IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 346

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON GOD; Part CXXIX

In our last post we discussed in yet more detail the idea of the Master’s saying on the Kingdom that:  “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21) and we reflected on the importance of this most profound saying. We noted over the last two days how this saying is not understood by most, how it is passed over in favor of the Old Testament ideas, which are not actually stated in the writings, of heaven and hell as man’s destination after death and how the Master’s words are actually changed by some to reflect the ideas of among the people or in their midst. We should reflect here on how these factors regarding the Master’s saying create an unfortunate situation for the Christian community in that after more than 2000 years they cannot properly see the idea and understand the concept that the Kingdom of God is here and it is now for all who would seize it. There are many sayings which tell us this same thing but which are inadequately interpreted in doctrine; the reality of the sayings is to point to this fact of here and now and are not intended to show the Kingdom afar off and perhaps attainable at death. Let us today review a few of these:

• We start here with the simplicity of the saying that was preached by John the Baptist saying “And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). This same saying is repeated by the Master soon thereafter as we read: “From that time Jesus began to preach , and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Now for the benefit of those who may believe that there is a difference between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God we refer to Mark’s Gospel where this same saying is recorded for us as “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Now we should understand the idea behind this wording of at hand; the lexicon tells us that this means to bring near, to join one thing to another; to draw or come near to, to approach². Strong’s tells us that this Greek word eggizo means come near, draw near³ while Vine’s refers to the translation of approach to give the understanding of of time in our verses above saying that this is reference to things that are imminent⁶ and cites examples of other places where the word is used in this fashion. Even though there are several translations and some confusion, Vincent seems silent on eggizo. We should understand here that while it may not be clear that at hand means here and now, there is certainly more to favor this than there is to favor the understanding that it is a place for after death. If we understand this from the perspective that the Master came among us in part to bring this message that the Kingdom is at hand now, it is here, and the Kingdom can draw near to a man as the man draws near to the Kingdom, we are understanding much. We can of course take this position that part of the Master’s purpose is to bring this message from the fact that this is among the first recorded things that He says and this is also the message with which He sends out His disciples telling them “And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 10:7).
• There are many sayings regarding the Kingdom in Matthew’s Gospel that we will not touch upon as they will support neither of the ideas that we are here contrasting clearly. Our next point from Matthew then is His saying that “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). The Master here is speaking from the Sermon on the Mount of those things that a man requires and of which he should give no thought which is interpreted by many as no worry. The message is that one will be able to receive what he does need without thought if he would just seek the Kingdom first. We can understand this as the future Kingdom of the Second Coming or we can understand this as the Kingdom after death but this present time unexplained seeking does not refer to any of this; it does however give us the idea of here and now in its tone and in its reward and we must remember how the Master teaches in parable and not assume a link to any Old Testament teaching that is not specifically mentioned. Remember also His other words saying “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7) which should give us the notion that the result of seeking the Kingdom would be to find it…..here and now.
• One of the more useful sayings of the Master regarding the Kingdom is this one that sets for us the basic criteria of attaining it; the Master says: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Again we find no reference to an afterlife or any other criteria; the message is basic and the Master tells it clearly and although it gives no reference to time we can see from other uses that it is not in a future tense. Vincent and Vine’s are silent on this particular use of this Greek word eiserchomai. We should again remember here the idea of parables as much of this saying is cloaked in such insofar as the thoughts given by the Master’s words “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord“. This is to say that the common elements of religion, faith and worship do not suffice to attain the Kingdom but only doing the Will of the Father. This is another point that it would serve the church well to understand and to teach as this effects ALL who seek the Kingdom and is their instruction that they must do ALL; there is no casual lightness in this saying.
• The Master talks also about the men in that day taking the Kingdom and not waiting for it as many did and in this we should see also as a current event; He says that “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence , and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12). Vincent discusses this in two parts: Suffereth violence (bia>zetai). Lit., is forced, overpowered, taken by storm. Christ thus graphically portrays the intense excitement which followed John’s ministry; the eager waiting, striving, and struggling of the multitude for the promised king. The violent take it by force (biastai< aJrpa>zousin aujth>n). This was proved by the multitudes who followed Christ and thronged the doors where he was, and would have taken him by force (the same word) and made him a king (John 6:15). The word take by force means literally to snatch away, carry off. It is often used in the classics of plundering. Meyer renders, Those who use violent efforts, drag it to themselves. So Tynd., They that make violence pull it into them. Christ speaks of believers. They seize upon the kingdom and make it their own. The Rev., men of violence, is too strong, since it describes a class of habitually and characteristically violent men; whereas the violence in this case is the result of a special and exceptional impulse. The passage recalls the old Greek proverb quoted by Plato against the Sophists, who had corrupted the Athenian youth by promising the easy attainment of wisdom: Good things are hard⁴. Although the doctrine of Vincent and those quoted, except for Plato and the Sophists, is such that the Kingdom is not a present thing, it is not within you, the comments above do put a present understanding on the Master’s words. We can get a feel for the idea that a part of the Master’s purpose was to give this message about the here and now of the Kingdom in the related saying on this point from Luke’s Gospel: “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it” (Luke 16:16). Here we get a yet more current events idea in this phrasing of presseth which is also translated in the tone of violence. We have discussed these ideas before from a different perspective (In the Words of Jesus part 175) where we discuss the idea of what the church believes from these sayings. Here we need only to see and understand the here and the now of it all.
• The Master speaks of the Kingdom here and now, as in our first point above, again when addressing the Pharisees and others that stood against Him saying: “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you” (Matthew12:28). Can we see the idea here? that in the person of Jesus works the “Spirit of God” and in this fact, the Kingdom is “come unto you“. This can be viewed in several ways but for our purposes we should see that the Kingdom is simply here among us, that the realization that of the Presence of God is available through the Christ and His teachings. As we say in prior posts, we soundly reject the notion of parts of the church that the Kingdom came into existence with the arrival of the Master.
• There is an interesting approach to our premise of the here and now in these sayings by the Master: ”Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:23-24). Can we see in this that the idea of “a rich man” must be in the here and now? That to be rich is only in Life as we can take nothing with us; that there are no rich men in death. So much emphasis is put on the idea of the needles eye and the camel; does he stoop to get in? does he have to be unladen to get through and thus is part of the nature of a parable as it can make one focus upon that which is rather meaningless yet fail to see without real focus the intent of the saying. The camel and the needle are difficult and perhaps impossible but the idea of a man entwined in riches entering into the Kingdom is yet more difficult; this is the message, there is not stooping or unladening just forsaking.

We never intended to go this far into these ideas on the Kingdom of God and there are yet many more that we have not discussed. It was our intent to form today’s essay around yesterday’s saying from the Apostle John on which we said that there is a saying in the Book of Revelation, a writing which is seldom referenced in our essays because of the obscurity of the language and the guesswork required to interpret it, that says: “….the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:4-5). In this is the reality of accomplishment of the art of being “doers of the word, and not hearers only” and of doing so “in spirit and in truth“; at this time when ALL is done and ALL of the His righteousness is the expression of a man, then shall the Christ Within sit upon the throne of his own consciousness as ONE, no longer in any duality, and KNOWING that “the former things are passed away” and that, as a Soul in form he has made “all things new“. This is when a man can “Enter ye in at the strait gate” (Matthew 7:13) toward which he had been striving, leaving behind ALL of the cares of the world….and this is the Truth of forsaking ALL.

There is likely an entire essay in this approach which we will try to begin with this in the next post.

Note on the Quote of the Day

This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.

We leave our Quote of the Day again and hope that all will say it and memorize it and, when possible, live it.

May the Power of the One True God flow through His group of all true servers;

May the Love of the Christ characterize the lives of all who seek to aid in His work;

May I fulfill my part in the one work through self-forgetfulness, harmlessness and right speech

(Evening Reflection)

This is a prayer for the Power of God to be made available to all who seek to serve Him; in this Power is the Wisdom, the Understanding and the personal strength that we need to properly serve the Lord. It is a prayer also that asks that all who serve the Lord be imbued with His Love, Christ’ Love, which defines the truth of our service to Him. And it is a prayer that, on a personal level, reminds us of our responsibilities in service which are summarized in the three words: self-forgetfulness, harmlessness and right speech.

Today’s Quote of the Day is a repeat of a previous quote and is also featured in our Prayers and Meditations section with some additional comments regarding it. It appears today again because is sets in order our understanding that it is the Power of God that flows through those that serve Him and in this Power is the Love that can heal. When the Love of the Christ can become the character of one’s Life then this Power can be made available in a predictable way and the precepts of the last line will become our mode of conduct.

• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ³ Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible – 2001
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• ⁶ Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1996