IT BEGINS: What Is The Kingdom Of Heaven? [longer post that usual!]

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NOTE: Oh man. This Wednesday is our next churchwide Bible study, and the only one we’ll have all month. 6:30-8:00 PM. The question we’ll be asking: Why does Israel refuse to recognize Jesus as Messiah? Why do they miss him? Have other plans this Wednesday? CANCEL THEM. I really want a full house of this one—it’s important. Whom can you invite to sit with you? —AF

P.S. If for some reason you can’t make it, the livestream will be available. But come on—in person is so much better!

 
 

MATTHEW 4:17-25

17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every
disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

 
 

Today we begin Part 2 of Matthew’s Gospel and today’s commentary will be longer than usual so as to properly orient us toward what is to come. Part 2 is about The Proclamation of Jesus as Israel’s Messiah. In word and deed Matthew will show us the true identity of Jesus, and this section of the Gospel culminates in Peter’s recognition and declaration of that identity in 16:16:

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Part 1 was about Preparation for Jesus as Israel’s Messiah, and we learned in the first sentence that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament story—he is Israel, as Israel was always supposed to be. Jesus is embodied Israel, but unlike the Old Testament Israel, Jesus will be faithful to the Lord even to the point of death. Preparation is over; Part 2 of Matthew’s Gospel is now about the Proclamation to Israel of Jesus’s identity. From Peter’s confession of Jesus’s true identity in 16:16 on, Matthew’s narrative will move in Part 3 toward the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus the Messiah.

Part 2 begins with a summary statement about everything that will follow:

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” [4:17]

Up to this point, Jesus hasn’t begun his ministry—rather, we’ve been told about the preparation for that ministry. Now, Jesus is ready to begin, and we learn the central message that Jesus came to proclaim, namely that God’s ultimate reality was close and that therefore everyone needed to change direction to participate in it.

The Kingdom of heaven and the Kingdom of God are interchangeable terms, and they refer to the realm where God’s will is perfectly realized and God’s reign is perfectly acknowledged. “The kingship of God” might be another helpful way to think about it. In the opening pages of the Bible, the Kingdom of heaven is Eden, and in the closing pages of the Bible the Kingdom of heaven is the New Jerusalem that John the visionary sees in Revelation 21-22.

In the Bible, repentance means a change of direction by changing how you think and how you live.

Jesus’s message is that God’s ultimate reality—the Kingdom—is really close and that that fact requires a response!

18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. [4:18-22]

Matthew’s Gospel has two important themes:

  1. Jesus is the fulfillment of Israel’s story; and,

  2. Jesus is calling everyone to become his disciples—i.e., his

    students or apprentices—so they can learn how to live in the reality of the kingship of God.

Here Matthew shows us what discipleship requires—immediate obedience. Jesus calls Andrew and Peter, James and John to follow him without preamble—just do it.

Twice, Matthew tells us that the brothers left their nets "immediately," i.e., when Jesus calls, they respond totally: they don't hedge their bets or halfway follow him. What's Matthew trying to tell us?

Either we follow Jesus, or we don't: there is no place for half-hearted discipleship.

Jesus says, "Follow me." In response, what do you need to "immediately" leave, drop, or do today?

 

P.S. Live out of town and want a Matthew Part 2 book? Email Sandie, and we’ll mail you one.