Month: December 2021

In Luke chapter 14, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a banquet invitation.

 “Jesus said to him, ‘A man once gave a great banquet and invited many.  And at the time for the banquet, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, “Come, for everything is now ready.”  But they all alike began to make excuses.  The first said to him, “I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.”  And another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them.  Please have me excused.”  And another said, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.”  So the servant came and reported these things to his master.

 Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.”  And the servant said, “Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.”  And the master said to the servant, “Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet” ‘ “ (Luke 14:16-24).

Do you see yourself in this story?  We are the “poor, crippled, blind, and lame.”  We had nothing of value, worth, or recognition in the world’s eyes to bring to the banquet.  We were totally needy, dependent on what the host had to offer.  The kingdom of God is hosting a banquet, put on by God Himself, and all are invited regardless of social status.  In fact, the pride of the social elite or religious elite will keep them out of the kingdom.

The first century world had such a powerful class system that determined who was in or out of the action.  Jesus turns that system on its head.  All are welcome at the banquet table of the Lord.  The first requirement is to recognize our need, something the original invitees who ended up excluded could not bring themselves to do.

This idea of “good news for the needy” is a prominent theme in the kingdom parables of Jesus.  The stories of the two debtors (Luke 7:41-50), the lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7), the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10), the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), and the laborers in the vineyard who receive the same wage for various hours worked (Matthew 20:1-16) all point us to the incredible grace of God; good news to the needy!

Like so many of Jesus’ parables, the story of the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13:24-30) begins with “The kingdom of heaven is like…”  What is coming next is a word picture describing some aspect of the kingdom of God.  In this parable, the farmer planted wheat (“the good seed”) in his field.  At night, his enemy came and sowed weeds.  At first, no one realized the sabotage.  But as the wheat and the weeds began to grow together, it was obvious something was wrong.  The confused workers quizzed the farmer, “Did you not sow good seed in your field?  How then does it have weeds?” (Matthew 13:27).

The farmer recognizes this as the work of an enemy.  The workers respond with a willingness to immediately yank out the weeds.  But the farmer replies, “No, lest while you are gathering up the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them.  Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather up the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.’ “ (Matthew 13:29-30).

At the disciples’ request, Jesus gives the interpretation of the parable in Matthew 13:37-43.  “And He answered and said, ‘The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.  Therefore just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.  The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks and those who commit lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears, let him hear.’ “

The point of this parable is that good and evil – the kingdom of God and the kingdom of evil – are growing alongside each other in the present age.  God has an arch-enemy.  And for reasons I can’t explain but appear in this parable and throughout the New Testament, God has given some level of reign over this world to Satan.  “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (I Jn 5:19) is just one of many references to Satan’s current rule in this world.

We don’t like this “growing alongside” and would like to see the Old Testament method for dealing with evil put to use today.  The Old Testament model was that God’s blessing for righteousness and punishment for evil were generally immediate, physical, and temporal.  Evil enemies and kingdoms were, at times, simply wiped out.  This is what the workers had in mind in the parable.  “Should we use the Old Testament method and yank out these weeds on sight?”  God replied, “Allow both to grow until the judgment at the end of the age.”  The banishment of evil and evildoers is coming, but not yet.  We would like to see evil destroyed in the here and now.

So when you see evil flourish, when you see the wicked prosper, do not despair.  God’s kingdom is growing and at work and will ultimately triumph.  This parable is meant to be an encouragement when we are discouraged by the power of evil in the world, including its presence in our own experience and our families and our communities.  God has ordained that the two kingdoms not only co-exist but grow alongside each other in the present age.  But God’s kingdom will not only triumph in the end, but as we learned from the secret seed and the mustard seed stories, it will continue to grow and blossom and bloom in this age as well.

The next verses in Mark chapter 4 give us another picture of the kingdom of God (in fact, Jesus uses the word “picture” to describe this parable).  “Jesus said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?  It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade” (Mark 4:30-32).

This secret kingdom will be an incredibly expanding kingdom.  It will start small, small like a mustard seed.  It will grow large, covering the earth just as a mustard plant covers the garden.  This is exactly what 2000 years of church history has shown.

The kingdom began small and unimpressive.  At the time of Jesus’ ascension, His return to the Father, His followers appear to be a band of about 120 people.  But this mustard seed kingdom – still seemingly beneath the soil as Christ’s followers awaited what was next – exploded to life on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2.  From 3000 people added to their number on that day to 5000 added in Acts chapter 4 to today, the message has gone forth in incredible ways.

Not only has the message gone forth, but the ramifications of that message have had a major impact for good in this world.  The building of schools, hospitals, homes, water wells, and more have led the fight for well-being against the prince of this world.  The kingdom of God covers the earth with a footprint for good that cannot be denied.  The mustard seed kingdom has grown to provide shade for the downtrodden, oppressed, and hurting.

But the prince of this world is not giving up without a fight.  And what does this battle look like in light of the expanding kingdom of God?  We will look at another parable to guide us next time.

As we wait for the king to be revealed, let’s return to the gospels and discover some of the things Jesus had to say about His coming kingdom; the kingdom of which we are now its citizens.  We have already seen that it does not fit the mold of military might or political power usually attached to the word “kingdom.”  So what are some of its characteristics?

For one, in fitting with the secret king, it is going to be a secret kingdom.  “Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.  He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.  The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.  But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come’ “ (Mark 4:26-29).

Many of Jesus’ parables start with “The kingdom of God is …”  His stories and word pictures give us so many visuals of the kingdom of God.  In this passage, the kingdom of God is like a seed secretly growing in ways the farmer is unaware of.  It just does its thing.  And soon a harvest is produced.  The “seed sprouts and grows and the farmer knows not how” suggests the secret nature of this kingdom.

We also see that the seed – the kingdom of God – is growing by itself.  “The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head” (Mark 4:28).  By itself is translated from the Greek word automatos; the Greek root of our English word, automatic.  We are all familiar with the word “automatic” used to describe things that seem to run “by itself”, like an automatic transmission or an automatic dishwasher.

I love this idea of automatic.  The point is that the kingdom of God is so unstoppable that it appears to be growing automatically.  And we know from the rest of Scripture that God is causing the growth that appears to be automatic.  As Jesus proclaimed, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18).

Does “automatic” mean that there is nothing for us to do in the kingdom of God, no work for us to join in on?  No, there is plenty for us to do.  There is plenty of seed for us to plant and water.  Just look at Paul’s example, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth” (I Corinthians 3:6).  Again, there is work for us to do, but the growth is totally of God’s doing, often in ways that are powerful and unexpected.

Based on the testimony of the Old Testament prophets, the promised coming of the Messiah was to have a distinctive King aspect to it.  The Messiah was to destroy the world powers in an act of judgment, deliver Israel from her enemies, and restore her as a nation.  Just as Jesus appeared to set aside the judgment aspect of the expected Messiah’s rule, He downplayed His king identity as well.  If He was a king at all, He appeared to keep it a secret.  Jesus often instructed those He had healed to keep it under wraps as if He didn’t want His popularity to get too big.  An odd instruction from a would-be king.

As it was, Jesus’ fame did eventually reach king-like heights.  But when the people were ready to embrace Him as king, Jesus fled the scene.  Look at what happened just after the feeding of the five thousand.  “And so they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, ‘This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.’  So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.” (John 6:13-15).  If Jesus was indeed the fulfillment of the prophesied Messiah King, why did Jesus refuse their coronation?

A similar story is recorded by John in the next chapter.  “Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Tabernacles, was at hand.  Jesus’ brothers therefore said to Him, ‘Depart from here [Galilee], and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may behold Your works which You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret, when he himself seeks to be known publicly.  If you do these things, show Yourself to the world.’  For not even His brothers were believing in Him.  Jesus therefore said to them, ‘My time is not yet at hand; but your time is always opportune.’ ” (John 7:2-6).

Jesus’ brothers were essentially saying, “You are doing all these miracles here in the backwater of Galilee.  If publicity is what you are after, go to the big city, Jerusalem, and put on a show there in front of the big crowds.”  Of course, publicity was not what Jesus was after and He initially passed on their suggestion for the same reason He did not accept the crowd’s attempt to make Him king; His time to be revealed was not yet at hand.  But His time is coming.