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THE KINGDOM'S FIRST AND ONLY RULE!
If Jesus inflated the balloons of the crowd on
the day when he told them how blessed were those in the kingdom of heaven, he
undoubtedly popped them on the same day. For he went on to tell them that
in order to enter the kingdom of heaven their righteousness must surpass that
of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. We see this in Matthew 5:17
- 20 where we read:
"Do not think that I have come to abolish
the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18
I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter,
not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until
everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these
commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom
of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great
in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness
surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly
not enter the kingdom of heaven.
POP!
To understand how quickly their balloons must
of popped on that day you need to understand that the roots of the Pharisees
reached all the way back to Ezra - one of the greatest teachers in Israel. He
wanted the people to have a sense of Scripture, he wanted them to understand
it and apply it to their daily lives. He even encouraged layman to read
and interpret the Torah. The ancestors of these men came to believe that
the priests didn't have the only corner on truth.
When Jesus came on the scene the Pharisees were
the largest and most influential group in Israel. If you had questions
about a passage in the Old Testament and its practical implications for your
life the Pharisees had more of an answer for you than you ever wanted to hear. After
all, their goal was to bring the lifestyle of the priest into everyday life.
For example, when the priests served before the
altar they were rightly concerned about purity. They performed numerous
washings and other rituals of purification to assure themselves of cleanliness. The
Pharisees translated these daily functions into the affairs of daily life, which
in part meant not associating with sinners. So naturally, they viewed themselves
as the representatives of the holy and pure community of Israel. They were
the "blue bloods," in contrast to the "people of the land" whom
they looked down upon and considered uncouth.
In our class, he would be the guy who sits by
himself, uses antibacterial towelettes, and studies the New Testament in its
original language. He is the one who stands up and says things like, "But
the Greek says . . ." and instantly he becomes the authority over anyone
whose has a Bible that is, unfortunately for them, only in English.
To make matters worse Jesus went on to say:
"You have heard that it was said to the people
long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.
Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin.
But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell. Matthew
5:21 - 22
POP!
"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not
commit adultery.' 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully
has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27 - 28
POP!
"It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his
wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' 32 But I tell you that anyone
who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become
an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery. Matthew
5:31 - 32
POP!
"Again, you have heard that it was said to
the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made
to the Lord.' 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven,
for it is God's throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or
by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. Matthew 5:33 - 35
POP!
"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for
eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person.
If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Matthew
5:38 - 39
POP!
"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your
neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and
pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father
in heaven. Matthew 5:43 - 45a
POP!
With all our balloons popped it appears that the
chances of our entering the kingdom of heaven has been reduced to zero. In
fact, if our righteousness has to surpass that of the Pharisees in order to enter
the kingdom we would have a better chance of winning the power ball jackpot by
buying a single ticket.
But if Jesus pops our self-righteous balloons,
and he does, he does it because our self-righteousness isn't all that righteous. It's
simply self-promotion so that you and I can receive the applause of others. Jesus
pops that balloon for us, and goes on to tell us that "acts of righteousness" aren't
really that hard to do.
When you give to the poor, give to the poor without
making a big deal of it. When you pray, don't act like you need to try
and sell your Father in heaven on whatever you think you need, when you fast
make it a private affair between you and God, when you put away something for
the future put it in a place where you don't have to worry about it, and above
all remember that you cannot serve two masters at the same time.
And in regards to this matter of worrying about
everything there is only one rule you need to keep in the kingdom - despite what
the Pharisees of this world tell you. This one and only one rule is found
in Matthew 6:25 - 34. We read:
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about
your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than
they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
"And why do you worry about clothes? See
how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell
you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow
is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31
So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What
shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your
heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom
and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Do you see the one and only rule in the kingdom
of heaven? In context, it is embedded in v. 33 and reads:
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well.
In context, what this passage tells us is that
we worry about everything else. We worry about our outward appearance,
what we will eat, how long will we live, and whether or not anyone really likes
us. But Jesus tells us not to be overly concerned about this world, rather we're
to seek his kingdom and his righteousness.
I don't think Jesus was making a deep theological
statement here. I think he was simply being very practical. He was
paving the way for a far less complex road for us to walk and He expressed it
in a single rule with two features- like parallel lanes of a highway. The
first was a singular allegiance to the kingdom of heaven. The second was
a commitment to do everything in a manner pleasing to God.
In regards to the former, C. S. Lewis in his book
Mere Christianity put it this way:
"Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This
means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern
people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a
Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present
world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians
who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the
next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman
Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals
who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because
their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely
ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim
at Heaven and you will get earth "thrown in": aim at earth and
you will get neither. It seems a strange rule, but something like it can
be seen at work in other matters. Health is a great blessing, but the moment
you make health one of your main, direct objects you start becoming a crank and
imagining there is something wrong with you. You are only likely to get
health provided you want other things more - food, games, work, fun, open air. In
the same way, we shall never save civilization as long as civilization is our
main object. We must learn to want something else even more."1
If you and I met for the first time and I said, "Tell
me about yourself." You would probably describe yourself in terms
of your earth-side identities. I wouldn't hear you say something like, "Well,
I've given up on the kingdoms of this world, for I have grown weary of how things
are done in this world. So presently, I'm seeking God's kingdom." Nor,
would I hear you say, "I'm glad you asked, my passport now shows that I'm
a citizen of God's Kingdom. It seems like a simple change, but it has transformed
how I look at the opportunities before me."
Needless to say, it's too much to expect someone
to say that to us even if they have been a Christian for a long time. But
the problem is not that we don't say it, it's that we don't think of it! And
all Jesus was asking the crowd to do on that day was to start thinking more about
his kingdom and less about their daily needs.
In regards to seeking His righteousness, I want
to show you how practical that is by looking at someone who failed to do it. This
man's reign is summed up nicely, and quite soberly, in II Chronicles 12:13 -
14. We read:
King Rehoboam established himself firmly in Jerusalem
and continued as king. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he
reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen out of all
the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother's name was Naamah;
she was an Ammonite. 14 He did evil because he had not set his heart on
seeking the LORD.
Early on in his reign King Rehoboam had the opportunity
to seek God's will in regards to the throne of Israel. He consulted the
elders who had advised his father Solomon and they advised him to lighten the
heavy burden his father had placed on the backs of the Israelites.
But Rehoboam rejected their advice and sought
out the advice of those he had grown up with and were now serving him. In
II Chronicles 10:10 - 11 they advised:
"Tell the people who have said to you, 'Your
father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'-tell them, 'My little
finger is thicker than my father's waist. 11 My father laid on you a heavy
yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will
scourge you with scorpions."
He did, and the kingdom of Israel was torn in
two. This tells us that if you don't make seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness
your one and only rule, the results in your life could very well be disastrous.
1 C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, The Macmillan Company, 866 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022, Fifteenth Printing, 1972, pp. 118 - 119.
JESUS & THE KINGDOM OF GOD 02/04/07 1
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