renew your wonders: 10 November 2022

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come

The Pharisees expected that the Messiah would break about the restoration of the kingdom of David. This would have been not only something that could be observed but even something obvious, for it would have meant the overthrow of the Roman occupation, a reunion of the twelve tribes, and the imperial influence of Israel itself restored. This was a hard image to shake as we can see from the disciples even after the resurrection.

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (see Acts 1:6).

Those who were expecting a Messiah were expecting a political and military figure, someone who would produce tangible and verifiable results in the world. But this is not who Jesus was, nor was this the nature of his Kingdom, at least not immediately.

“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,

and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’

For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.”

The Kingdom was present among them because the King was in their midst. He extended his influence by invitation, and his Kingdom spread as his followers gave themselves more and more fully to the prayer, "thy Kingdom come" (see Luke 11:1). It might be objected that a kingdom of this sort was more imaginary than real, that it lacked the concrete benefits of an established political authority. But the Kingdom of Jesus was superior to earthly kingdoms at every level. Of these, let us consider two: food and freedom. These are two things which earthly authorities attempt to ensure for their citizens. On one level the Kingdom of Jesus worked to ensure these natural realities would be provided to the least and most neglected of populations in ways that governments tended to neglect. But even more, he addresses these needs at a level that was deeper and spiritual.

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you (see John 6:27).

It would seem that one would need a powerful nation with a strong military to guarantee freedom. But in the Kingdom of Jesus we see that his followers found a freedom that could not be taken away no matter how powerful the authoritarian regime. We find disciples frequently imprisoned, yet with a greater and deeper freedom than many of us who are supposedly at liberty.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery (see Galatians 5:1).

The coming, that is the hidden progress of the Kingdom, is not something that can be observed. But the final form of the Kingdom which we await, our blessed hope, is something that not only can be seen, but which in fact cannot be missed.

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.

The call for each of us is to invest in the hidden Kingdom of Jesus now so that when this lightning of revelation flashes and reveals it we will be found therein, found in Jesus himself. We can invest in the Kingdom here and now by living out our various relationships, not according to what we might demand by our worldly entitlements, but according to the higher call of the Gospel of freedom.

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.

The more we live a Kingdom lifestyle now, with relationships rooted in Kingdom truth, the easier it will be for us when that final flash of revelation lights up the sky. We want it to be the case that the Second Coming of Christ reveals us as already his citizens, already in some measure prepared for the fullness he will bring. We cannot hope to live now as primarily citizens of earthly kingdoms and then, on the last day, to find a smooth transition to eternity, if indeed we find it. Let us not run off in pursuit of the distractions of our present age, but focus instead on our hope, and on living in as those who believe in it.

The LORD shall reign forever;

your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.