A Comment on Jesus’ Teaching on the nature of
the Kingdom of God, with particular reference to Matthew 13:1-52 and Matthew
5-7.
A Study by Blair Humphreys.
1) Introduction
Throughout the New Testament, especially the
Synoptic Gospels * The Gospels of Matthew,
Mark and Luke, there are numerous references to the Kingdom of God or the
Kingdom of Heaven, which *1 “ is generally considered to be the central theme of
Jesus’ Teaching . “ Although spoken to mainly Jewish Audience, some 2,000 years
ago, in a province of the Roman Empire, it is still the same Life Changing and Revolutionary
message today as it was then. *2 “ Jesus preached the Kingdom of God. We preach
Jesus. In Him and through the power of His Message the Kingdom is available to
us, but can we preach Jesus or even understand Him, without understanding God’s
Kingly Rule, the central note in all His Teaching.”
*1 Encyclopaedia Britannica Article The Kingdom
of God.
*2 Understanding the Kingdom of God, by
Georgina Harkness, Chapter 1, Where We
Stand
It is my objective, through my own personal
study of the above Scriptures and with reading through the New Testament,
especially the Synoptic Gospels, prayer and reading through relevant articles,
books such as Matthew Henry’s commentary ,and using various translations of the
Bible, to gain an understanding of the Lord’s teaching of the Kingdom of God,
and applying that teaching to myself and it’s relevance for us today in the
early part of the 21st Century.
The Kingdom of God/Heaven is the central theme
and the essence of Jesus’ message, when we read through the Gospels, we see how
important this message is, there are so many references to the Kingdom of God
throughout the Gospels, (although there several references to the Kingdom of
God in the Old Testament, for example in Psalm 145:13 Nlt “For your kingdom is
an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations, “ although the Old
Testament saints, only saw an glimmer of what was to come, Matt.13:17), we can
only come to the conclusion that if the Kingdom of God is mentioned so many
times it must be important.
Indeed in Matthew 6:33, The Lord’s commends us
to seek, the Kingdom above all else, or in some versions “,make the Kingdom of
God, your primary concern. “ If the Kingdom of God was central to our Lord’s
Teaching, it must be central to our Christian Walk, Witness and Lifestyle.
Indeed the Kingdom of God is the Life force of
Jesus’ Message, in Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Matthew 13, it states that “
the word of the Gospel is the word of the Kingdom. “ Our Message must be the
same as Jesus’ Message. In Matt. 13:1-23 , it describes how a farmer when to
sow some seed, (the word of God) and the responses to that word, although Jesus
spoke a message that everyone could relate to, and hopefully understand, he
used phrases, terms and illustrations that people would know, I believe that
the four times of soil, can relate to 4 times of people that hear the Gospel,
a) some seed fell on the path, some people hear the message of the Kingdom, but
don’t understand it, b) other seed fell on shallow ground, some people hear the
message gladly, but because of various problems etc, turn away, c) other seed
fell among thorns, some people hear the word, but their lives become full of
other things, turn away and don’t produce a crop, and finally d) some seed fell
on good soil, and produced a huge harvest, speaks ofthose who truly accept
God’s message, and see other lives transformed by the Gospel.
In Matt. 13:9 Jesus says “ Anyone who is
willing to hear, should listen and
understand! “ I believe that although, the
message of the Kingdom of God
can be easy to understand, not everything who
hears it, will accept it .
The Lord only reveals a greater understanding
of the Kingdom to those
, who truly accept the message ( I’m not
speaking of a type of special knowledge or revelation that is only available to
some sort of initiate of a secret society or an elite band of people, because
that would be a form of Gnosticism) , in Matthew 13:11f. Jesus tells the
Disciples, “That you have
been permitted to understand the secrets of the
Kingdom of Heaven, to those who are open to my teaching, more understanding
will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. “ although Jesus
was speaking to the 12 here, he also speaks to us, we can’t understand the
Kingdom, unless we have a relationship with the King, I believe because of our
relationship with the King, we will have a fuller understanding of Kingdom, the
more time we spend with Him, and as we show others the truth that we have
learned from Him. See Matt 13:52. “, He can bring out old treasures as well as
new treasures from his storehouse.”
I believe that as Jesus was sent by God, to
reveal the message of the Kingdom of God , today we’re sent by Him, to reveal
to others the Gospel of the Kingdom, see Romans 10:14, Mark 3:14; Matt 9:37-38
The Kingdom of God is not of this world, see
John 18:36, although it can be, seen in the lives of His followers who express
every day both the fullness and
revelation of His Kingdom. Indeed, there’s
nothing quite like knowing the King andbeing part of His Kingdom, see Matt
13:44-46.
In Matthew 5-7, we see practical and everyday
Kingdom Teaching, that reaches, through the pages of our Bibles into our lives,
situations and personalities.
IVP Commentary, Matthew 5-7 Introduction “ The
Ethics of God’s Kingdom”
“Jesus summons those who would be his followers
to radical devotion and radical dependence on God. His followers must be meek,
must not retaliate, must go beyond the letter's law to its spirit, must do what
is right when only God is looking, must depend on God for their needs and
pursue his interests rather than their own, and must leave spiritual
measurements of others' hearts to God. In short, true people of the kingdom
live for God, not for themselves, “
This Kingdom teaching, starts with what’s
commonly referred to as the Beatitudes in Matt 5:3 Nlt. “ God blesses those who
realise their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them, “ we
also see the types of people, that God will bless in Matt 5:4f and basically it
includes everyone. Amen
We’re called to be both salt and light in
Society, salt purifies and light shows people, the way to go, see Matt 5:13-
16.
In Matthew 6:9f, we see the Lord’s Prayer,
“9 Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may
your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be
done on earth,
as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today the food
we need, 12 and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against
us. 13 And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.”
There are so many examples of the nature of
Kingdom Living, found in
, these Chapters, Matt 5-7, but what summarises
this teaching for me, can be found in Matt 7:24-27” 24 Therefore everyone who
hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who
built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the
winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its
foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does
not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.”
James 1:22 “ But don’t just listen to God’s
word. You must do what it says, “
Matt 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will
be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end
will come.”
Yours by His Grace
Blair Humphreys
Southport
January 9th 2014
Bibliography
1) Encyclopaedia Britannica Article The Kingdom
of God
2) Understanding the Kingdom of God, by Georgina
Harkness
3) Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Matthew 13
4) IVP Commentary on Matthew 5-7
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