10-Chapter 3. The Message Of The Kingdom Of Heaven
Chapter 3. The Message Of The Kingdom Of Heaven Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drown near.Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17.
[1] The Herald In the wilderness, at Jordan, John preached the baptism of repentance unto the forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4). The new element in the baptism of John was not that he baptized, for already the Jews practiced the so-called proselyte’s baptism on the Gentiles who came to faith in Jehovah; but it was that he baptized Jews, thereby placing them on the same level as the nations.
John was the “Elijah” (Malachi 4:5-6; Luke 1:17; Matthew 17:10-13), the preparer of the way (Isaiah 40:3-4; Matthew 3:3), with greater authority than all prophets (Matthew 11:9-10), the witness to the Light and to the Lamb (John 1:7-8; John 1:29; John 1:36). He was the herald of the King whose coming was now at hand (Malachi 3:1; John 1:26), and was the greatest of all that had been born of women (Matthew 11:11). He was a burning and shining lamp (John 5:35), a voice of one calling in the desert (John 1:23; Isaiah 40:3), who pointed to the “Word” out of eternity.
What is a voice? A sound, a noise, an indistinct cry, unless a word accompanies it. A beast (Revelation 9:9), a blast (John 3:8, lit,), a thunder (Revelation 6:1)—these may well have voice, but only through the word does the voice receive plain content and meaning. So John the Baptist without Jesus was an empty sound, a breath, a nothing. But the word can very well exist without the voice. The unspoken or unwritten word remains a word in the fullest sense. Thus Jesus is all that which He is, even without the Baptist. The voice needs the word, but the word does not need the voice. John needed Jesus, but Jesus did not need John. But if the word and the voice combine then, from the standpoint of the hearer, the voice precedes the word; for the voice is the first to reach the ear of the listener, and only then does the meaning—the word—reach his spirit. So the Baptist came into the world first, and Christ, the Word, followed after. But in speaking this is reversed: then the word precedes the voice; for the word must be conceived inwardly before the voice passes over the lips. So John said: “After me comes a man who has been before me; for he was earlier than I” (John 1:30).
Finally; if the word has been spoken then the voice ceases, dies away and exists no more. But the word abides, for it has been planted in the heart of the hearer. Thus also with Jesus and John. “He must increase: I must decrease” (John 3:30). As soon as John had fulfilled his commission he was removed; But Jesus abides. 4 Footnote 4: See Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament, 336, ed. 12.
[2] The King The King took up the message of the herald (Matthew 4:17; comp. 3; 2). In His person the kingdom of God had come among men (Luke 17:21; Luke 10:9; Luke 10:11). He Himself was the personal present kingdom. This He expressed, both veiled and unveiled, by His designation of Himself as “Son of man.”
1. The origin of the Title “Son of Man.” This title is found over eighty times in the Gospels. It has its root in the book of Daniel. There the Messianic kingdom, in contrast to the wild beast nature of the world empires—lion, eagle, bear, panther, terrible beast—was described as the kingdom of the Son of man, that is, as being the first and only kingdom of history in which true humanity, in the sense of Holy Scripture, will rule on earth. “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of Days... and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom” (Daniel 7:13-14). This prophecy of the Son of man on the clouds of heaven who as the Messiah King establishes the kingdom, Christ unmistakably applied to Himself, both as He discoursed to His disciples on the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24:30) and in His oath before the High Council: “Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64).
2. The Meaning of the Title Son of man. Calling Himself Son of Man
Christ does not denote simply His lowliness and humiliation, in contrast to His heavenly past, that He, the Son of God, had now become man (comp. Php 2:5-10); nor, in the first instance, with reference to the present, does He mean that He, as the sinless and Holy One, is the only true man according to the mind of the Creator (Genesis 1:1-31; Genesis 27:1-46); but rather, looking at the future, He declares His divine dignity as Messiah, that He, as the glorified Man, coming again on the clouds of heaven, will bring in the kingdom of God in the time of consummation, and thereby in His divine person will exalt the realized idea of true manhood on the throne of human history. The expression “Son of man” is thus a divine Messianic and royal title, even as David, the psalmist, had already said of the son of man: “With glory and splendour hast thou crowned him. Thou hast made him ruler over all the works of thy hands. All things has thou set under his feet” (Psalms 8:5-6; Hebrews 2:6-9). And because in the veiled title Son of man there is contained the veiled mystery of His Sonship to God, therefore Christ, in answer to the high priest’s question “Art thou the Son of God?” could say: “Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven,” for the latter includes the former (Matthew 26:63-64).
Again and again this divine and royal connexion of the title Son of man comes to the fore. “The Son of man will come in the glory of his Father” (Matthew 16:27), “with great power and glory” (Matthew 24:30) and “all the holy angels with him” (Matthew 25:31). The return of the Son of man will be “as the lightning goeth forth from the east and shineth even unto the west” (Matthew 24:27). “The Son of man will sit on the throne of his glory” (Matthew 19:28), and as “King” will divide the peoples from one another as the Shepherd divides the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:32; Matthew 25:34; Matthew 25:40; comp. John 5:27). Of course, the title Son of man is a veiled description of the divine King (John 12:15; John 12:34 : Matthew 16:13; Matthew 16:16); for Christ, at His first appearing, desired that only by faith should He be recognized as the Messiah (Matthew 8:4; Matthew 9:30; Matthew 17:9; John 6:15). That He was the Messiah He made known publicly only immediately before His death on the cross, and even then only in the form of a symbolical act, the entry into Jerusalem (Luke 19:29-40; Zechariah 9:9). It was in the circle of His own followers alone that, from the very beginning, but with ever increasing clarity, He had revealed Himself as Messiah (John 1:41; John 1:49; John 4:25-26; John 9:35-38), till finally Peter, illuminated by revelation from the Father, uttered the victorious confession, “thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).
[3] The Kingdom
1. The Term “Kingdom of heaven.” Before the time of John the Baptist the Jews had already spoken of the kingdom of heaven. They called it malekut schamayim (kingdom of the heaven), and understood by this the rule of God over all created things, especially His kingly rule over Israel, and particularly the glorious kingdom of Messiah at the end of history. As says the Talmud: “If any one as he prays places his hand before his face he takes upon himself the yoke of the Kingdom of heaven.” Again, the Targum of Jonathan on Micah 4:7 reads: “When at Sinai Israel accepted the book of the law, it accepted it with the law of the kingdom of heaven.” The kingdom of heaven will be manifested on Mount Zion.” That the kingdom of God was called the kingdom of heaven was because the Jews, out of reverence for the holy name Jehovah, transcribed this by such expressions as “height,” “name,” “power,” “heaven.” Daniel had said: “the heavens rule” to indicate the sovereignty of God (Daniel 4:26).
We may compare such Rabbinical expressions as “Ask heaven for pardon,” “heaven does wonders.” This circumlocution for God’s name had nothing to do with the insipid conceptions of modern unbelief regarding “heaven” and “Providence.” The former arose from an intense, the latter from an indistinct idea of God.
Thus John the Baptist and Christ were not the first who spake of the kingdom of heaven. Much rather they adopted the language of the Old Testament and of the Judaism around them, filling the same expression with new meaning; as Luke 15:21, “Father, I have sinned against heaven (i.e. God), and before thee;” Matthew 21:25, “The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven (i.e. God), or from men?” Matthew 26:64, “Ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power” (i.e. of God). Therefore with the Lord the prevailing description of the kingdom of God is the kingdom of heaven. 5
Footnote 5: On this account the expression “kingdom of heaven” comes only in Matthew (32 times), the Gospel originally intended for Jews: the other Gospels, having in view the understanding of their Gentile readers, translated it by “kingdom of God” (so for example, Luke, 32 times: Matthew 13:31-32, comp. Luke 13:18-21; Matthew 19:14, comp. Luke 18:16-17). As to the thing itself, the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are exactly the same. This is proved by comparison of the following parallel passages: Matthew 4:17 = Mark 1:15; Matthew 5:3 = Luke 6:20; Matthew 11:11=Luke 7:28; Matthew 10:7 = Luke 10:9; Matthew 13:11 = Luke 8:10; Matthew 19:14 = Luke 18:16; Matthew 19:23 = Luke 18:24. In all of these places Mark and Luke give the same words of Jesus on the same occasions but reproduce Matthew’s expression “kingdom of heaven” simply with “kingdom of God.” Comp. further Matthew 19:23 with 24.
God’s kingdom is the kingdom of heaven because as to its origin—it comes from heaven (Revelation 1:7; Matthew 26:64); as to its nature—it carries heaven within itself (Php 3:20; Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:1-4); as to its centre—it has the Lord as its King, through Whom alone heaven will be properly heaven (Psalms 73:25).
2. The Forms under which the Kingdom of Heaven appears. The proclaiming, making possible, and bringing to completion this kingly rule of God was the entire purpose of the work of Christ; the proclaiming was His work as Prophet, the making it possible He effected as Priest, the completing will be His work as King. Therefore the proclamation of the kingdom of heaven was the distinctive theme of His earthly message, and all His parables are parables of the kingdom, even those in which the words “kingdom of heaven” are not expressly used (e.g. Matthew 13:3; Matthew 21:33). Nevertheless this omission is never without significance, for the very silence of the Bible speaks (Hebrews 7:3). In consequence, the kingdom of heaven is not simply “heaven,” the heavenly kingdom, nor only the future kingdom of Messiah (comp. 2 Timothy 4:18), nor the church of the present age (comp. Colossians 1:13; Romans 14:17), but quite generally and simply, it is the kingly rule of God as it comes from heaven, by way of the redemption, established on the old earth, and to be continued eternally on the new earth.
Concerning all the periods, and all the forms of its appearing, the King has testified as His own herald (keryssein; Matthew 4:17, comp. keryx, herald). He spoke of the kingdom in Israel, the kingdom of the Old Testament, which prepared the way for salvation, and which should be “taken away” from the former possessors, the Jews (Matthew 21:43). of the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom personally present in Himself, in the person (Luke 17:21) and wonderful works (Luke 11:20) of the King Who had become flesh amongst Israel: of the kingdom in the church (comp. Colossians 1:13), the present hidden kingdom which in His own person had drawn near (Matthew 4:17), and which throughout the dispensation of the church would endure (Matthew 13:24-47; Matthew 18:23; Matthew 20:1; Matthew 22:2) in the “mystery” (Matthew 13:11) until the consummation of the age (Matthew 13:39; Matthew 13:49). Finally He spoke of the kingdom in the consummation, the Messianic kingdom in glory, foretold by the prophets, which at last shall come in power (Mark 9:1), shall appear (Luke 19:11), and will be given by the Father to the “little flock” (Luke 12:32), who will be permitted to enter (Matthew 7:21) as a reward (Matthew 5:10-12) and an inheritance (Matthew 25:34; Matthew 8:11; Matthew 13:43).
3. The Gospel of the Kingdom. All the foregoing belongs to the gospel of the kingdom (Mark 1:14-15; Luke 4:43). It is the true basic theme of the message of Christ. Only the context can ever make plain the exact sense. Thus by “kingdom” Paul also at times means something present (Romans 14:17; 1 Corinthians 4:20; Colossians 1:13; Colossians 4:11), but often something future (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:21; Ephesians 5:5; 1 Thessalonians 2:12; 2 Thessalonians 1:5; Acts 14:22). So the message speaks now of the present, now of the near, now of the distant, or of the most distant kingdom. The kingdom is thus not something merely Israelitic and future. Even Paul proclaimed the kingdom, and this to the Gentiles, and after he had turned away from the Jews (Acts 20:25; Acts 28:31). His activities during the “whole time” of his stay in Ephesus (i.e. two and a quarter years, Acts 20:18; Acts 19:8; Acts 19:10) he describes by the two expressions: “to testify the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24) and to proclaim as a herald the kingdom of God” (Acts 20:25). Both expressions belong to the same time.
Thus it is always the same kingdom, which comes out of heaven and eternity, continues through the ages, and runs again into the eternity of God. One must also guard against a hasty identification of “kingdom” and Millennial kingdom. The kingdom is first of all wholly general, the rule of God, His kingship as living and powerful, God’s activity made known throughout the different dispensations in ever new forms of manifestation. As we have seen, even the Jews of pre-Christian times denoted by “kingdom of heaven” not only the kingdom of glory of Messiah, but very often the moral, spiritual, invisible rule of God over Nature, the nations, and Israel (see p. 22). Moreover, Christ stood in direct opposition to many conceptions of the kingdom of His Jewish contemporaries, who limited it to affairs earthly (Luke 17:20-21; Luke 19:11 ff.). Therefore, while we hold fast the expectation of a coming visible kingdom (Matthew 19:28; Acts 1:6-7), His idea of the kingdom certainly cannot, without further ado be explained by references to the Jewish-Pharisaic conception of the kingdom. So there is but one gospel (Galatians 1:6-9), an this is the gospel of God—for God is its source (Romans 1:1; Romans 15:16); the gospel of Christ—for Christ is its Mediator (Romans 15:19; 1 Corinthians 9:12); the gospel of grace—for grace is its very soul (Acts 20:24); the gospel of salvation—for salvation is its gift (Ephesians 1:13); the gospel of the kingdom—for God’s kingdom is its goal (1 Corinthians 15:28); the gospel of glory—for glory is its whole effect (1 Timothy 1:11). And Paul says of himself and his fellow-workers
“my gospel” (Romans 16:25; 2 Timothy 2:8) or “our” gospel (2 Corinthians 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:5)—for they were the messengers (Galatians 1:11; 1 Timothy 1:11).
[4] The Way to the Kingdom But the way to the crown goes by the cross. Therefore after the King had first placed at the centre of His message the result of His work, the kingdom, He went on to bring more and more to the front the means for reaching this goal, even suffering.
He spoke of the fact of His death when He spoke of the taking away of the Bridegroom (Matthew 9:15), the drinking of the cup and the being baptized with the baptism of suffering (Mark 10:38-39), but above all in the three chief announcements of His sufferings, in Caesarea Philippi, in Galilee, and on the way to Jerusalem (Matthew 16:21-23; Matthew 17:22-23; Matthew 20:17-19).
He spoke of the necessity of His death, of the divine “must” of His being lifted up as the serpent in the wilderness (John 3:14), and of His death as the corn of wheat to be glorified through bearing fruit (John 12:23-24; comp. Luke 24:26; Luke 24:46).
He spoke of the voluntariness of His death: “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of myself” (John 10:18); and He spoke of the significance of His death as the foundation of full (John 19:30), world-wide (John 12:32; Luke 24:46-47) salvation (John 3:14-15), through substitutionary death for lost sinners (Matthew 20:28), for the purpose of establishing a new covenant through forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28); and also as the foundation for practical holiness in genuine discipleship, by self-denial and bearing one’s cross after Him (Matthew 10:38; Luke 14:27; John 12:24-26). And in all things He always viewed His death in connexion with His resurrection and glorification (John 10:17). This is shown by His words as to the destruction of the temple (John 2:18-20), and the sign of Jonah (Matthew 12:39-40), and as to the corner stone (Matthew 21:42) and the corn of wheat (John 12:23-24). And on this ground of the resurrection, and the imparting of His life to be the life of those believing, He saw the only way for the sinner to share in the saving significance of His work; and hence His words as to eating and drinking of His flesh and blood, without which no one has life in himself (John 6:53). “The bread which I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world ... he who eats this bread, he will live for ever” (John 6:51; John 6:58).
[5] The Message of the Kingdom
It is impossible to depict exhaustively the moral content of the message of the kingdom of heaven: “the world would not contain the books.” The message is
1. Sacred and sublime in its authority. “He taught as one having authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:29; John 7:46), which was confirmed by signs and wonder (John 5:36; Hebrews 2:4). To confirm the message of the heavenly kingdom was the principal purpose of the miracles of Jesus, as is shown especially in the Gospel of John (2:23; 3:2; 6:14; 9:32,33; 11:47; 12:37). Hence the refusal of signs where this readiness of believe was not found (Matthew 12:38-39; Mark 6:4-5). And the Lord’s words were deeds; His deeds were wonders, and He Himself was the Divinely appointed Prince of life (Acts 3:15). Further, the message of the kingdom was
2. Marvellously wise in its instruction. The old covenant Christ treated as preparatory to the new, as being proof of the truth (John 10:34-35; Luke 20:41-44), as prophesying His own message (Matthew 5:17; Luke 24:27; John 5:39). His teaching was therefore explanatory.
Nature He refined into pictures and parables of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13:3; Matthew 13:31), and He did the same with human life (Matthew 13:24; Matthew 13:33; Matthew 13:44-45) and history (Luke 19:12 ff.). Thus His teaching was a transfiguring message.
Questioning enemies He silenced by counter-questions (Matthew 15:2-3; Matthew 21:23-25; Matthew 22:17-22; Matthew 22:41-45). Thus the message was defensive and victorious.
Disciples eager to learn He initiated specially into His mysteries (Matthew 13:18 ff.; Mark 4:34). Thus it was instructive.
Therefore God said: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him!”(Matthew 17:5). And He Himself testified, “Behold, a greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:42; 1 Kings 10:1-10). Of special significance here is the attitude of Jesus to the Old Testament. For Christ, the personal living Word (John 1:14), the written word, the Old Testament, was an indissoluble unity, one organism, “the Scripture” (John 10:35). And in particular it was for Him: the Authority, under which He placed Himself (Galatians 4:4); the Food, upon which He nourished Himself (Matthew 4:4); the Weapon, with which He defended Himself (Matthew 4:4; Matthew 4:7; Matthew 4:10; Matthew 12:3); the Text Book, which He explained (Luke 24:27; Luke 24:32; Luke 24:44-45); the Prophecy, which He fulfilled (Matthew 5:17-18; John 5:39); the Preparatory Stage, which He surpassed (Matthew 5:22; Matthew 5:28; Matthew 5:32; Matthew 12:6; Matthew 12:41-42); His own word, which He interpreted and deepened (1 Peter 1:11; Matthew 5:28). With all this His preaching was:
3. Terribly severe in its judgment. Man is by nature “wicked” (Matthew 7:11), “an adulterous generation” (Mark 8:38). All the treasures of the world are not worth one human soul (Matthew 16:26); all fleshly piety is an “abomination before God” (Luke 16:15). With consuming zeal (John 2:17), Christ fought against the Pharisees, His enemies (Luke 19:27), those chief representatives of feigned religion. He called them “whitewashed graves, full of dead men’s bones” (Matthew 23:27), fools (Luke 11:40), and blind (Matthew 15:14), liars (John 8:55), and hypocrites (Matthew 23:13-15), thieves (John 10:8) and murderers (Matthew 22:7), ravening wolves (Matthew 7:15), sons of the Devil (John 8:44), a brood of serpents and adders (Matthew 23:33). The temple He called a “robber’s hole” (Mark 11:17), Herod a “fox” (Luke 13:31-32). Those who confessed Him falsely were “evil doers” (Matthew 7:23), “sons of the wicked one” (Matthew 13:38), and all who rejected Him are worse than Sodom and Gomorrah (Matthew 10:15).
All who so continue are “lost” (Matthew 16:25) and “accursed” (Matthew 25:41); their lot is “howling and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 24:51 - Matthew 25:30), their place the “unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43; Matthew 25:41). And yet at the same time the message of the kingdom of heaven is 4. Infinitely compassionate in its good news. It shows the Friend of sinners (Matthew 11:19; Matthew 9:13), and the Physician of the sick (Mark 2:17); 6 the Refresher of the weary and heavy laden (Matthew 11:28); the Blesser of children (Matthew 19:15); the Proclaimer of good tidings to the poor (Luke 4:18); the Promiser of Paradise to the dying murderer (Luke 23:43).
Footnote 6: All the miracles of Jesus are miracles of help and thus at the same time deeds that symbolize the purpose of His mission. Even the single miracle of judgment—the cursing of the fig tree (Matthew 21:19)—was in truth an act of His love, a symbolic warning to Israel.
Thus the King became the Servant of His servants (John 13:1-12), and, indeed, as the glorified One He is still ready for service: “Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them” (Luke 12:37). And yet the message of the kingdom is:
5. Unreserved in its demands. It requires unlimited obedience. It both grants and commands, it is at once gift and task. If any kingdom has ever advanced totalitarian claims it is the kingdom of Christ and God. Authority and obedience, leading and following, command and subjection, this is its order. This is a totalitarian King, kingdom, and church. All half-heartedness and lukewarmness is an abomination to the King. The whole man belongs to Him, in spirit, soul and body, in all relationships, heavenly and earthly. To renounce all (Luke 14:33), to take up the cross (Matthew 16:24), to love Jesus more than earth’s dearest (Matthew 10:37), to serve Him alone (Luke 16:13), to hate his own self (Luke 14:26), to lose his life, so as to gain it eternally (John 12:25)—this is the mind which the King demands. And in detail He commands brotherly love and love to God (Mark 12:28-31), truth and fidelity (Matthew 5:33-37), lowliness and self-denial (John 13:1 ff.; Matthew 16:24), freedom from anxiety with courageous faith (Matthew 6:25; Matthew 21:21), a prayerful spirit and a heavenly hope (Matthew 6:6; Luke 12:35-48). But all this is to out of the life from above, out of the consciousness of the royal standing of the child nobly born out of divine seed. “Therefore ye shall be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). “For I say unto you that if your righteousness is not superior to that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). And yet! “When you have done all that is commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have only done our duty” (Luke 17:10).
Finally, the End will come (Matthew 24:14), and with it victory, for the message of the kingdom of heaven has
6. World Deliverance as its goal. “The field is the world” (Matthew 13:38). “Preach the gospel to the whole creation” (Matthew 28:19-20). For “in his name repentance and forgiveness of sins must be preached to all peoples” (Luke 24:47), for “a witness unto them” (Matthew 24:14) in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria, and unto the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). And then when the King appears His kingdom will be visible. The blessed of the Father will inherit the sovereignty (Matthew 25:34), and the righteous will shine as the sun for ever and ever (Matthew 13:43). This is the hope of the message of the kingdom.
[6] The Hearers But all these words were spoken on Jewish national ground. In the days of His flesh the Lord was throughout a “minister of the circumcision” (Romans 15:8), and even He Himself was “under law” (Galatians 4:4; comp. Luke 2:22; Luke 2:24; Luke 2:41; Mark 1:44). “I am not sent save to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24; Matthew 10:5-6). Those addressed in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5:1-48; Matthew 6:1-34; Matthew 7:1-29), the talk by the sea (Matthew 13:1-58), the discourse on Olivet (Matthew 24:25), and all the parables, were in the first instance sons of Israel. Only after the taking away of the “middle wall” through the Cross (Ephesians 2:13-16), and the opening of the kingdom of heaven to men wholly Gentile by the conversion of Cornelius (Acts 10:1-48; Matthew 16:19), have the nations also had the right to take to themselves directly, in the same manner as Jews, the essential teaching in the Gospels. Only these two events, which came to pass after the earthly life of Jesus, opened later to non-Israelites the door to the lecture hall of the Lord. But now no difference any longer exists (Acts 15:8-9); for both have the same salvation (Acts 28:28; Acts 11:17). There are not two “good news”—a Jewish-Christian and a Gentile-Christian—but only one gospel and one church (Galatians 1:6-9; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:6). The assertion that, after the opening of the door of the kingdom through the cross and Acts 10:1-48, the doctrinal content of the gospel continued to be limited to Israel, and did not stand on the same dispensational ground as the message of Paul and the church, contradicts therefore the New Testament doctrine of salvation and that of Paul especially. Paul himself testifies of “his” gospel, as regards its area, that it had to pass through two periods—to the Jew first 7 and then (this same salvation, Acts 28:28) to the Gentiles (Romans 1:16; Acts 13:46).
Footnote 7: As Matthew 10:5-6, comp. 28:19; and because of John 3:22; Romans 11:18.
Also, according to the writer of Hebrews, who was one of Paul’s fellow-workers (Hebrews 13:23), the salvation of the church age “began” to be taught in the earthly message of Christ and not in that of Paul (Hebrews 2:3). And if Paul describes “his” gospel as “spirit” and “life” (“the spirit makes alive, “ 2 Corinthians 3:6), so also the character of the words of the Lord Jesus is on the same dispensational line: “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” John 6:63). So that which was proclaimed by Paul and his fellow-workers in the age of the church was not, as regards the message of the Gospels, a new dispensational message, but simply a continuation, widened and deepened by additional revelations of the Spirit (Galatians 1:11-12; Ephesians 3:3; 1 Corinthians 11:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:15). The words of the Lord were a message of joy, a pronouncing of blessing (Matthew 5:3-12); they were “words of grace” (Luke 4:22), revelations of the name of the Father (John 17:6 : Matthew 5:45). According to Hebrews 2:3, “salvation” and “redemption” is the inspired superscription of His earthly preaching. His miracles were works of healing and help, and He was—not the “death” declared in the law—but the personal “grace of God” that had appeared (Titus 2:11; Titus 3:4), Himself the resurrection and the eternal life (John 11:25; John 14:6; John 17:3). Thus in the period of the Gospels the area, the surroundings, and often the form of the doctrine (Matthew 5:21; Matthew 5:23-27; Matthew 5:31; Matthew 5:38; Matthew 5:43) of the kingdom of heaven had an Old Testament and national limit, but their essence and spirit were that of New Testament liberty. The dispensations of law and of grace are not to be sharply divided from each other by one single event, but they overlap, as the colours of the rainbow.
[7] The Glory of the Kingdom A King Who dies for His subjects. 8 Footnote 8: Whereas usually subjects die for their king. A Judge Who is the Saviour of all.
Aristocrats who were mere slaves (Luke 12:32; Romans 6:20).
Judges who were sheer criminals (1 Corinthians 6:2-3) A law which is complete freedom (Romans 8:2; James 1:25). A freedom which is wholly bound (Romans 6:18).
All in the kingdom were former enemies (Romans 5:10).
All rulers are at the same time servants (Revelation 1:6).
Each born twice (earthly and heavenly, John 3:3).
Many never die (1 Corinthians 15:51).
All brought out of death into life (John 5:24).
Defeated yet conquerors (2 Corinthians 6:9-10).
Heroes whose glory is their weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Despised whom the King of the universe exalts (Luke 12:32). A dominion on earth with its capital in heaven (Galatians 4:26) A little flock, yet innumerable as the sand of the sea (Genesis 22:17; Revelation 7:9). A kingdom without a country to which the whole world belongs (1 Peter 2:11; Matthew 5:5; 1 Corinthians 6:2). And the secret of the whole? A King of glory crowned with thorns! This is the glory of the kingdom.