The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand

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Scripture: Matthew 4:12-17 (ESV)

12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

15     “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—

16     the people dwelling in darkness

have seen a great light,

       and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,

on them a light has dawned.”

17From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Devotion:

            I want to begin to lead us on a study of what Jesus meant when he said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus used these words, or words very similar to them, to describe his ministry some 160+ times in the New Testament. Certainly, this concept of the “Kingdom” must have been very important to Jesus and his first followers. Therefore, we should sit up and pay attention to what the New Testament authors were speaking about.

            First, we must decide what the word kingdom means for our purposes. Looking through secular dictionaries does not provide one with a definition that we can really use. But here is one from a theological dictionary that is closest to what I am looking for:

kingdom. The dynamic reign of God as sovereign over creation. Although the roots of the term lie in the OT, the Christian understanding arises more specifically from Jesus’ proclamation of the inbreaking of God’s rule. Hence the kingdom is God’s divine, kingly reign as proclaimed and inaugurated by Jesus’ life, ministry, death and resurrection, and the subsequent outpouring of the Spirit into the world. In this sense Christ is reigning now, and the kingdom of God has arrived. At the same time the church awaits the future consummation of the divine reign. This “already” and “not yet” dimension of the kingdom of God implies that it is both a given reality (or the divine power at work in the present) and a process that is moving toward its future fulfillment or completion.[1]

            Jesus in today’s scripture is speaking of this kind of kingdom. One that he would rule over forever. Jesus and his followers were to establish a kingdom which would have no end. Although the disciples and Jesus held very different views of what that would look like. It was clear to all that Jesus was announcing a new kingdom that he was bringing into existence as he ministered among his people. Tomorrow, we look at the differences between God’s kingdom and what earthly governments look like today.


[1] Stanley Grenz, David Guretzki, and Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 71.

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