The Message of Jesus

If Jesus wrote a book what would the title be? Ok, it can’t be called “The Bible.” Seriously though, think with me for a second, if Jesus wrote a book containing all of his teachings and needed a title to sum it all up, what would He call it? Teachings of Jesus vol.1? What would Jesus do? Maybe a trendy title like, “Started from a manger now I’m here?” There are a lot of options, but one that would, for sure, be a finalist would be “The Kingdom of Heaven.”

In Matthew when Jesus emerged from the wilderness to begin His public ministry He starts by saying, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” In Mark 1:15, Jesus, again just beginning his public ministry says, “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” 

When Jesus began His ministry, giving His first messages, getting people excited about what he was saying, He chose to say, “Repent because the Kingdom is coming.” Later Jesus continued to preach about the Kingdom of Heaven/God throughout His ministry often telling parables to explain various characteristics of the Kingdom. So if this was so important to Jesus let’s take a look at why, and what we need to do in response.

What is the Kingdom? That is a good place to start, but before we get there, what is a kingdom? The dictionary describes it as, “A politically organized community or major territorial unit having a monarchical form of government headed by a king or queen.” A kingdom is simply a place, however large or small, where a king or queen has dominion. 

Kingdom’s also come with values, laws, and a system for how things are accomplished. Generally speaking, a kingdom is more structural and less spiritual, so when Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven was near, I would imagine that those hearing did not think He was referring to an invisible kingdom. In fact, when Jesus was arrested Peter pulls a sword to fight, this is after spending three years with Jesus. Jesus later said to Pilate, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom.” 

So if it is not an earthly kingdom, what is it? The Kingdom of Heaven is the currency, values, and structure of heaven, here on earth, evidenced within the life of a follower of Jesus. That’s a lot so let’s quickly break it down…

Every kingdom has a currency, the Romans had coins with emperors’ faces stamped on them, the governments of the world today do the same. The Kingdom of heaven is no different, it has a currency. While another post may be necessary to discuss what that currency may be, for our purposes today, we need to only know that the Kingdom has one, and you cannot trade US Dollars to get it. 

More than once Jesus tells people to sell everything or leave everything and follow Him with promises of treasure in heaven. If the treasure was not real why would He say it? There is a currency in heaven and it would seem that it is earned by doing the opposite of what traditional financial logic would say to build wealth.

The values of this heavenly Kingdom are counter-cultural as well. This one is fairly easy to notice throughout the teachings of Jesus. He says love your neighbor, but also your enemy. He defines your neighbor as, not only the one living next to you but anyone around you that needs assistance. He says, murder and adultery are not simply physical acts but are heart positions as well. Jesus said to do good to those don’t do good to you, walk two miles when you are asked to go one, and give to the one who asks. If you need more examples start in Matthew chapter 1 and turn right.

The structure of the Kingdom is simply that God is on the throne and those in His Kingdom chose to live their lives His way.

So, what do we do to be a part of this Kingdom? It’s really simple, change. Jesus said, “Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” That word “repent” simply means change. If any natural kingdom invaded the place you reside you would have to change some things about how you live. The Kingdom of Heaven is no different. It requires change, some very radical changes. I mean, how do I all of the sudden start loving my enemies? How do I leave everything? These are honest questions, but they have an answer.

The answer is Jesus. I know that is a 1st grade Sunday school answer, but it is the only answer that works. He asked His disciples to follow Him, not fix themselves first. If we try to produce this kind of radical change on our own we will never be able to do it but I think that is kind of the point.

The Kingdom of Heaven is an invitation, not a demand, and in Mark, Jesus calls it Good News. The invitation is to follow Jesus and let Him change you from the inside out.

Garrett