The Kingdom

"The Kingdom" is a major theme that runs throughout the Bible. The Bible begins with God being the leader of his people. But as time goes on, the people aren't satisfied and want to have a king like their neighbors have (I Samuel 8). This displeased God, but He allowed it, the first king being Saul, then David, then Solomon, David's son. Saul turned away from God; and while Solomon was a rich and wise king, David is portrayed as the greatest of all Old Testament kings.

As the Bible follows the history of God's people, the people are reminded, through prophets, that someday a Messiah will come who will establish a kingdom that will never end, never be destroyed (Isaiah 2, Daniel 2, Joel 2 and other places). The people of God, having been oppressed by the nations around, longed for this coming kingdom. They wanted a king again like David; powerful, dominant, and successful. They waited and they waited........

And then came Jesus, born in a stable of poor parents; grew up with no fanfare, giving no real sign that He was the projected king. He wasn't the kind of king that the people, the Jews, were looking for. As Jesus stood before Pilate in final judgment, Pilate said, " 'What have you done?' Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.' Pilate therefore said to Him, 'Are You a king then?' Jesus answered, 'You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born....' " Here was the king, the rejected king by the Jews, His own people.

Before this final trial, Jesus had said in Matthew 16:28, "Assuredly I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man (Jesus) coming in His kingdom. This makes it clear that the kingdom will start as soon as Jesus leaves the earth. Some people are waiting on Jesus to come back and set up an earthly kingdom, powerful like David's. But Jesus said that His kingdom was not of this earth and that it would start during the lifetime of some of the people who were standing there hearing Him. And throughout His life, Jesus talked about the coming kingdom; it was of greatest importance. Now we get to be a part of that by following Him. Let's do that! Thanks for reading; see you next week. May God bless you.