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kingdom of god The Jews of Jesus’ day prayed both to honor the LORD’s present kingship and to petition that his kingdom be established in the future. Jesus likewise talked about the kingdom both as a future event and as already mysteriously present. He believed that Satan’s power over the world had been broken, as his exorcisms attested. The kingdom was going to bring holy peace, probably including a new temple and a new social order, and he expected it in the lifetimes of his followers, if not his own. Where other Jewish visionaries waited for the LORD to step in and smash their enemies, Jesus portrayed the god’s kingdom as a reality available to those who were willing to enter it. Paul the apostle cited Jesus’ resurrection as the first fruits of the coming kingdom, the event at which Christ became the son of god. Kingdom of heaven: Jews ascribe exceptional sanctity to god’s names and traditionally follow various ritual practices to honor god’s names. Referring to Yahweh as the LORD is one such practice, readily preserved by Christians. When an evangelist composed Matthew, he had in mind a Jewish audience, and he changed the kingdom “of god” to the kingdom “of heaven.” This phrase links the kingdom to heaven, and it no doubt helped smooth the transition from “imminent apocalypse” to “heavenly afterlife.” “Kingdom come”: Christians have gotten so tired of waiting for judgment day that it’s become a joke. For Jesus, “kingdom come” meant something that was about to happen, something that was already underway. The end was near. The first Christians kept up that hope for a good long time. But then the apostles started dying and then even the beloved disciple bought the farm. By the close of the new testament canon (c. 150), the bishops had to face down a laity that had become impatient for Christ’s return. Augustine and Gregory the Great did their part to get expectations running high, and the middle ages had their share of apparent end times. Eventually, though, people sort of realized that it wasn’t going to happen. Now the phrase “until kingdom come” means “forever in the future,” as in “you can whine ‘til kingdom come for all I care, no ice cream!”
See also apocalypse. Read comments or make a comment here. |
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contents table of contents you're already looking at it introduction for the inquisitive reader biographical overview who he was and wasn't
afterlife not Jesus' concern animal sacrifice bloodless religion apocalypse did Jesus preach hellfire? baptism sin wash for Jesus and others beatitudes Jesus' words and others' words beloved disciple witness for the un-gospel bible scripture old and new bishop the unjesus body focus on the physical Buddha Jesus' close kin charity key Christian virtue and legacy of Jesus The Da Vinci Code secret (and false) messages divorce women's status dreams convenient literary device Elijah Jewish prophet with his own second coming equality ancient source of modern egalitarianism exorcist Jesus and demons failure reinterpreting Jesus as a failure faith from trust to blind belief father Jesus on titles of honor Francis of Assisi the most Christlike Christian Gandhi the 20th century's most Christly holy man Galilee Jesus' inauspicious homeland gentiles Jesus' inadvertent audience god how Jesus became god golden rule key to Jesus' success gospels competing accounts heaven from sky to spiritual home hell revenge fantasy humanism Jesus' legacy inerrant Christian treatment of scripture Thomas Jefferson ethics of Jesus Jewish guilt Christian libel John's gospel the un-gospel John the baptist, see John the washer John the washer Jesus' apocalyptic mentor Judaism libeled religion of Jesus kingdom of god what Jesus promised Lao Tzu poet of the cosmic way logos jesus as the word of god C. S. Lewis famous, flawed trilemma little drummer boy Luke beats Matthew logos Jesus as the divine word LORD Yahweh transitioning to the one god of all Luke's gospel the all-around best gospel Mark's gospel the gospel that lost its point Mary of Magdala women, visions, and sex massacre of the innocents bloodshed starts early Matthew's gospel best gospel for church reading Mormon, see Joseph Smith Moses Jewish lawgiver Muhammad a prophet who got it right mystery Orpheus and transubstantiation oppression origin of Jesus' compassion The Passion of the Christ Luke as buzzkill Paul revealer of the revealer private and public public Jesus and secret Christ relativism the secret power of the golden rule sacrifice Jesus' death and Christian sacrament Albert Schweitzer Jesus as a failure sheol dark pit of death show Jesus' deeds as put-ons slavery abolished by Jesus' efforts Joseph Smith flesh-and-blood Jesus Socrates secular Jesus son of god on close terms with the man upstairs soul, see body synoptics three gospels that agree temple center of Jewish religion trinity unifying and divisive doctrinre vision, see dreams Yahweh, see LORD Zoroaster Persian dualistic holy man
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