The Dream Fulfilled
05/06/2007 - Thy Kingdom Come
Back in the mid-1980's a group of scholars came together to form a research team that they called the "Jesus Seminar." Maybe you've heard of it. And their stated goal was to evaluate the words of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament. They wanted to find out if Jesus actually said the things attributed to him by the gospel writers.
And so they went through the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and they added a fifth, the Gospel of Thomas, which is disputed and not in our Bible and they color coded every statement of Jesus. The color red meant that Jesus actually said the words contained in the passage. Pink meant that he probably said the words. The color gray meant that Jesus didn't say the words, but they represented his ideas. And black meant that Jesus didn't say the words, and the ideas in the passage probably came from someone else or some other tradition. And of course it was all highly subjective and highly controversial.
Nevertheless, the findings of the Jesus Seminar were published in a book back in 1993. And members of the group were quoted all over the media as being authorities on the Christian faith. I can remember it well. The book was called "The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus." And after thoroughly investigating the gospel accounts they claimed that only 18% of the words attributed to Jesus in the Bible were most likely uttered by Jesus himself. Eighteen percent of Jesus' words were coded either red or pink. That's less than one out of five.
Five years later, in 1998 the Jesus Seminar published a second book called "The Acts of Jesus: The Search for the Authentic Deeds of Jesus." And in that book they concluded that Jesus was born in Nazareth, not in Bethlehem, he was not born of a virgin, he didn't perform miracles, and his healings were psychosomatic.
The empty tomb, they said, was a myth and Jesus did not rise from the dead. The belief in the resurrection, they claimed, was actually based on the visionary experiences of Peter, Paul, and Mary. Not to be confused with the singing group!
About Christ's resurrection, one of the leaders of the Jesus Seminar said, "As a child, I took it for granted that Easter meant that Jesus literally rose from the dead. I now see Easter very differently. For me, it is irrelevant whether or not the tomb was empty. Whether Easter involved something remarkable happening to the physical body of Jesus is irrelevant."
Ouch! I think he had it right when he was a kid when he believed that Jesus did literally rise from the dead. Maybe that's why Jesus said, "Unless you become like a little child you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
If there ever was a non-negotiable of the Christian faith it is the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is not irrelevant. It is absolutely essential to our faith. That's why the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19,And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all others.
The resurrection of our bodies, the resurrection of this earth, the resurrection of the universe all hinge on the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Christ has not been raised from the dead our faith in God's future for our lives and for this world is futile, it's worthless, it's dead too.
Last week we looked at Romans 8 and said that the whole universe is on tip toe waiting for God's children to be revealed when Jesus returns to this earth and our bodies are resurrected from the grave. And why is that so significant? Because then and only then will it be time for the whole universe to be redeemed. Then this old earth will be set free from the curse and the kingdom of God will appear.
The kingdom of God. That was Jesus' favorite metaphor for describing the future. In his mind everything in human history is moving towards the kingdom of God coming down to this earth. It's the kingdom we live for. It's the kingdom we long for. It's the kingdom we pray for. "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." But what will that kingdom of God be like? And who will be in it? And how will it operate?
This morning we continue our series called The Dream Fulfilled: Glimpses of the Kingdom with a teaching I've called "Thy Kingdom Come." When Jesus walked up and down the hills of Judea he didn't talk about clouds and harps and angels and pearly gates. He didn't talk about things that people couldn't see and understand. He talked about stuff that people could see. He talked about the kingdom of God and his language was charged with all kinds of political and religious, social and cultural electricity. It got people's attention. They knew what he was talking about. They knew what kingdoms were.
The once glorious kingdom of Israel was now in shambles under the ruthless rule of the kingdom of Rome. And the Jews hated it. They longed for the glory days of their kingdom when David and then his son, Solomon, was on the throne ruling from his palace in Jerusalem and nations were bringing tribute from all over the world and the economy was thriving and the borders were secure. God's people longed for that kind of kingdom to come back again.
In fact to this day every time Jewish people greet each other with the word Shalom, "peace," they're expressing the cry of their hearts whether they know it or not for a kingdom to come where there will be no more sin, or suffering, or death, just peace.
We don't talk much about kingdoms today. Kings and queens, knights and castles take us back to medieval times or back to Shakespeare or more recently, Shrek. But in Jesus' day kingdom language is what people understood. And everyone knew that essential to any kingdom was a king to rule and subjects to govern and a land to live in and a government to administer and an economy to maintain and a culture to be enjoyed.
Jesus grew up with this understanding of the kingdom reflected in the words of the prophet Isaiah who wrote in Isaiah 60:1-5, Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you ….Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look about you …. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.
That was the kingdom that the people of God longed for in Jesus day. And that theme is carried right through in the New Testament to Revelation 21:23-26 where John writes, The city (the new Jerusalem) does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.
And so when we talk about this new earth that's coming someday we also need to understand that it has a kingdom attached to it. In fact, it sounds like there will be more than one kingdom on this earth. The center of God's kingdom will be the New Jerusalem, but there will also be other nations throughout the new earth. And they will have kings as well who will bring their tribute to Jesus, the King of Kings.
Remember when God first created Adam and Eve he created them to be king and queen over the whole earth. Their mandate was to rule the earth to the glory of God. But they failed. So Jesus Christ became the second Adam, and the church, his bride, became the second Eve. And together Christ and his church will accomplish what Adam and Eve failed to do.
Richard Mouw writes, "Over and over again the Scriptures make this plain: the political power which has been so corrupted and twisted in the hands and hearts of sinful rulers must be returned to its rightful source."
One of Jesus' most poignant teachings on the nature of the kingdom is found in Luke 19. If you have a Bible turn to Luke 19:11-27. Let me give you some background. In Luke 19, Jesus is about ten days away from the cross. He's making his final trip to Jerusalem where he'll be arrested, tried, and crucified. He knows it's going to get real ugly, real fast. But his followers don't. They think he's going to Jerusalem to establish the kingdom that he's been talking about for three years. Coronation day is coming and they can't wait to see the Romans grovel at the feet of King Jesus. In fact, two of his disciples, James and John, have already put their bid in for the top two thrones in that kingdom. They're thinking about the rewards they're going to get for following Jesus.
On the way they make a brief stop in Jericho where Jesus invites himself for lunch to the home of the most hated man in that town. He's a tax collector named Zacchaeus who lined his pockets and indulged his opulent lifestyle by ripping off his Jewish brothers and sisters. It was the kind of luncheon that would cost Jesus big points in the popularity polls. But he doesn't care because he loves Zacchaeus types and on that day this man enters the kingdom of God.
Look at verses 9-10, Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.
And in an outburst of unbridled enthusiasm, Zacchaeus announces his desire to repay all those he had ripped off. That's what the Law of Moses required. Look at verse 8, But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." That's authentic repentance, a complete change of direction. And while Zacchaeus is getting his check book out to give away his wealth and while the disciples are thinking about all the wealth they hope to get when the kingdom comes, Jesus tells this story.
Look at verses 11-15, While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. 'Put this money to work,' he said, 'until I come back.' But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We don't want this man to be our king.' He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given money, in order to find out what they had gained with it."
The story Jesus tells would have sounded very familiar to those sitting around the dining room table that day. Just a few years before an event like Jesus described had occurred right in that city. Jericho was the sight of a magnificent winter palace built by the infamous King Herod, the same King that had tried to kill Jesus when he was an infant. In fact, they might have been able to see Herod's palace right from Zac's dining room window.
Herod was dead now and in his will he divided his kingdom among his three sons. One of those sons was named Archelaus. But in order for Archelaus to be officially appointed king over that region he had to get Caesar's permission. So he had to go to a distant country, which was Italy and the city of Rome, to have himself appointed and then he would return.
But the subjects of that region hated Archelaus. They didn't want him to rule over them. And for good reason. He was a "chip off the old block." He was as bloodthirsty as his father, King Herod. During his first Passover in office he had 3,000 Jews slaughtered just for kicks. And so a Jewish delegation was sent to Rome and they said, "Listen. We don't want this man to be our king." But their plea fell on deaf ears and Caesar made Archelaus king of Judea anyway.
So Jesus tells this story using all kinds of kingdom imagery that would have been very familiar to his audience. But in this story he does something amazing. He identifies himself with Archelaus, the king nobody wanted, because Jesus was also an unwanted king. Unwanted by most of the Jewish nation, hated enough to be executed. And after he dies and rises again he'll go to a distant country, that dimension called heaven and then return someday to claim his throne. And his enemies, those who resist his authority, he says down in verse 27, will be killed in front of him.
Now if the king in the story is Jesus and if the far country is heaven and if the enemies are those who resist his authority and aren't in the kingdom, then who are the servants? The servants are those who have accepted the rule of the king, those who are a part of the kingdom. Moments before, Zacchaeus had entered the kingdom and become the newest servant. And you and I are servants in this story if we've embraced the King. For you see the king is still in that distant country called heaven and we are waiting his return. And while we're waiting we've all been given something to invest. The question is, "Are we investing it well?"
Look at verse 13 again, So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. Each servant is given a mina, not a minnow, but a mina. A mina was a good chunk of change. In that culture it represented three months' wages for a middle class worker. It was ¼ of your yearly salary and each servant received the same amount.
There's a similar parable in Matthew 25 where each servant receives a different amount of money, but that seems to refer to the different gifts and talents and abilities that we have. But here, each servant gets the same, because I think the mina represents our life. And all of us have one life to live. And we can either waste it living for ourselves or we can invest it living for the kingdom. And like the servants in the parable, while we all start with the same amount we don't all end up with the same return on our investment.
Look at the first servant in verses 15-17, Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. The first one came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned ten more.' 'Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'
Finally, the king returns home and sends for his servants. The first servant appears and his one mina had grown tenfold. He had 1,000% percent return on his investment. He invested his life in the kings business and as a result he's rewarded by the king with a role of privilege and honor and high authority. He's given ten cities to rule in Christ's kingdom. He hears the words that we all long to hear one day, "Well done, my good servant."
In verses 18-19,The second servant came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned five more.' His master answered, 'You take charge of five cities.' This servant invested his life well, but with a little less return. He didn't hear the words, "Well done, my good servant." But he was rewarded with five cities to rule.
Then another servant came in and said, in verse 20,'Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.' His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest? Then he said to those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.' 'Sir,' they said, 'he already has ten!' He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.'
The third servant did nothing with his mina, even though he was part of the kingdom, he took his life and he wrapped it up in himself. And when the time came for him to give an account he didn't even have any interest to show for it, kind of like a person who sticks their money under a mattress. It won't grow there.
And he blames it on the king for making him afraid. But I think that's just an excuse. I think he was really afraid of the king's enemies, because the king has enemies. And often it's a fear of the king's enemies that keeps us from taking risks for the King.
So even the mina he does have is taken away and given to the one who already has ten. And Jesus says, I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.
So what's the point of the story? The point of the story is this. God's kingdom is coming to this earth one day when the king himself returns from that far off land called heaven. And when he does he will reward those who have invested their lives in kingdom work. And the degree of our investment will determine the degree of our reward. And the reward will be the privilege of ruling and reigning with Christ upon this earth.
That's how the whole story ends. In Revelation 22:3-5, No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Once again, we come full circle. What was Adam and Eve's mandate? To subdue the earth and rule over it. Now that will be our privilege, the privilege of Christ and his bride, the church, the second Adam and Eve.
In his book called Heaven, Randy Alcorn, writes, "The government of the new earth will not be a democracy. It won't be majority rule, and it won't be driven by opinion polls. Instead, every citizen will have an appointed role, one that fulfills him or her and contributes to the whole. No one will 'fall through the cracks' in God's kingdom. No one will feel worthless or insignificant …. There will be a social hierarchy of government, but there's no indication of a relational hierarchy. There will be no pride, envy, boasting, or anything sin-related. All of us will have some responsibility in which we serve God …. Imagine responsibility, service, and leadership that's pure joy. The responsibility that God will entrust to us as a reward can only be good for us, and we'll find delight in it."
"Many people have told me they're uncomfortable with the idea that we will rule the earth, govern cities, and reign forever. It sounds presumptuous and self-important. And I would agree - if it was our idea to reign over the universe it would indeed be presumptuous. But it was not our idea, it was God's. And it's not a minor or peripheral doctrine. It's at the very heart of Scripture."
"God is grooming us for leadership. He's watching to see how we demonstrate our faithfulness. He does that through his apprenticeship program in this life that prepares us for the next. Christ is not simply preparing a place for us. He is preparing us for that place."
So what are you doing with your mina? What are you doing with your life? Are you wasting it or are you investing it? Are you living everyday submitted to the king, looking for his return? It's the kingdom Jesus wants us to live for. It's the kingdom he wants us to long for. It's the kingdom he wants us to pray for. "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."