A friend of mine invited a number of practitioners/theologians to reflect on the Good News. There is some thought provoking insight and encouraging dialogue taking place.  Please check out the various entries.

It has caused me to further reflect on the good news…

The Good News about the Kingdom

The good news is about the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14).  It is about the shalom, the Sabbath rest, that we enter into that will one day be fully realized upon the return of the King.  It is primarily good news to be proclaimed: Jesus, the Christ, proclaimed this good news to the poor, proclaimed release to the captives, proclaimed the regaining of sight to the blind, set free the oppressed, and proclaimed the year of the Lord’s Favor (Jubilee). The year of Jubilee was a specific time that was set apart (holy); it was to begin on the day of Atonement when a loud horn would be blown and liberty would be proclaimed to those in slavery, the land would be free of oppression, blessing would pervade the land, and people would fear God and obey his commands (Leviticus 25).  There is an intended relationship between the Year of the Lord’s favor and the kingdom of God: the Atonement of Christ ushers in this year of the Lord’s favor, bringing liberty to those enslaved by sin (Romans 6:16-23); a year during which God will bring justice to the oppressed (Luke 18:7-8); a year in which as God sets apart his people, who experience in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham (Galatians 3:14), and fear God, love Him, and obey the commands of Christ (John 14:21).

The Good News as Story

Jesus taught more about the kingdom of God than any other particular topic. After his resurrection, Jesus was seen by his disciples, “over a forty-day period and spoke about matters concerning the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:3).  The kingdom of God was central to the theology of Jesus.  However, Jesus had a method of teaching that is often foreign in our culture.  He did not choose an expository style of teaching, rather He taught about the kingdom using stories native to the indegenous culture, stories that would be memorably, that would reveal the realities of the nature of the kingdom of God through interaction with common cultural experiences… stories about weddings, banquets, farming, kings and servants, cleaning a house in order to find a lost coin, receiving a loan for investment purposes, etc…  Other times, Jesus would take their every day experiences and capture the essence of the kingdom in their actions or the actions of others: while working hard earning a living as fishermen, giving money to the temple treasury, walking by a fig tree or a pool surrounded by the poor and lame, being slandered and attacked in court, being accosted by those possessed with demons, being surrounded by mobs of hungry people and faced with only a trifle of food, etc…  These snapshots of life were forever captured in the minds of his disciples, revealing the nature and presence of the kingdom of God.

This should challenge us to think creatively about innovative, culturally relevant ways to proclaim the reality of the kingdom of God through the life experiences we encounter on a daily basis, looking for stories and experiences that capture the essence of the kingdom.  Rather than primarily proclaiming a set of doctrines, we could consider proclaiming the story of a kingdom that was ushered in by a King who died for sin and rose again for those in slavery to sin so we could be released into His kingdom, transferring our allegiance to Him in loving obedience, and living in the fullness of the kingdom of God in the present, including suffering and righting injustice, while looking towards the future when our King will return and the shalom will be complete.  At that time, we will dwell with Him forever.

Hearing the reality of the presence of the kingdom through the stories of people is a privilege… these stories tell of realities seen and unseen; they are often thought provoking, tranformative, and doctrinally rich.

I’ve recently read an article suggesting that President Obama may be “embarking on a new and dangerous direction for our nation” by “embracing an ideology of global governance” in which the United States may become subservient to the European Union or the United Nations.  The article is worth reading; however, it brought to mind the kingdom of God.

Jesus spoke to the governing authorities with an understanding of the subversive nature of the kingdom of God, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above…” (John 19:11). God possesses absolute authority and bestows authority upon whom He desires.  Pilate possessed no authority in and of himself; however, God granted him authority in order that His purpose would be fulfilled in Jesus who, “canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him…” (Colossians 2:14-15).

Whenever a Roman citizen declared, “Caesar is Lord,” he was confessing his ultimate loyalty to Rome, that there was none greater than Rome, and his life was committed to serving the Roman world. If someone refused to honor Caesar as god and confess him as Lord, he was risking his very life.  Therefore, when Paul (a Roman citizen writing to believers in Rome) wrote that the word of faith involved confessing with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” (Romans 10:9-10), those reading the letter aloud would understand that the intended meaning involved a denunciation of loyalty towards Caesar and a confession of ultimate loyalty towards Jesus, that there is none greater than Jesus, and that their lives were to be committed to serving the King of the kingdom, Jesus.  However, this loyalty would be centered from the heart, where belief/faith are centered.

The subversion of the political dominion/rule of Caesar was continued by Paul and John in calling Jesus the “King of kings and Lord of lords…” (Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16); “…He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion!”  (1 Timothy 6:15-16). As Gordon Fee astutely observes, “Ephesus was not only the haven of Artemis, but an early center of emperor worship as well. This doxology, therefore, is Paul’s parting shot that the God with whom the church has to do in the gospel of Christ is none other than the supreme Ruler of the universe, the Lord over all other lords.”

We are inevitably destined for a time in which all kingdoms will be subservient to the righteous King of kings in the kingdom of God (Revelation 19:11-16).  The kingdoms/kings of this world will be subverted by the kingdom of God as his rule/reign extends over the new heaven and the new earth (Revelation 21:1-6). The Father and Son will be the Temple and illuminate Jerusalem with its glory. The nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it (Revelation 21:22-26).

In view of this, one must re-examine to whom we have given our allegiance (i.e. nationalism, political allegiance). Governing authorities (executive, legislative, judicial) need to be recognized as those given authority. We submit to them out of reverence to the One who bestows authority; however, our allegiance is to another kingdom and another King.

Sleepless nights
Memories of denial thrice
Dinners remembering the bread and wine
When one among them betrayed the Divine
What did His words “It is finished” convey?
Or his assurance He’d return on the “Day”?
How could they drink once again with their King?
When He’d tasted the bitter taste of death’s sting?
He said they were given a particular “sign”
The temple destroyed would be raised by design
Three days in death’s prison
Proclaim “He is risen!”