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Introduction A study guide on the kingdom in Matthew? My first reaction was ‘boring – too theological!’ But then I pulled up sharp. Wasn’t the good news of the kingdom what Jesus preached? Wasn’t it intensely practical, mindblowing, revolutionary? People were called to repent, to turn right round. Well, I’ve repented in that I now believe the kingdom provides an amazing challenge to the way we live, worship and think in the twenty-first century. It has to be a great subject to study. To us, the word ‘kingdom’ sounds old-fashioned, as though it might belong to a fairy tale. I guess that is because, however much we might grumble about our governments, most who will read this aren’t cowering under the kind of absolute monarchs and despotic empires that ‘ruled OK’ in biblical times. For many of us, politicians remain a minor irritation. We believe that real authority should lie with the individual – though perhaps we cede some to our own little group. But the questions ‘Who rules – and over what?’ are central to the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, just as they are central in many stories, and to our lives. Jesus spent much of His ministry teaching about and demonstrating the kingdom (the rule and reign of God). Nowhere is that more clear than in Matthew’s Gospel. The kingdom, with its King, Jesus, is the main theme. Though the most strongly Judaic of the four Gospels, it is also the most universal – some think it was written when followers of Christ were no longer welcome in synagogues. Jesus was (and is) the true King of the Jews, is its message, but since they rejected Him, His mission and kingdom even more clearly extend to the whole of heaven and earth. Matthew mentions the word ‘kingdom’ twice as often as the other Gospel writers – and the expression ‘kingdom 1
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of heaven’ is unique to him. Jews avoided mentioning God’s name where possible, but the ‘kingdom of God’ of the other Gospels means roughly the same thing. ‘Kingdom’ is not ‘heaven’ as a separate place from earth, reachable only in the future. Matthew’s phrase, literally translated, is ‘kingdom of the heavens’ – the unseen realm. Jesus came so we could see that realm working in the flesh. He brought a bit of heaven, where God reigns in love and righteousness, to earth. And He brought the good news that the kingdom of the heavens is growing, here, now. Paul said, ‘I preach Jesus Christ, and him crucified’, but Jesus Himself preached, prayed, lived out … the kingdom. Since Jesus is King there’s no real conflict. Yet today many individuals either home-in on ‘my relationship with King Jesus’ or major on the Church (particular or universal). The kingdom extends far wider than either. It contains the kind of surprises we should have learnt to expect from a God who won’t be put in boxes made with human understanding. According to this Gospel, the kingdom turns our thinking and values and behaviour upside down. The rewards cost everything because the battle to establish it is not over. God is still using kingdom people to bring the good news of His rule and reign to earth. Approaching these studies
Looking at the Bible, and working through issues of our faith in small groups, can be illuminating and powerfully life-changing. Too often though, ‘Bible studies’ become mind-games with little relevance to the way people relate to each other and to God. Focusing on Jesus in even a short time of worship near the start of every session helps dispel intellectual arrogance and bring us into a better attitude and perspective from which to understand Scripture. The challenge of Jesus’ kingdom teaching is
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Introduction
perhaps highest in this Gospel, which portrays Jesus as somehow more regal and less human. That means it’s particularly suitable to study in a group setting, where you can pray for and support one another. It’s possible to visit a big modern city frequently but only to know the small area around each Underground (Metro/Subway) station. I’ve ‘known’ London rabbit-wise like this for over 40 years. Recently I’ve found that surface-walking between the familiar burrow-side patches reveals how they link up. London contains so very much more than I thought it did. Similarly, I found the most useful task set when studying theology at university was to ‘read through a Gospel in one sitting’. Doing so impacted me far deeper than careful analysis of little bits of text. I would urge you, before looking at the rest of this book, to read through Matthew’s Gospel in one sitting. Or, better still, precede your group study by two or three sessions in which you read Matthew aloud. Perhaps divide up the chapters between members of the group the week beforehand, giving everyone a chance to read their part with understanding. Don’t stop to question difficult bits, let the story carry you on – and reserve some time at the end of each session for individuals to pray back to God something which has particularly struck each of them. God’s Word will speak to us, if only we let it.
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WEEK ONE
WEEK 1
Who is the King?
Opening Icebreaker and Worship
Write or draw on slips of paper anything you associate with those who rule or have authority. Place them around a symbol of authority, such as a picture of a crown placed in the middle of the room. Then think of King Jesus. Take away any that no longer apply. Add more that do. Use this as a basis for prayers and songs of praise and worship.
Bible Readings
• • • •
Matthew 1–2; 8; 21:1–11; 27:11,37 1 Samuel 8 Psalm 89:3–4 Daniel 2:44 5
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Opening Our Eyes
We’re looking in the Old Testament because Matthew, the Gospel most concerned with the King and the kingdom, is also the most Jewish and so we need some understanding of Jewish history and thought concerning kings, kingdoms and God. As you read passages familiar and unfamiliar, be asking yourselves, what kind of King is this; what kind of authority is He exercising? Sometimes I wonder, had I lived in Jesus’ time, would I have followed Him as King? All those miracles and healings were most attractive. Yet His claim to be King of the Jews must have seemed more bizarrely unreal under the circumstances than did His radical teaching on the kingdom. Many Jews believed David’s promised successor would overthrow the hated Romans and lend His support to the Temple priests. Jesus did neither. With no place to lay His head, let alone a palace, His only crown was made of thorns. How shockingly blasphemous to think the allpowerful God’s anointed King would let Himself die in shameful agony at the hands of unjust secular and religious rulers! Who is this King? Over what is He ruling? Those questions caused immense problems 2,000 years ago. That they remain relevant to millions of people (ultimately, to everyone) across the world today is, perhaps, the oddest thing of all. Years beforehand, when Israel clamoured for a king, God was reluctant, even hurt. Wasn’t He Himself their King, ruling in righteousness, faithfulness and power? How could they wish for better, when surrounding nations were demonstrating how horribly human kings can oppress their own people? But Israel was adamant. 6
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Who is the King?
Sometimes God gives us what we want, if we plead long enough. Israel got the unstable Saul. After him came pathetically few ‘good’ kings, either from God’s point of view or the people’s – except for the great King David, flawed but still ‘a man after God’s own heart’ (Acts 13:22). God had given a solemn promise that David’s throne would last forever, his descendants would reign under God Himself for all time. Yet Israel – and her kings – kept rebelling against God. After the reforming punishment of exile, hope flickered again for a while but, for 200 years before Jesus came to earth, Jewish kings weren’t descended from David at all. ‘King’ Herod wasn’t even wholly Jewish. A usurping warlord, his power came through co-operation with the hated Roman occupiers of the promised land. Matthew’s Gospel begins with angels proclaiming the Saviour’s supernatural arrival – yet here’s a vulnerable, apparently illegitimate baby, a refugee fleeing the murderous authority of the counterfeit King Herod. Despite this and everything which happened afterwards, including His death, Jesus never once pulled back from His belief that, under God, He was King. During His ministry, Jesus refused the normal trappings of power. Yet His attitude towards the law came with a king’s authority. His stance towards everything, from storms to the sick and downtrodden, towards Scripture, foreigners, sin and Satan, reveals realms of authority extending way beyond kingship over God’s chosen people. Jesus is King of everything in this universe in the same way as God is King. Remarkably, He remains in control right to (and through) death – because His authority came, not from people, but from God Himself. Vindicated, given all authority in heaven and on earth, His glorious rule of righteousness and love, faithfulness and peace, cannot fail to last forever. 7
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Discussion Starters
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The life of a really important person, in biblical times, would begin with a genealogy, tracing their ancestry. What can you find that is interesting – and odd – about King Jesus’ ancestors in the start of Matthew’s Gospel?
2.
If you’re a Christian you’ve put yourself under the rule of the strangest King in world history. What is the nature of the authority of Jesus (and God) and what does it mean in practical terms to you?
3.
God’s desire has always been to rule over the world in righteousness, mercy, justice, peace and salvation, so perhaps, even during His ministry on earth, Jesus wasn’t such a strange King after all! Where can you see this special kind of kingship at work – in the Bible and today?
4.
In Matthew 8 Jesus shows His kingdom authority. Was that kind of ministry special to Him and particularly necessary at that time or can we expect to see such things as we follow Him today?