Adam Hughes and Jody Dean
and ministry such as the transfiguration or the resurrection of which all, with the exception of Judas, witnessed before their deaths.10 When considering Matthew’s Gospel more holistically, however, another and perhaps less specific option exists. Throughout his Gospel, Matthew seems to emphasize the “already” part of Jesus’s kingdom. We do not have the space to parse out this idea completely, but the two places this seems clear is the birth narrative and the Sermon on the Mount. For instance, Matthew began his Gospel showing the fulfillment of prophesy proving that Jesus is the long-awaited King.11 Furthermore, Jesus bookended the beatitudes with two statements indicating that a certain group now possesses the kingdom.12 Matthew appears to be proclaiming, “You do not have to wait for another king; the one who was promised is here!” Furthermore, when the King arrives, so does his kingdom. If you do not have a kingdom, you cannot have a king. However, if you have a King, you must have a kingdom. Therefore, even though there may be a “not yet” to Jesus’s kingdom, for those in whose heart the King is already ruling, the kingdom has come! Blomberg, Matthew, 261. In at least five ways in chapters 1 and 2, Matthew explicitly communicated that events around Jesus’s birth were fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy that related to the coming Messiah or King. As a matter of fact, an argument can be made that Matthew was the first to join together intentionally two separate prophetic ideas, that of a future king and a coming Messiah, in one person, showing that Jesus alone definitively satisfied the prophecy. See Matthew 1:22–23 and 2:5–6, 14, 17–18, 22–23. 12 See Matthew 5:3 (“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”) and Matthew 5:10 (“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”). All of the other beatitudes in the list indicate a future reality. Noticeably these two in verses 3 and 10 indicate a present reality involving the possession of the kingdom. 10 11
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