Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of God frequently without explaining much about it. This devotion looks at two conversations Jesus had that shed a little more light on what He meant.
Nuggets
- Jesus’ kingdom is above and beyond what Pilate expected.
- Jesus earned His kingdom by being God’s Son and by being the Sacrifice for our sins.
Devotions in the What I Believe series
Devotions in the God’s Kingdom category
Jesus spent His ministry talking about His kingdom. His audience, at times, didn’t understand what He was talking about.
Let’s take a look at two such conversations.
Let's Put It into Context
According to the Holman Bible Dictionary, the kingdom of God is “God’s kingly rule or sovereignty.” It is interesting that then Old Testament does not talk about it, but the New Testament does.
Resource
Instead of it being a physical location, it is also spiritually the kingdom of God describes His sovereign reign. His rule over mankind was extended through the plan of salvation. By ABCDing, we submit our lives to Him.
Not from Around Here
“‘My kingdom is not of this world,’ said Jesus. ‘If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I wouldn't be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here’” (Jn. 18: 36 CSB)
When Jesus was on trial before Pilate, Pilate asked Him point blank, “… ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’” (Jn. 18: 33 CSB).
True, not all of the continents had been discovered at this time, but if Jesus would have been an earthly king, you would think Pilate would know. I mean, he was with the Roman Empire, who tried to conquer everybody.
Jesus didn’t answer just ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Thomson argued that He couldn’t answer that way because of Pilate’s limitations. Pilate, especially as a Roman governor, would be thinking of earthly kingdoms.
Jesus’ kingdom is above and beyond what Pilate expected. So, Jesus said He wasn’t from around these parts.
But He let Pilate know — as He let few know — that He was a King.
Jesus earned His kingdom by being God’s Son and by being the Sacrifice for our sins. The purpose of the kingdom is so that we can be reunited with God in our spiritual form.
The Jews were looking for the Messiah to set up an earthly kingdom. I bet they had previously thought Jesus would have Pilate on trial, not the other way around!
That wasn’t what Jesus’ kingdom was about. In fact, Jenyns wrote, “Christ is the only Founder of a religion in the history of mankind which is totally unconnected with all human policy and government, and, therefore, totally unconducive to any worldly purpose whatever …”
Hoge compared a worldly kingdom with a heavenly kingdom.
- Worldly
- Territory
- Power
- No inequalities of hereditary rank.
- Luxury (palaces and ceremonies)
- Succession to the throne
elective or hereditary
- Heavenly
- Not limited by boundaries.
- King elects His people.
No inequalities of hereditary rank. - No pomp or insignia of authority, &c.
- No succession but one immortal
King reigns through all generations.
Let’s look at it this way. The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom that describes His sovereign reign. Jesus’ kingdom wouldn’t have been from around there because His kingdom is in our hearts. Because His is not a physical, worldly kingdom, the rewards will neither be physical or worldly.
Brown disagreed. He argued that Jesus’ kingdom is the church. However, he thought it was Christ’s earthly kingdom.
Can’t Observe the Kingdome
“When he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with something observable; no one will say, ‘See here!’ or ‘There!’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst’” (Lk. 17: 20-21 CSB)
Yes, the Pharisees thought there would be a huge war to oust the Romans. They thought it would be loud, violent, and decisive.
The Pharisees heard Jesus saying He was the Messiah. They didn’t see the fireworks. They especially weren’t seeing the Romans tucking tail and running.
I love how Jesus answered the Pharisees. “You won’t be able to see it — in fact, you missed it!”
Does that mean Jesus is the kingdom of God? It sounds that way.
Lathrop made an interesting observation. He wrote, “The blessings of God’s kingdom are chiefly invisible, and without observation. The rewards which the gospel promises are not earthly and temporal, but heavenly and spiritual.”
Oh, but don’t we think those blessings should have blinking lights and arrows? We should be able to see them, at a minimum. Don’t we want to show them off to others?
Instead, Williams said, “it is a kingdom of the mind, the will, the feeling, and the conduct.”
Making the Connections
Let’s try to combine. Jesus’ subjects are the church (if that makes the church His kingdom, okay). Right now, His kingdom is in our hearts. Jesus is within us.
Why am I thinking that? We are Jesus’ subject now. That isn’t going to wait until we get to heaven. He is our Sovereign now.
Eventually, we will join Jesus wherever His kingdom is. Until then, we have dual citizenship.
We just have to remember that we are in the world and not of the world. Jesus said that in His prayer for His disciples at the Last Supper. He was not praying for the disciples to be taken out of the world. He asked for a hedge around them to protect them from Satan.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Another thing we have to think about is God very rarely does things our way. He knows things we don’t know. He has better things in mind for us than we can imagine.
My Kingdom
Okay, we are going to chase a rabbit. Remember a couple of devotions ago, we talked about when Jesus was going to come into His kingdom.
This verse makes it sound like Jesus is already in His kingdom. “‘My kingdom is not of this world,’ said Jesus …” (Jn. 18: 36 CSB). It does not say “my kingdom will not be of this world.” It says isn’t — present tense.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
We’ve been asking these questions all along so we can prepare for when we are asked. Here is the worksheet again. How would you describe God’s kingdom when it is invisible and contradictory to what we expect?
- What does the Scriptures say?
- What do I believe?
- Why do I believe the same/differently than the Scriptures?
- What are the talking points when witnessing to a non-believer?
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
How Do We Apply This?
The kingdom of God is invisible. One reason is because the kingdom is in our hearts.
Hoge was correct when he said that, “though this kingdom is not of this world, it is the kingdom the world most needs.”
Gracious Loving Father. Thy kingdom come. Lord, we pray that You will establish Your kingdoms in us. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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