Jesus came healing, preaching and teaching. William Barclay says His healing ended men’s pain, His preaching ended their ignorance and His teaching ended their misunderstandings.
I am thankful for a Savior who opens our eyes to reality we can’t see. The Kingdom He proclaimed is the ultimate reality; one must delight in its existence because it changes everything.
Jesus came proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven. In this realm, He is the King. The Kingdom is filled with His glory and beauty always. It is a Kingdom that has always existed, is here now and is also coming.
The Kingdom of the heart where Jesus reigns in those who He designed to be like Him. We are not physical beings with a soul but eternally spiritual beings embodying our current flesh — for now.
When we die, we only do it physically, and that is why Christians say we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we are still conscious, just not mindful of what we cannot understand while in the physical life. Our consciousness does not end in death.
Instead, we wake up to a more ultimate reality. As the preacher once said, “Some day you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody, of East Northfield, is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment, I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall have gone up higher, that is all.”
So, what about this Kingdom that Jesus declared two thousand years ago and many state they see zero evidence of? The essential nature of faith is looking with trust that things are true. If you look for injustice, heartbreak and pain, you will undoubtedly find it. If you look for glory, beauty and joy, no doubt you will find it.
God has designed a world for us to enjoy supremely, yet our greatest pleasure comes not in the indulging of pleasure, money and power of this world but in serving with generosity those who bear God’s image beside us.
Jesus’ most famous teaching was the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew chapters five through seven. Jesus has accumulated a large crowd due to His many miracles. When He surveys this group of forgotten, broken and hurting people in the hills of Northern Israel, He has to tell them of the Kingdom coming.
He tells the crowd, “I’m moving toward the mountain if you want to hear why I came to earth.” His disciples, the called-out ones, followed him up the hill. What draws a crowd won’t draw disciples.
Jesus sees them with compassion. Then, He sits to teach them. In His day, a rabbi or teacher would sit for long talks so that they could explain and not simply proclaim the truth quickly. Jesus sits so He can take the time necessary to invite these in Galilee into the Kingdom they have long awaited.
He teaches them with complete control of His mind and fullness of heart. Jesus speaks the truth of ultimate reality. Among the crowd of interested people, Jesus sees, sits and speaks the keys to the Kingdom.
I hope you believe in this Kingdom. I hope, like our King, that when you see a need, you meet a need and take the time to be kind to all people. Jesus is the Kingdom, and He can bring it to bear in your life.
What are you looking at? If you look for the Kingdom of Heaven, you will see it is here.
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