The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed
There are some things that are so close as to be easy to overlook. We know from other parables that the Kingdom starts small and works in hidden ways. It does not arrive by overwhelming political or military victory as many in Israel expected. It is a transformation that can take place even amidst the constraints and real problems that exist in the political and social order.
Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while,
that you might have him back forever,
no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother,
beloved especially to me, but even more so to you,
as a man and in the Lord.
We wish that the change of the Kingdom were something more visible and external, some sweeping victory over all that is wrong with the world. But one reason we wish for things to happen this way is that it would take the onus off of ourselves. It would be a system in which change could be imposed rather than conversion proposed. It would leave behind hearts for the sake of rules. Instead, we have been given a time for mercy, a time when individuals can be invited into the Kingdom and can respond in freedom.
The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance (see Second Peter 3:9).
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (see Romans 2:4).
Yet we are not meant to look at our circumstances with indifference. We are meant to long to see the days of the Son of Man even while we wait, even while his action is still hidden from us, even while he still suffers greatly in the poorest and the least of these in our own generation. It is our commitment to the Kingdom of God, even while it remains hidden, against all apparent odds, that prepares us for it when it appears in fullness. Keeping station at the cross readies us, like the women, to be the first to meet him when he returns.
For just as lightning flashes
and lights up the sky from one side to the other,
so will the Son of Man be in his day.
It would be easy if the Kingdom were just a political movement and could be implemented with good laws and good rulers, with the right exercise of power. It would be easy if we were permitted to ignore bad laws and bad rulers, and wrong exercise of power. But it is neither of these. It is instead that all of us are called to be hidden leaven that exists even within our broken world causing it to rise and transformation, even though we might not perceive it. We would have abandoned this loaf of bread a long time ago on our own, but it is God's project. We can be assured that it will be a showstopper.
The LORD secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
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