meal has a chef. The vastness of the universe must have a creator. The intricate, personal nature of humans points to a creator.

 

A personal God who is Creator is an essential of our faith. It is a revealed truth in the Scripture. To accept less than this abandons sound doctrine. HOW God did the creating is a matter of opinion. None of us were there and the Bible is not specific in its explanation or its application. Did He take literal 24 hour days to create? Were the days actually ages? Is the story of creation in Genesis literal or a symbolic allegory?

 

Please follow this line of reasoning. I may hold very strong ideas for why I believe that Genesis is a literal, historical accounting of the creation of the universe. My studies have led me to believe that the days of creation are 24 hour days and that God did that in six days and on the seventh day, He rested from His creation. If asked, I can explain the evidence and substance for my beliefs.

[su_pullquote align=”right”]Points to Ponder

1. What is significant about being formed by a personal Creator as opposed to an origin from an impersonal force or random accident?

2. What attributes of God do you see in His ability to create?

3. In your own words, how would you talk about the existence of God to someone who doubted or disbelieved?  [/su_pullquote]

On a side note, my ability to explain what I believe is my obedience to the Scripture that bids me to share “the reason for the hope within us” to all who ask (1 Peter 3:15).

 

But I do not need you to agree with me. My explanation will never be an argument. It does not change my opinion of you. It is not a battle that I have to fight nor win. In the end, it does not matter. Not arguing does not water down my faith. It broadens and expands it. HOW God created the heavens and the earth becomes a question on my list of things to ask God when I get to heaven.

 

If you and I agree upon a personal God who is our Creator, we have an incredible point of reference that binds us together. And we have taken the first step toward becoming brothers.

 

If you and I agree upon a personal God who is our Creator, we move together toward understanding that our world – and our existence – was not chance nor an accident. There is purpose and creativity behind our lives and our world.

 

The design reflects the designer.

From My Notebook

There are many reasons that we read and study the Bible. It is vitally important that we select a version that matches your reason for reading and study together with your vocabulary and understanding of the Bible. Selecting the right biblical translation can support your Bible reading goals.

Select a version of the Bible that matches your vocabulary and understanding of the Bible.

Formal TranslationDynamic TranslationIdiomatic TranslationParaphrase
NASBNIVMSGLIVING
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

 

 

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 

 

Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.

 

 

16 The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right. 17 It is God’s way of making us well prepared at every point, fully equipped to do good to everyone.

 

 

Biblical translation takes the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek languages and offers an English equivalent. There are three main philosophies of translation: formal translation (word-for-word), dynamic translation (thought-for-thought or phrase-for-phrase) and idiomatic translation (dynamic translation plus idiom equivalence).  All three of these are translations, relying on an English rendering of the original languages. Scholars, theologians and linguists spend lengths of time producing translations.

A paraphrase takes an accepted English translation and rewords it into another English equivalent. A paraphrase spends no time consulting with the original languages. If you are asked to write a verse of the Bible using your own words, you are making a paraphrase of that verse. The old Living Bible and the old Good News for Modern Man provide examples of a biblical paraphrase.

People often miscategorize and misunderstand The Message version of the Bible by Eugene Peterson. Many – including scholars – assume Peterson took an English version of the Bible such as the KJV or the NIV and reworded it. Peterson was a linguistic scholar and used the original languages.

Why was The Message written? The best answer to that question comes from Peterson himself: “While I was teaching a class on Galatians, I began to realize that the adults in my class weren’t feeling the vitality and directness that I sensed as I read and studied the New Testament in its original Greek. Writing straight from the original text, I began to attempt to bring into English the rhythms and idioms of the original language. I knew that the early readers of the New Testament were captured and engaged by these writings and I wanted my congregation to be impacted in the same way. I hoped to bring the New Testament to life for two different types of people: those who hadn’t read the Bible because it seemed too distant and irrelevant and those who had read the Bible so much that it had become ‘old hat.'”

There is no “right or wrong” approach to biblical translations. Different methods attempt to achieve different goals. The danger in any translation that moves away from a word-for-word approach is simply that the translators may bring in their own personal bias or theological position to the text. The danger in a true paraphrase is that the individuals involved are not Greek and Hebrew scholars. A true paraphrase takes a difficult to read English version and simplifies the text.

We are looking at enormous lessons that we can learn from the smaller, lesser-known parables of Jesus. The first lesson in the series is titled, “A Well-told Tale.” Today’s parable is often called “The Parable of the Leaven.” In the short words of the parable, you can see the masterful way Jesus presents a well-told tale. You can find the parable in Matthew 13:33. Here is the Scripture in NIV version. Underneath the Scripture you can read the parable in several other versions.

He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

The NLT Version: Matthew 13:33 NLT The Message Version: Matthew 13:33 MESSAGE
The NASB Version: Matthew 13:33 NASB The ESV Version: Matthew 13:33 ESV

 

We all like stories, don’t we? Our favorites were varied, but they had several similarities. We enjoy characters that are well-developed. We enjoy being swept away in an adventure. There is a sense that the tale has a hero – and a satisfying, if not happy, ending. Jesus loved to tell stories. He saw stories as an avenue to help people better understand a truth. As we begin our study of a few parables, let’s look at two important words to provide the foundation of our lessons.

 

A Parable is just a Well-told Tale

The word we use to describe the stories that Jesus told is a “parable.” Depending upon how you count, Jesus told a good number of parables. Jesus used over 100 metaphors and told at least 36 parables – 15 are found in Matthew, 6 are spotted in Mark (4 are repeats), and 35 appear in Luke (16 repeats, 19 unique). Some theologians count over 100 parables.

I grew up with an accepted definition of parable, did you? A parable is “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” That’s a clever, folksy definition. It provides some help, but falls a little short of the richness of the experience.

The Bible contains a number of different styles of writing called genres. In the New Testament, one of those genres is a parable. The term is a transliteration of the Greek word παραβολή (parabole, para-bow-lay). The word means “to throw alongside.” A parable throws one idea alongside another for the purpose of providing a better explanation. The story in a parable illustrates and illuminates basic ideas and is not meant to have an “item-by-item” explanation for each detail, but rather a larger picture painted on the canvas.

The word starts with the Greek preposition παρα (para). It literally means alongside, but it stresses a nearness, a closeness or a relationship that is often not expressed in translation. It implies an intimate relationship, something that actually changes the nature of the two when separate and individual.

Let me give you an example. I might bring your attention to “peanut butter alongside jelly.” We could be picturing a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly sitting next to one another on the kitchen cabinet. But if the word “para” was used to describe “alongside” we would not think of the peanut butter and the jelly as separate, but instead we would think of them as already intermingled, as in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

We bring the word “para” straight into the English in so many occasions. We often speak of a parachute, paradigm, paragraph, paralegal, paralysis, parameter, or paradox.

The parables that Jesus told are really nothing more than simple, memorable stories. These “well-told” tales usually pointed out themes and truths. The stories encircle imagery to which most of the listeners would be familiar. The image helped focus the listener’s understanding.

 

The Kingdom of Heaven

Throughout the Old Testament, God taught Israel what it meant to be His people. They began to realize what it was to be people of a covenant, people of a promise. Israel was taught to understand that they were looking for a day when they would receive an ultimate promise. They were to live believing in a God who would keep that promise, they were to live by faith until they died. We need to think for a moment about the idea of the kingdom in Jesus’ day.

The kingdom that the people of the Mediterranean understood at the time of Jesus was the Roman Empire. It was powerful and pervasive. The kingdom was oppressive to the individual. The kingdom limited freedoms. The kingdom would force compliance and agreement.

But the Israelites longed for a different kind of kingdom. They anticipated the day when God would raise His Messiah to bring in a new kingdom. They assumed the kingdom of God would be like the times of the best kingdom of Israel. They looked forward to a new kingdom, like the kingdom of Israel during the days of David and Solomon. They believed that the Messiah would usher in that kind of kingdom.

In a sense, through events of history and the words of the prophets, God began to craft a “well-told tale.” God started to alter the shape of their understanding of the concept of kingdom. When Babylon came in and took the people of Israel captive, God’s people began to understand what it meant to be a kingdom without physical property. They realized they were to worship God without the luxury or convenience of a Temple. They learned that internal character preceded external blessings.

Later when Rome conquered the entire Mediterranean World, the people of faith began to understand what it meant to have the freedom to possess their land, but to actually be enslaved to another kingdom. Rome’s presence could be seen everywhere – in the marketplace, in the streets of their homes, and even inside the gates of their Temple.

In the midst of another kingdom and another king, John the Baptist and Jesus the Messiah began to teach about God’s kingdom. Jesus uses many of the parables to begin to help the people understand the kind of kingdom that God was wanting to establish. Let’s face it – a political kingdom didn’t last very long because it doesn’t have the power to sustain. David’s sons rebelled against him, and by the time Solomon left office, the massive kingdom divided following two of his own sons.

 

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!” 3 For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make His paths straight!

From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 3:1-3 HCSB; Matthew 4:17 HCSB).

God wanted to establish a kingdom upon the hearts of people, not upon the boundaries of their lands. “The kingdom of heaven is like …” were often the words that Jesus used to begin a parable. This helped the followers know what the kingdom would be and how they should behave as citizens of this kingdom.