The Kingdom of God

Reflection

We enjoy the amazing Parables of Jesus Christ in the Bible. We delight in the story telling ability of Jesus Christ. We marvel at his supernatural gift of wisdom. That is why he came down from heaven, as the scripture says, in order to proclaim and teach us about the kingdom of God. 

In the gospel of Mark, we read that Jesus Christ came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God. He said, "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:14-15). 

What is the kingdom of God? 

It is to answer this seemingly simple question that Jesus tells so many parables and use different images, not to define, but to describe the kingdom of God! He usually starts his teachings with rethorical questions such as, "What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to?" (Luke 13:18). 

The fear here is that many who hear or read about these parables of Jesus Christ may be missing the real message. They may simply be delighted at and satisfied solely with the sweetness of the story, and paid little or no attention to the most important demand of the message; which is an urgent call to action and a paradigm shift in personal lifestyle! This is the risk and danger posed by hearing without doing which confronts us in our day.

The stories of Jesus Christ are not tales by the moonlight! They are not comedian ramblings, meant to keep you in a happy mood for your money! The stories of Jesus Christ are meant to teach us the Kingdom secrets or wisdom, which is also known as mystery. They are instructions for our soul's survival! Do you want to learn about the secrets of the kingdom of God? Then, learn about the Parables first.

The disciples of Jesus Christ, Peter in particular, realized the importance. Very often, after some parable teachings, Peter would pin Jesus down and demanded, "Explain the parable to us." (Mat.15:15), "Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?" (Luke 12:41). Peter wants a breakdown for better understanding. Whereas others, often called, multitudes, would just listen and walk away, without making any meaning of the message. But Peter is exceptional. Many of his curiosity and offline questions had profited us a great deal, indeed! 

We are not here to offer academic definition of terms, but to remind ourselves of the duty we have to make personal and individual commitments and efforts to go beyond the sweetness of the Bible stories we read or hear, to do what they really required of us, to respond in concrete ways, to the urgent demand of the Gospel of the kingdom of God. 

Kingdom of God does not refer only to Heaven, the dwelling place of God. Kingdom of God also refers to an atmosphere of peace and tranquility, of perfect joy and justice. The word 'justice' is often used interchangeably in the scriptures with righteousness. St. Paul, therefore, would write to the Romans and said, "The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom.14:17). These three things mentioned, peace, joy, and justice (righteousness) are the very things that are lacking, but which are desperately needed in our world today! When we look at the crises in our world today, we cannot but pray earnestly for the Kingdom of God to come! The world is in desperate need for peace. Peace is not possible without justice or righteousness. Proverbs 14:34 says, :Righteousness exalts a nation. But sin is a reproach." it is our responsibility to bring peace to the world, by pursuing the path of peace and justice in our daily activity. Again, St. Paul tells us that "The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God" (Rom.8:19).

What is the age of the world? For how long has the present world lasted that we could still be speaking about the world without God? The world was created to know and to honour God, its Creator. Why it is not doing so stems from what man has done. When man fell at the Garden, he fell along with other things entrusted to his care. The land was cursed because of man. Man, therefore, has mission to help restore the world. Jesus Christ has come to restore man. Man should also cooperate in restoring the world. We should no longer continue to live in disobedience to God's word. We should be making every effort at bringing healing, redemption and relief to the world. 

What it boils down to is that when we talk about world that does not know God, we are invariably talking about human beings, you and me, all of us the population which inhabit the earth, as people who do not know our Creator! And it is giving God much concern! Speaking through the mouth of prophet Isaiah, the Lord said, “Earth and sky, listen to what I am saying! The children I brought up have rebelled against me. Cattle know who owns them, and donkeys know where their master feeds them. But that is more than my people Israel know. They don't understand at all” (Isaiah 1:2-3). 

We are the ones that resist and reject God and the reign of His Kingdom, blaming it on the world! We are the ones that make things difficult, if not impossible, for peace, joy, and justice to reign in our world, and we blamed it on a supernatural being called, Satan! Satan cannot do anything without the cooperation and compliance of human agents! We should blame him less and take full responsibility! We have, without knowing, lent ourselves, like labourers seeking for mere wages, to hiring Masters of the spirit to do with us as they wish! We are solely responsible for delaying the Kingdom of God. O! Would we, for a moment, allow this Kingdom attributes to reign in our hearts and in our midst, then shall we truly say, "God's Kingdom has come!" 

This is the call for repentance and conversion which the Gospel proclaims. Repentance means "coming to senses" (Luke 15:17). When l ask myself, and you ask yourself, "What is it that l do? How does what l do add to, or promote peace, joy and holiness of others? In what way have l contributed to the mess and confusion in my family, in my community, and in my country? What did l need to do to reverse my drift to path of ungodliness and threat to peace?" Once we begin to ask these questions and examine our consciences along this path, we would have come to our senses. And at once, repentance will begin! 

Conversion is the whole process of transforming our heart of stone, melting it to be as soft as the Heart of God! A converted heart assumes the Heart of God. It is the heart of love, of mercy, of peace, of joy, of righteousness, of humility, of everything the kingdom of God represents! That is the state of being we are called to be. Won't you rather desire this state of being? 

The kingdom of God, in fact, is not far from us! Only that we have chosen not to make it manifest. When Jesus saw how the teacher had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God" (Mark 12:34). That kingdom is within us. It is in our hearts. It is in our hands to make it come. The kingdom of God is a unitive life, an intimate union and communion of God and his people, through the grace mediated by Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit!