In part 1, we looked at the Jewish expectations of the coming Kingdom of God and how it differed from the Kingdom that Jesus proclaimed. Now, I’d like to look at a particular portion of the proclamation - the Kingdom “is near”

What exactly does Jesus mean that the Kingdom of Heaven is “near” or, as some translations say, “is at hand” or “has come near”?

One way to look at is to imagine two people walking down a street and suddenly one person says, “Ah! The store is at hand!” We would take that as meaning we were just about to reach the store, we were not in it yet, but it is right here. How might we take Jesus’ statement, thinking of it in these terms?

To me, it seems that Jesus was saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven has broken through, it’s so close you can even see it. We’re not in it completely yet, but here it is!“  Now, if that is what He is saying, then what does that mean for us?!

It’s been said that we live in the time between the times; the here-but-not-yet. According to Jesus, the Kingdom of God is here, however, it’s not yet complete. This leaves us with the question of, “So what now?” A question similar to that of the disciples in Acts 1:6  But, we are not left without an answer.  Look at Jesus’ response beginning in verse 7:

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After a quick response to their question, “It is not for you to know”, Jesus gets right to the bigger answer.  He’s telling them that they are not to simply sit around waiting for the big finale, they are to go out into the world and be witnesses!

And there is our answer to the “So what now?“:  The Kingdom of God will come in all its fullness in due time, but in the mean time our job is to go and tell as many people as we can about this coming Kingdom and to actually take part in the building of the Kingdom here on Earth (your Kingdom come…on the Earth as it is in Heaven).

The Kingdom is at hand!  The Kingdom has come near!  And praise God, because His Kingdom will reign forever!

Think about the fact that the Kingdom of God is not just a future destination, but it exists in part right now!  And think about this: in what ways are you taking part in helping to build and bring about the Kingdom of God?

Next: What is the Kingdom like?

Trackback URI | Comments RSS