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2. The Unfolding of the Mystery of God in the Words of Jesus Concerning the Kingdom of His Father
The Righteousness of God Resisted: In the book of Hebrews we read: “Your throne, o God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions” (Hebrews 1:8-9).
This hymn of homage at the wedding of the king from Psalm 45:7-8, was considered by Jews and the early Christian church, to be a promise of the coming Messiah. The special gifting of this Son of David is His righteousness, piety, godly fear, uprightness, conformity to the law, and His justification of the unrighteous by grace.
Jesus picked up this theme of the Old Testament and repeatedly invoked it upon His followers: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
The realization of this righteousness of God was seen clearly in the dealings of Jesus Christ with His fellow countrymen, as well as with foreigners. The Roman centurion from Capernaum impressed Him through his compassion, self-abasement and faith, so that He said: “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” (Matthew 8:10). He warned His self-satisfied, proud countrymen that they, as “sons of the kingdom”, would lose their right to the kingdom, in case they did not welcome their honored King, and unconditionally trust Him. With their self-righteousness they would catapult themselves directly to hell (Matthew 8:5-13).
Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a vineyard owner who, one morning, and as required throughout the course of the day and into the evening hours, went and hired day laborers to work in his vineyard. This lord, however, paid to all the same wages, regardless of how long they had worked. When the workers who had been hired in the morning and worked the entire day complained and rebelled against their employer, he explained to them that he had fulfilled his agreement with them. They had received the agreed upon wages. Out of mercy he would give to all the workers the same wages. He paid to the small, weak, despised and to the late-comers exactly the same as he paid the pious, faithful and experienced willing workers, who would have worked ten times more than the others. The mercy of the vineyard owner in this parable was great, and comparable with a waterfall, that continually falls on everyone who places himself underneath its flow. The one, however, who places himself outside the flow of His grace, will be dealt with exactly in accordance with the law. Jesus warned the law-abiding religious, with their know-it-all attitude, that they, as the “first”, would be “last” in the end (Matthew 20:1-16).
Contrary to this, Mohammed wrote that those who recite the Koran, pray and give offerings do “business with Allah”, that no one will regret (Sura Fatir 35:29-30).
Jesus described some members of the Old Covenant as “Yes-Sayers” and “No-Doers”, who, in fact, knew the law, but did not keep it, thus hypocritically covering their sin. On the other hand, he called deceivers and whores “No-Sayers”, because they would willfully violate the law, of whom some had become “yes-doers”, because they had confessed their sins to John the Baptist and had accepted forgiveness in the Lamb of God. Jesus warned His fellow-citizens, that tax collectors and sinners would enter the kingdom of God before those having a self-made religiosity, because this attitude would keep them from true repentance and an inner brokenness (Matthew 21:28-32).
In a further parable, Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to vinedressers, who leased a vineyard from a landowner. When vintage time came they did not want to hand over the fruit to the servants the owner had sent, but instead, beat some, and killed others. In the end, they even brutally killed the landowner's son, whom had been sent as his last servant. Jesus let the hearers of this parable speak their own judgment: Persons who resists the servants (prophets) and kill the son of the owner must receive an evil end. The Lord will entrust His vineyard to better servants, who will bring the fruits at the proper season. Jesus closed His parable with the serious statement: “Therefore the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it” (Matthew 21:33-46).
The church of Jesus Christ throughout the world must ask itself whether or not she is bringing the fruits to honor God and His Lamb at the proper time!
Jesus also compared the kingdom of heaven with a king who settled accounts with his servants. To one deceiver, who had embezzled so much money that he would never have been able to repay it, the king forgave the entire debt, because he imploringly asked for grace for him and his family. But as the one pardoned went out and encountered another debtor, who himself owed him a small sum, he did not forgive the debt, but had him put in prison, in spite of his plea for mercy, until the last penny had been collected. When hearing of this the king cancelled his pardon, and had the hard-hearted servant cast into prison, just as he had done with his debtor! With this parable Jesus explained to Peter and the apostles what it means to entirely and gladly forgive everyone 490 times for their sins and mistakes! The one, who does not do that, falls into judgment (Matthew 18:21-35; 6:12, 14-15). The kingdom of God has its own laws and righteousness!
We have the privilege, but also the responsibility, to forgive all men everything, because Jesus, in the place of all men, atoned for all sin! The Koran, however, commands Muslims to practice revenge and to demand blood money, because every sin must be atoned for, and Islam knows of no representative in judgment (Suras al-An’am 6:154; al-Isra’ 17:15; Fatir 35:18).
Whoever reads in the gospel of John of the growing resistance of many Jews toward the great love of their King Jesus, is shocked, because of all the gospel writers, the “apostle of love” preserved the truth from Jesus' mouth the most clearly. Jesus often declared to the Jews where their resistance to Him arose, and where their hate-filled hardening would drive them! Because of their bondage they could not believe in Him – unless they allowed themselves to be made free by the Son of God (John 8:30-43). Only the name of Jesus is able to drive out evil spirits, and free from all bondage…in Israel, as well as in Ishmael. We should try to understand this growing hardness, godlessness, and liberalness in our churches and society, in the light of the message of Jesus. His gospel does not only bring about redemption and salvation, but also bondage and hardening, to all who close themselves to His kingdom and power (John 20:23).
The council of Jesus and the principles of His righteousness appear often to be neither logical nor humanistic. Instead, they are spiritually and Biblically correct. Paul described in his letters how the Holy God can remain righteous even when He freely justifies the unrighteous, alone on the grounds of their faith in the representative atoning death of His beloved Son! (Romans 1-4) Even so, the Holy Almighty remains righteous, when He allows the majority of His chosen people, the Jews, to harden themselves, until the time that the fullness of the Gentile nations have entered into His kingdom (Romans 9-11). Therein will be visible, that the first will be last, and the last will be first!
The righteousness of God is the judicial form of His holy love, which was manifested in Jesus Christ. The one, who repudiates the Son of David, separates himself from His eternal kingdom and becomes evil. The one who receives Him, however, can become a priest and king in His kingdom.
The victory of Christ in Israel and among the nations becomes visible in the book of Acts and in the letters of the apostles. Most letters of the New Testament were written by born-again Jews, who as witnesses of Jesus Christ, were the “salt of the earth”, and remain so until today. Twelve thousand out of every Jewish tribe will be sealed through the Holy Spirit at the end of time. Added to them will come a number out of the nations that no one can count, lovers of Jesus, who on account of the testimony of Jewish apostles, will come and pay homage to their and to our King Jesus. His kingdom triumphs and comes, regardless of all resistance to His justice!
PRAYER: Holy King, You wished to win Your people that they might deny their haughtiness, and to lead them to recognize their sins that they might accept You as their humble King, as a Lamb of God, who would save them from the wrath to come, but their majority rejected You and lost their rights; therefore You delivered their privilege to those who deny themselves and believe in You as King, Redeemer, and Son of God.
QUESTION:
- What is the problem of the majority of the Jews with entering into the kingdom of God?