Reflection for a Transformed Self and Society: Divya Athyal Mathew, Boston, Page 16

V. Georgekutty, Karunagappally "The Kingdom of God is not a matter of getting individuals to heaven, but of transforming the life on earth into the harmony of heaven." (Walter Rauschenbusch)

The word gospel means ‘good news’ or ‘glad tidings’. What was the ‘good news’ Jesus had preached? Somof the answers this question might evoke would be, ‘the gospel of love’, ‘the gospel of grace’, ‘the gospel of redemption’, ‘the gospel of salvation’ etc. Also, the gospel is often described as the ‘Gospel of Christ’ and the ‘Gospel of God’. These are all valid answers in the light of the ministry of Jesus. Nevertheless, the Gospel according to Mark, apparently, provides the most fitting answer. Mark says, “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”” (Mark 1:14-15). So, what Jesus had preached was essentially the ‘Gospel of the Kingdom of God’.

We can find matching definitions in other gospels too. For instance, Matthew says, “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people”, (Matthew 4:23). This is not to say that the other definitions of the gospel are invalid. For instance, Apostle Paul says, "Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain", (1 Corinthians 15:1-2). Paul here points to the gospel ‘by which you are saved’ or ‘the gospel of salvation’. Paul makes this explicit in his Epistle to the Ephesians: “And in Him you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, having heard and believed the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation” (Ephesians 1:13). Paul also describes the gospel as the ‘gospel of peace’ (Ephesians 6:15) and the ‘Gospel of the Grace of God’ (Romans 20:24).

Some scholars argue that Jesus and Paul were not preaching the same idea of Gospel. While Jesus preached the gospel of the ‘Kingdom of God’, Paul preached the ‘Gospel of the Grace of God’. Paul writes to the Romans, “… I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed” (Romans 15:8). The indication here is that Jesus had come as the Messiah of Israel, to fulfil the promises given to Jewish Patriarchs. Jesus himself admitted that his ministry was focused exclusively on Jews (Matthew 10:57). The two exceptions we find in the Gospels are those of Jesus acceding to the pleas of the Canaanite

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woman (Matthew 15:21-28) and the Roman Centurion (Matthew 8:1-13; Luke 7:1-10). Jesus seems to have agreed to provide succour in these cases entirely because of their great personal faith in him.

People mostly assume that the disciples ministered to Gentiles as well as Jews in the light of the so-called “Great Commission”, (“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19)). But biblical evidence suggests that the disciples of Jesus continued to address only the Jews. They recognized the Jewish priority in the scheme of God’s kingdom proclaimed by the Old Testament prophets. Their understanding was that the Gentiles were to be blessed through Israel since God had promised Abraham, "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice" (Genesis 22:18).

All through his earthly ministry, Jesus had ministered under the Law of Moses (Matthew 5:17-18). He constantly referred to the Mosaic Law as the foundation of His ministry. Gentiles had nothing to do with the Mosaic Law. Consequently, non-Jews had no share in the Kingdom of God. God gave His Law to the Jews, not Gentiles (Ephesians 2.11-13). Thus, orthodox Christianity in the beginning was an exclusive faith of the Jews, by the Jews and for the Jews.

But the situation changed substantially with the entry of Apostle Paul. The commission of Paul was as “the apostle of the Gentiles” (Romans 11:13). He became the “Jewish agent” to bless the Gentiles. He typified a bornagain Israel. This was why he referred to himself as one “untimely born” (1 Corinthians 15.8). Paul was born under the Mosaic Law. He was a Pharisee, who knew the Law well and enforced it rigorously and even ruthlessly (Philippians 3:5-6). But after his conversion, Paul taught that those who believed his gospel were not under the Law of Moses. He taught that believers were under the administration of grace rather than under the bondage of the Mosaic Law. His view was that the Law had no claim upon the believers due to their identification with Christ in his crucifixion and resurrection. Paul apparently believed that only by becoming dead to the Law could one live in Christ.

The reality of the situation seems to be that God had a program for Israel that He revealed to the prophets of the

FOCUS April 20 21 Vol. 9, No: 2

Hebrew Scripture. And God had a new program for the Church, the body of Christ, which He revealed to Apostle Paul. Jesus and the Twelve ministered to Jews under the Mosaic Law and preached the gospel of the kingdom of God to fulfil the Old Testament prophesies of Israel’s earthly kingdom with the Messiah as its Monarch (Romans 15:8). The Gospel of the Grace of God apparently argues that Christians are members of the body of Christ with Christ as its Head. The arguments over the gospels preached by Jesus and Paul notwithstanding, the ultimate goal of gospel remains the Kingdom of God.

Since all the Gospels were authored by Jews, there is nothing surprising that the Gospels maintain a bias towards the Jews in suggesting that the Jews alone were the rightful heirs to the Kingdom of God to be established by the Messiah. This was a serious cause of dispute in the early days of Christianity. When the Jesus movement commenced in the first century, Gentiles had to convert to Judaism first, in order to be admitted into the Christian fold. This involved the circumcision of male Gentile converts. Even after conversion, orthodox Jews kept themselves away from community meals in which Gentile converts were present.

Paul saw that the situation was turning out to be a roadblock to the conversion of Gentiles to Christianity. While, Peter stuck to the orthodox view, Paul strongly opposed it. This led to the first major ideological clash in the early Church. This was resolved in the Jerusalem Council - a conference of the Christian Apostles, led by St. Peter the Apostle and St. James, “the Lord’s brother”, in Jerusalem in about 50 CE. This council decreed that Gentile converts to Christianity did not have to observe the Mosaic Law of the Jews (Acts 15:2–35).

While the terms, ‘Kingdom of God’ and ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ are used over a hundred times in the Bible, the predominant term is the Kingdom of God. Both terms apparently convey the same meaning. Now, what exactly is the ‘Kingdom of God’ that was apparently the ultimate object of the Gospel preached by Jesus? The term ‘Kingdom of God’ holds within it grace, faith, redemption, justification, glorification etc. It is the grand plan of God for the human race. It is the ultimate goal that God had set for man. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God is the action plan to help humans realize this grandest purpose of life.

The idea of the ‘Kingdom of God’ involved both politics and religion. In the early part of the first century when Jesus was preaching in Galilee and Judea, it was impossible to separate these two dimensions of the Kingdom of God. The ‘Promised Land’ of Israel was under Roman occupation. The province of Judea in which the Holy Jerusalem Temple was located was administered by Roman ‘governor’ Pontius Pilate. The Jews were groaning under the heavy burden of taxes imposed by the Romans. The Jewish tax collectors, working for the Roman regime, were fleecing their compatriots. Even the Jewish priestly party, the Sadducees, were in cohorts with the alien exploiters.

The Jews who had been suffering under the Roman yoke were looking forward to a Messiah, who would redeem them from alien subjugation and establish a sovereign Jewish monarchy. So, the Jews assumed that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God preached by Jesus had fitted with the Messianic expectations of the Jews. They envisioned the ‘Kingdom of God’ as a political program to challenge the authority of the Roman hegemony over the Jewish nation. The subjugation and victimization that the Israelites suffered under the Romans were incompatible with the tenets of the Kingdom of God. No wonder, the Jews had construed the concept of the Kingdom as a call to fight the political system that was subverting the ideals of the ‘Kingdom of God’. But when Jesus made it clear that the kingdom he preached was not of this world, the Jews were confused. And when they realized that the Kingdom of God was not necessarily an exclusive domain of the Israelites, the Jews were offended.

The idea of the ‘Kingdom of God’ also had a religious angle. The Gospels reveal that Jesus had tried to clarify the idea of the Kingdom of God through several parables. Prominent among these was the ‘Parable of the Mustard Seed’. This parable, as appearing in the Gospel of Matthew, says, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches" (Matthew 13:31–32). This Parable also appears in Mark (4:30–32), and Luke (13:18–19).

The plant Jesus mentions in the parable is generally believed to be Black Mustard, although it grows only to a height of less than three meters. But once sown, it is extremely difficult to get rid of the plant since the fallen seeds germinate forthwith. Jews did not grow this plant in their gardens. So, Matthew says that the seed was sown in the field. (Incidentally, the version of the parable in Luke says that the seed was planted in the garden. Luke was probably writing for the audience outside the Levant.) The nature of the Mustard plant could be interpreted in both positive and negative ways. One view could be that the kingdom of God spreads overcoming all efforts of the forces inimical to it. However, some commentators have identified a "subversive and scandalous" element to this parable, in that the fast-growing nature of the mustard plant makes it a "malignant weed" with "dangerous takeover properties".

The straightforward meaning of this parable could be that the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’, (the ‘Kingdom of God’), has a small beginning like a mustard seed. But it grows to become a giant tree. The same theme is shared in the Parable of the Leaven (yeast) that immediately follows this parable in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Matthew says, “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” (Matthew 13:33). Both parables convey the idea of a quick growth of huge proportions from small beginnings. However, the Parable of the Mustard Seed could be interpreted to give several other, much deeper and even controversial, meanings.

In his description of the tree in the parable, Jesus was probably echoing the words of King Nebuchadnezzar, in the Book of Daniel. The king tells Daniel, “These are the visions I saw while lying in bed: I looked, and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. Its height was enormous. The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth. Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all. Under it the wild animals found shelter, and the birds lived in its branches; from it every creature was fed.” (Daniel 4:10-12 NIV).

Some commentators suggest that the giant tree sprouting out of the tiny seed might represent the nation of Israel. The birds living in the branches of the tree might be non-Jews finding their refuge in mighty Israel. The birds might also be sinners and tax collectors with whom Jesus had associated during his ministry. Thus, it might be interpreted that the Kingdom of God, while representing the nation of Israel, would also be a refuge for the sinners within the Jewish faith and the gentiles who repose faith in the Kingdom.

The Christian faith is founded on the idea that sin of Adam and Eve had separated humans from God. The Bible says, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear”, (Isaiah 59:2). Revenge, war, atrocities, famine, plague, ignorance and superstitions enslaved the world. The sinful world kept drifting away from the divine. Thus, the world that was once the kingdom of God, the paradise, became hell, the realm of the Devil. And Jesus, the Son of God came to bridge the huge chasm between God and man. His Gospel is the means by which man can re-establish the Kingdom of God.

Now, where do we look for the Kingdom of God? Are we going to be transported to the Kingdom of God after we die? It is, perhaps, silly to believe that people have to die to receive the Kingdom of God. It also seems unlikely that people are destined to live in ‘hell’ in this world and hope for the Kingdom of Heaven only in the afterlife. The Gospel preached by Jesus was primarily aimed at equipping the living with the tools to help them enter the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the transformation of our lives in this world into the life of God and the transformation of our actions in this world into the actions of God. So, Paul writes, “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or The call given by Jesus was, “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15). He had invited everyone to search for the Kingdom of God and live according to its ways of life. Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mark 10:15). G K Chesterton (18741936), English writer says, “What we are to have inside is a childlike spirit … The most childlike thing about a child is his curiosity and his appetite and his power of wonder at the world…” (What I Saw in America). It is also the child’s innocence, pure faith and the purity of heart.

Receiving the Kingdom of God like a child means to be freed from the bondage of our old sinful nature through repentance. The things we once loved pass away – self-love, self-righteousness, self-promotion, and self-justification. The things we once loved, we now detest. We “put off the old man with his deeds” (Colossians 3:9), and put on the “new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). We start to see the world differently. Our purposes, feelings, desires, and understandings change. We feel a new love for all and a new compassion for enemies. So, Paul writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). It is repentance that makes people become a new creation (‘born again’) as a guileless baby.

Jesus said, “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 KJV). The Gospel of the Kingdom of God equips those who accept and follow its guidance to live in the Kingdom of God in this life in “…the peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). And the spirit of the Kingdom of God grows and spreads quickly covering everyone around and eventually the whole world. The kingdom of God is the experience of unity with God. It is a spiritual realm of “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22).

Carl Frederick Buechner, American writer, novelist, poet, essayist, preacher, and theologian says, “If we only had eyes to see and ears to hear and wits to understand, we would know that the Kingdom of God in the sense of holiness, goodness, beauty is as close as breathing and is crying out to be born both within ourselves and within the world; we would know that the Kingdom of God is what we all of us hunger for above all other things even when we don't know its name or realize that it's what we're starving to death for. The Kingdom of God is where our best dreams come from and our truest prayers… The Kingdom of God is where we belong. It is home, and whether we realize it or not, I think we are all of us homesick for it” (The Clown in the Belfry (1992).