26 November 2013 - kingdom of peace

26 November 2013 - kingdom of peace

While you looked at the statue,
a stone which was hewn from a mountain
without a hand being put to it,
struck its iron and tile feet, breaking them in pieces.
The iron, tile, bronze, silver, and gold all crumbled at once,
fine as the chaff on the threshing floor in summer,
and the wind blew them away without leaving a trace.

Is it any wonder that the people at the time of Jesus are expecting the Kingdom of God to be a military kingdom?  It strikes the worldly kingdoms, breaks them to pieces, and they crumble.  This sounds like a violent exercise of power.

In the lifetime of those kings
the God of heaven will set up a kingdom
that shall never be destroyed or delivered up to another people;
rather, it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms
and put an end to them, and it shall stand forever.

Yet, to what does this prophecy really refer?  What is the kingdom "that shall never be destroyed or delivered up to another people"?

Isaiah sees these events in a more recognizable way:

Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
And who exactly is it that establishes this kingdom?  Isaiah tells us:

 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Our hope grows.  We hear of freedom from the yoke of the nations.  We hear of a time of great peace, justice, and righteousness to which there is no end.  When will it finally arrive?

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his kingdom there will be no end."

Yet we, with the apostles, sense something is incomplete.  We understand why they ask, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (cf. Acts 1:6) They ask even though they see him risen.  Perhaps they still have some expectation that the stone hewn from the mountain without hands will break the kingdoms of the earth with force. 

But Jesus tells us:

When you hear of wars and insurrections,
do not be terrified; for such things must happen first,
but it will not immediately be the end.”

When the supposed stability which the world pretends to supply falls short we tend think in apocalyptic terms.  We imagine that the LORD is finally smashing the kingdoms with "the stone which the builders rejected".  We are thereby liable to be deceived and to follow those whom we perceive to be successful in these terms.

“See that you not be deceived,
for many will come in my name, saying,
‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’
Do not follow them!

But we can't assess things by our criteria of success.  Even though Jesus indeed plans to definitively establish his kingdom, to destroy death, and to finally separate the sheep from the goats, we will still be deceived unless we remember that we are watching for "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."  His is a Kingdom of peace not violence.  

“You heavens, bless the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.”

The angels know this king.  That is why they proclaim:

“Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”