Showing posts with label The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. Show all posts

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth


“Weeping and gnashing of teeth” is a phrase often associated with “hell” in the popular religious imagination. It is found seven times in the New Testament, six of those in the book of Matthew, but all of them from the mouth of Jesus. What does this phrase mean? And does it really have anything to do with hell?
  • But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 8:12)
  • They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:42)
  • And throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:50)
  • Then the king told the attendants, “Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 22:13)
  • He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:51)
  • And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:51)
  • There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. (Luke 13:28)
Weeping and Gnashing
What do these words mean, and what does this phrase indicate? Let’s look first at the “gnashing” of teeth. The Greek noun is brugmos; the verb form is brucho, to “gnash.” There are several instances of these words found in the LXX (the Septuagint, ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament). It is not used to indicate remorse, or the suffering of torment, or the pangs of hell but is a symbol of anger and often depicts snarling or growling.
  • “God assails me and tears me in his anger and gnashes [brucho] his teeth at me; my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.” (Job 16:9)
  • “But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee; assailants gathered against me without my knowledge. They slandered me without ceasing. Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked; they gnashed [brucho] their teeth at me.” (Psalm 35:15-16)
  • “The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash [brucho] their teeth at them.” (Psalm 37:12)
  • A king’s wrath is like the growling [brugmos] of a lion.” (Proverbs 19:12)
  • “The wicked will see and be vexed, they will gnash [brucho] their teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.” (Psalm 112:10)
  • “All your enemies open their mouths wide against you; they scoff and gnash [brucho] their teeth and say, ‘We have swallowed her up. This is the day we have waited for; we have lived to see it.’” (Lamentations 2:16)
In none of these verses does the use of brucho or brugmos indicate remorse. They all indicate anger.

In the New Testament, in addition to Jesus’ use in the Gospel, we find the verb brucho in Acts 7:54, where it indicates the anger of the Jews at Stephen’s preaching, just before they stone him. “When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed [brucho] at him with their teeth.” Here it is used very literally but still as an expression of intense anger.

The word Greek word for “weeping,” klauthmos, can certainly mean remorse, as it does in a few instances in the LXX. But more often than not, it indicates a lament that is not about remorse. Remorse is regret about one’s own action, but lament is about loss or calamity that has befallen. It is not the silent weeping of one bravely holding back tears; it is the dramatic wailing of one who has suffered great loss.

But what is the cause of the angry lamentation and seething rage we find in the New Testament examples? Is it loss of heaven or consignment to eternal perdition? No, it is something very different and close to hand. It does not depict a post-mortem, other-worldly condition but a now ancient event. It is not about hades, the realm of the dead, but about gehenna, an historical judgment. In every instance, this “weeping and gnashing of teeth” has to do with the kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God
The burden of Jesus’ preaching ministry in Matthew was that the kingdom of God had now come into the world. His parables were all about the kingdom, and his miracles were a manifestation of the presence and power of the kingdom. His Sermon on the Mount was, from beginning to end, about the kingdom.

Toward the end of his Sermon, Jesus warned, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). Remember that he was addressing Jewish listeners and was particularly critical of the Pharisees. There was a “narrow” way that led to life — which in context of the kingdom of God would be participation in the kingdom — and few would find it.

But there was also a “broad” way that was headed for destruction, and many would follow that path. Understand, also, that the “many” and the “few” of whom he was speaking was particularly in reference to the Jews. For just a handful of verses later he speaks of those who find the kingdom, and this is where we find the first reference to “weeping and gnashing.”
I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 8:11-12)
Notice that there will be many, not few, who come into the kingdom. They come from east and from west. They are not of Israel or Judea. They are not Jewish but Gentile, which is to say that they are from the surrounding pagan nations. Many of these would come and take their place at table in the kingdom of God.

But what of the many Jews who followed the broad way to destruction? They were the natural subjects of the kingdom and to whom all the promises belonged? They would be thrown out. They would not have any part in the kingdom that should have been theirs. These are the same who, in Jesus’ parables, are thrown into the “blazing furnace” (Matthew 13:42, 50), thrown outside, “into the darkness” (Matthew 22:13; 25:30), and assigned “a place with the hypocrites” (Matthew 24:51). In each instance, they are enraged, wailing and seething in anger.

The End of the Age
This “weeping and gnashing,” Jesus said, would occur at “the end of the age.” In Matthew 24, Jesus tells us about when that would be. He had just been in the temple, where he had pronounced a series of “woes” to the Scribes and Pharisees. He wept over Jerusalem, whom he had longed to gather under his protection — but they refused. And he foresaw what they were unable or unwilling to see: “Your house will be left to you desolate” (Matthew 23:37-39).

As he departed from the temple, the disciples came marveling about the immensity and grandeur of the temple complex. But Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

The disciples were curious. Confused. Concerned. They came to him later, on the Mount of Olives, and asked him about it. “When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” They were not asking him about three different things but about one thing three different ways. They wanted to know when the temple would be destroyed. This, for the Jews, would be tantamount to the end of the world. But the disciples were now associating it with the sign of Christ coming in the glory and power of his kingdom. The end of their present age would mark the beginning of the new age of the kingdom.

The rest of Matthew 24 is Jesus’ answer to their question. Both the city of Jerusalem and the temple were to experience terrible destruction, as would all who were in them. It would be the end of the age — and it would happen within their generation (see verse 34).

Jesus’ prophecy was fulfilled in the summer of AD 70, when the Roman armies that had laid siege for three and a half years finally reduced the city and temple complex to bloody rubble. This was the destruction to which the “broad” way of Matthew 7:13 led. The Jewish temple system was no more. The Jews who would not follow the “narrow” way of the kingdom, and of Messiah, God’s Anointed King, had Jerusalem ripped from their hands. And there was much “wailing and gnashing” of teeth in the days that followed.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

The Bread of That Day

Give us this day our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11)
This, of course, is from the prayer Jesus taught his disciples and in the “Sermon on the Mount” (which I call the “Sermon of Heaven on Earth”). In Luke’s Gospel, where the disciples ask Jesus, “Teach us to pray,” it reads, “Give us day by day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3).

The Greek word for “daily” is only found in these two places. Origen thought it might have been a termed coined by Matthew and Luke to translate the words of Jesus, which were probably Aramaic.

This word is epiousios and likely comes from epiousa, which concerns time and what is to come. Epiousa is found only five times in the New Testament, all in the book of Acts, where four times it refers to the following day and once to the following night (see Acts 7:26, 16:11, 20:15, 21:18, 23:11). There is another word used for “daily” that refers to the day that is already present. It is the word ephemeros, from which we get our English word “ephemeral,” a word that is about what is fleeting. It is used in James 2:15 — but not here in the Lord’s Prayer.

“Daily bread,” then, is about the bread of the day to come. But which day would that be? To answer that, consider the nature of the Lord’s Prayer and of the sermon in which it is found. It is about the kingdom of God, or as it is rendered in Matthew, the kingdom of heaven. At the end of Matthew 4, we see Jesus announcing the good news that the kingdom of God has come. Then in chapters 5-7, we see him preaching the Sermon, which is, from beginning to end, all about the kingdom of God.

Likewise, the prayer Jesus gave them to pray is about the kingdom of God. Immediately before the bit about “daily bread,” the petition is, “Your kingdom, come; Your will, be done on earth as it is in heaven.” And then the request for the bread of the coming day. It is an eschatological request — that is, concerning the “last things,” when everything in God’s plan has been fulfilled and the world has been set right. In other words, the day to come is about the fullness of God’s kingdom age.

So, this is not a prayer that God would give us today the bread that is for today but, rather, give us today that bread that is about that day: Feed us today with the bread of the age to come, the day when all is fulfilled. For the good news announcement is that the kingdom of God has already begun, with Jesus as God’s Anointed King, and will be fully realized on the day King Jesus comes again.

The bread of that day is, in a word, supernatural provision. It may show up in unexpected ways, ways we cannot explain. After all, Jesus knows how to turn water to wine and multiply bread and fish for the multitudes. Shortly after teaching the Lord’s Prayer, and still preaching the Sermon, he said,
Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow. (Matthew 6:31-34)
Many people seek hard after their provision, and in ways that have no regard for the kingdom of God — ways that often dishonor his kingdom. But if we are seeking the kingdom of God and his way of living in the world, all of our daily needs will be taken care of. There will be no need to worry about tomorrow, for God will always take care of us with the supernatural provision of his kingdom.

The way I pray this, then, is “Give us this day the bread of that day.”

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The Sons of the Kingdom are Free

Then the sons are free. (Matthew 17:26)
When Jesus and His disciples arrived back at Capernaum, men who were in charge of collecting the double-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Does your Teacher pay the double-drachma?” (Matthew 17:24). Peter said, “Yes.” When he went into the house, Jesus anticipated what he was going to say and stopped him short, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” (v. 25).

“From strangers,” Peter answered.

Jesus agreed, concluding, “Then the sons are free.”

In this little exchange is an amazing teaching about the kingdom of God. The sons of the kings of the earth are exempt from paying taxes, though strangers may still be required to do so. Likewise, the sons of the kingdom of God are not obligated to the Temple. Before the kingdom of God arrived on the scene, the Temple had a specific function as the place of sacrifice and the manifestation of God’s presence on earth. Now that the kingdom was at hand, in the person of the King, that function was fulfilled and the sons of the kingdom were not bound by it.

Jesus was not against the Temple, but it had served its purpose. Jesus came as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. The Temple had been a type and a shadow, but now that the fulfillment was at hand, the shadow no longer served. The author of Hebrews draws the contrast between the earthly Temple and the Tabernacle not made with hands:
We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. (Hebrews 8:10-2)

Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:11-12)
Also implied in Jesus’ statement is that those who were obligated to the Temple were not sons of the kingdom, but strangers to it. This would refer to the religious leaders and teachers who rejected Jesus — they would have no place in His kingdom. In Matthew 21, after clearing the Temple courts of the moneychangers, Jesus came back into the Temple and confronted the chief priests and elders on the nature of true repentance and their rejection of God’s Messiah. He concluded, “Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it” (Matthew 21:43). Though they were servants of the Temple, because of their unbelief they were not sons, but strangers to the kingdom of God, and to the Temple which foreshadowed it.

In Matthew 24, Jesus predicts the demise of the Temple and the destruction of Jerusalem within a generation (fulfilled in AD 70). But in the meantime, although He and Peter were not required to pay the double-drachma, they would do so anyway, so that know one would think He despised the Temple itself:
Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; that that and give it to them for Me and you. (Matthew 17:27)
The Greek for “piece of money” is stater, a coin which was equal to two double-drachmas, precisely enough to pay for Him and Peter, because Jesus the Son of God and Peter was a son of the kingdom.

In the kingdom of Heaven on Earth, the sons are not bound by types and shadows, or religious systems. We are free to follow the King alone and live fully under His provision.



The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Keys to the Kingdom of God
in the Gospel of Matthew

by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Kingdom Where Nothing is Impossible

Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20)
Jesus had just come back down the mountain with Peter, James and John when a man came up to Him, pleading for his son, a demon-possessed boy who suffered with severe epileptic seizures. He had brought the young man to Jesus’ disciples, but they were unable to heal him (Matthew 17:14-16).

Jesus responded to the situation with this: “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me” (v. 17). Jesus located the problem as one of faithlessness, a generation that had turned away. But who was He speaking about?

Perhaps the man. In Mark’s account, we find the man saying to Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). More likely, though, it was His disciples. After Jesus rebuked the demon and healed the boy, His disciples asked, in private, “Why could we not cast it out?” (Matthew 17:19). Jesus put it on them: “Because of your unbelief” (v. 20). The Greek word used for “unbelief” is the same root used for “faithlessness” in verse 17.

The problem was that they were not operating in faith, as they should have been. Eugene Peterson puts it this way in The Message, “Because you’re not taking God seriously.” They still had too much of the world’s way of thinking, too much of the world’s unbelief at work in them.

Then Jesus showed them the potential of faith, of taking God seriously: “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20).

Faith is like a seed. It does not have to be big to get a big result, but it does have to be used, to be planted. When you have faith, even a little bit, the exercise of it is simple: You say to the mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move. However, if there is unbelief going on inside your heart, it will hinder your faith—you have to make a choice to go with one and not the other.

Jesus added, “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (v. 21). This kind of what? Many people think it refers to the kind of demon that was in the boy. But Jesus did not engage in a lot of praying and fasting when He cast that demon out; He simply rebuked it and it left (v. 18).

The purpose of praying and fasting is not so we can get rid of demons, but so we can get rid of unbelief. We know that Jesus had already done a lot of praying and fasting in His life and ministry. He had already dealt with any issues of doubt that tried to creep in (see Matthew 4-11). Ultimately, unbelief is a tool of the devil, a seed he is always trying to plant in our hearts. Praying and fasting helps us focus on God and hear His Word. That is how faith comes, and how it is strengthened in us (Romans 10:17). When we let faith in God fill our hearts, we will leave no place for the doubts of the devil to have a foothold. It gets crowded out. Then nothing will be impossible.

In the kingdom of Heaven on Earth, nothing is impossible when we take God and His promises seriously.



The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Keys to the Kingdom of God
in the Gospel of Matthew

by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

The Kingdom of the Cross

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24)
Peter had just voiced the amazing revelation — directly from the Father — that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. Because of that, Jesus gave him authority to bind and loose on earth what had already been bound and loosed in heaven. But Peter still needed to understand something else, something very important, about this revelation and authority.

After this remarkable exchange, Jesus gave His disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that He was the Messiah (Matthew 16:20). Then He began to talk with them about how He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders, scribes and chief priest, and then be killed — and raised again the third day (v. 21).

Now they were really confused. Wasn’t the identity of Jesus as the Messiah to be made known to all? Didn’t the coming of Messiah signal that God’s triumph was now at hand? Then why such suffering and death, and what did this mean for the kingdom of heaven?

It was more than Peter could take. He said, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” (v. 22). Moments earlier, Peter was acknowledging Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God; now he was openly contradicting Him.

Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get behind Me, satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (v. 23). These were very strong words, but well-deserved. Earlier, Peter had spokes a word directly from heaven, from the mind of God. How quickly he slipped back into the way the world thinks, and suddenly he became the mouthpiece of satan.

God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways — they are higher (Isaiah 55:8-9). The Jewish expectation was that Messiah would come as a conquering king, a political ruler and military leader; Jesus spoke of across and losing one’s life.
If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25)
A cross is not the reception the world offers a king and his entourage. But Jesus requires that we each embrace the cross, not just His, but our own. We must disown ourselves in order to follow Him. We must set aside our priorities and interests and seek His. We must give up everything — the whole world—if we would possess His kingdom. We cannot know His life when we are still holding on to our own.
For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. (Matthew 16:26-27)
The time would shortly come for finding life and rising again, for the glory of God to be revealed and Jesus proclaimed as Messiah. Jesus is makes reference here to a prophecy in Daniel:
I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14)
Jesus said, “The Son of Man will come in the glory.” A literal rendering of the Greek text is, “about to be coming” (Analytical-Literal Translation). Notice the tenses: “Coming” speaks of a continuous action. “About to be” indicates that it would soon begin. In the next verse Jesus told the disciples that some of them would even get to see it: “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matthew 16:29: see The Son of Man Coming in His Kingdom).

The kingdom of Heaven on Earth requires a cross for each one of us, that we lose our life for Jesus’ sake in order that we may find it. But He also promises great reward, for His kingdom has already begun and will increase until it is here in the fullness of His glory when He returns.



The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Keys to the Kingdom of God
in the Gospel of Matthew

by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

The Kingdom of the Committed, Not the Curious

While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”

But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:46-50)
The scribes and Pharisees witnessed Jesus healing sicknesses and casting out demons. When they objected because He did these things even on the Sabbath, He firmly rebuked them as a “brood of vipers” who spoke evil words because their hearts were evil. But some of them answered, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” They were not talking about the miraculous works He had already performed. They wanted a special sign from heaven just for them, a command performance to confirm to them His authority. Jesus told them,
An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. (Matthew 12:39-42)
Jonah was like Jesus in that he spent three days and nights in the belly of the great fish just as Jesus would be in the heart of the earth for three days and nights. But it was the message of Jonah that caused the men of Nineveh to repent. Likewise, it was the wisdom of Solomon that caused her to believe God (1 Kings 10:1-9). But someone greater than Jonah and Solomon was now on the scene, and if the scribes and Pharisees were not receptive to His message, they probably would not believe His sign either.

In another place, Jesus said, “My doctrine is not Mine but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority” (John 7:17). It is not about signs for the curious but about commitment to do God’s will. In other words, it is about faith, for without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). When asked, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:28-29).

If the scribes and Pharisees did not believe in Jesus for who He was and the message He brought, nothing else mattered, no matter how many healings and how many exorcisms He performed. Indeed, the end result would be even worse for them, as Jesus showed them next.
When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, “I will return to my house from which I came.” And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation. (Matthew 12:43-45)
This would be their lot if they refused to believe in Him and let their house be filled with the truth about the kingdom of God.

It was while He was still addressing them that His mother and brothers came, desiring to speak with Him. When informed of this, He said, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?” Then He answered His own question. He pointed to His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

The condition of the idly curious will go from bad to worse, and the judgment upon them will be all the greater because of their persistent unbelief. But the disciples of Jesus, who believe on Him, commit themselves to Him and learn from Him, He will embrace as intimate family.

Whoever does the will of the Father is the brother or sister of Jesus, for His kingdom is all about the will of the Father being done on earth as it is in heaven, and the will of the Father is to believe on the Son.
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)

He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. (John 3:18-21)
The kingdom of Heaven on Earth is not for the curious but for those who have made the commitment of faith in the King.



The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Keys to the Kingdom of God
in the Gospel of Matthew

by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

An Undivided Kingdom

Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. (Matthew 12:25-28)
Jesus healed a man who was demon-possessed, blind and mute. He cast out the demon so that the man could see and speak (Matthew 12: 22-23). When some of the Pharisees heard of this, they came and accused Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebub (literally, “Lord of the Flies”) whom they considered the ruler over demons (v. 24).

Now, if it had been just one or two demons that Jesus expelled, they might have been able to make a good argument that satan was causing a few demons to retreat in order to gain some sort of advantage. After all, satan is a schemer. But this was far more than a few. Everywhere Jesus went He was casting out demons from the multitudes that followed, doing major damage to the kingdom of satan. Indeed, this was one of the reasons He came: to destroy the works of the devil (Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8).

Jesus answered their charge with a spiritual logic that turned the table on them. First, He pointed out that a kingdom or house divided against itself cannot stand. That being so, He then asked, if satan drives out satan, how can the kingdom of satan possibly stand. The Pharisees’ accusation was logically incoherent — it made no sense.

Second, if Jesus was casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, then by whose power did their “sons,” their own exorcists, manage to cast out the few demons they were haphazardly able to expel? A small handful of exorcisms might be a demonic strategy, but Jesus was the one who was casting them out wholesale, running roughshod over satan and all his works. The Pharisees were being hypocritical, as Jesus pointed out by adding, “Therefore they [the “sons”] will be your judges.”

Third, if Jesus cast out demons by the Spirit and power of God (as indeed He did), then it was a sign that the kingdom of God had come into the world, for the Jews believed that when Messiah came, satan would be bound. Now here it was happening before their eyes, but in addition to the Pharisees being incoherent and hypocritical, they were also faithless.

Jesus was casting out demons everywhere He went, and He did it by the Spirit of God, as Peter later proclaimed: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38). This was a demonstration that the kingdom of God had now come into the world.

The kingdom of God is an undivided kingdom. Though it would be a losing strategy for satan to divide his own kingdom, as Jesus pointed out, the kingdom of God not only has the power to divide it but was doing just that. Jesus added,
Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. (Matthew 12:29)
By the Spirit of God, Jesus came into the “house” of the “strong man,” and binding him, was able to “plunder his goods,” that is, to destroy the works of the devil and loose his captives. In this way, Jesus divided the kingdom of satan.

Having answered their charge, Jesus then addressed the Pharisees with sobering words about the undividable nature of the kingdom of God:
He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matthew 12:30-32)
The implication was clear. If Jesus was casting out demons by the Spirit of God, and the kingdom of God had now come upon them, then a dividing line was clearly drawn. We must embrace Jesus and His gospel of the kingdom, or else we will be working against both. They cannot be divided. To reject Jesus is to reject the kingdom of God as well.

Jesus also cannot be divided from the Spirit of God. To attribute His works to the “Lord of the Flies,” is to blaspheme, or speak evil against, the Spirit by whom those works were done. To reject Jesus, as the Pharisees were doing, was to reject the Spirit of God, and there would be no place for them in God’s kingdom. With such a stern warning, it was now time for the Pharisees to make a decision. There was nothing halfway about it; it was either all in or all out.
Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. (Matthew 12:33-37)
Up to this point, the Pharisees had shown themselves to be a “brood of vipers” who could not speak anything good about Jesus and the kingdom He preached because their hearts were full of evil. If they did not change their words, they would soon have to give account for them, and would be condemned by them. To change their words, they would need to change their hearts and do as Jesus preached from the beginning: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:17).

The kingdom of Heaven on Earth is an undivided kingdom. It cannot be separated from Jesus and the Spirit of God. The kingdom of satan is broken. The Lord Jesus has bound him and destroyed his works, and is loosing his captives.



The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Keys to the Kingdom of God
in the Gospel of Matthew

by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

The Kingdom of Quiet Revolution

But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. Yet He warned them not to make Him known. (Matthew 12:15-16)
Jesus had so angered the Pharisees with His claim to be Lord over the Sabbath, they went out scheming how they might bring Him down. When Jesus learned of this, He departed. His kingdom is forceful, and those who enter in are passionate for it, but it is not about violent physical conflict.

As He left, large crowds followed after Him, many of whom were sick, for Jesus had just demonstrated that healing is a good thing and it is the Father’s will to heal even on the Sabbath. They came because they believed. Matthew notes the result very simply: “He healed them all.”

Jesus healed the multitude, then strictly admonished them not to make it widely known. He wanted to avoid the additional publicity, perhaps because He did not wish to exacerbate the situation of the Pharisees and confirm them in their hardness of heart, for there were still some among them who were open to His message. Matthew sees in this reticence a fulfillment of what Isaiah foretold:
Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen,
My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!
I will put My Spirit upon Him,
And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.
He will not quarrel nor cry out,
Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench,
Till He sends forth justice to victory;
And in His name Gentiles will trust.
(Matthew 12:18-31, quoting Isaiah 42:1-4)
Though that passage may also have had a reference to Israel, the Servant whom God chose, in whom He was well pleased and upon whom He put His Spirit is the Lord Jesus (see Matthew 3:16-17). He was not a political agitator. He did not come as a rabble-rouser or one who stirs up treason. He did not get into shouting matches. He did not treat harshly those who were brokenhearted or fading into despair, the “bruised reeds” and “smoking flaxes.” He came for a larger purpose: to declare justice and set things right, not just for Israel, but for all the nations. He not only declared justice, He has been bringing it forth, and His cause will be victorious.

His conquest does not come by military combat or political maneuverings, but by the preaching of the gospel. Before He ascended to heaven, He declared that all authority in heaven and earth had been given to Him. Then He commissioned His disciples to go and “make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:18-19). This commission will not fail but be fulfilled, and justice shall come to all the nations through the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ.

The kingdom of Heaven on Earth does not come by political manipulation or military conquest, but by quiet revolution — the preaching of the gospel.



The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Keys to the Kingdom of God
in the Gospel of Matthew

by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The Kingdom of Sabbath Rest

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30).

For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:8)
Early Jewish tradition spoke about taking on the “yoke” of the Law of Moses. However, this was a hard yoke that no one was able to bear. When a group of legalistic Jewish believers wanted to impose the law on Gentile Christians, Peter rose up at the Jerusalem council and said, “Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” (Acts 15:10). In Romans 7, Paul details his own desperate struggle — and ultimate failure — to bear this bondage and uphold the law, finally finding deliverance in Jesus Christ (v. 25). The centerpiece of his letter to the Galatians is found in 5:1, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”

Jesus calls us to a different yoke. Not the yoke of Moses, which He came to fulfill (Matthew 5:17), but His own. To take His yoke means that we must set aside all other yokes. Formerly, the law was a “tutor” whose purpose was to bring us to Christ. Now that He has come, we take His yoke and learn of Him. The yoke of the law was heavy and difficult; the yoke of Jesus is easy and light. It is a yoke of freedom, not of bondage, and the promise of Jesus is that by taking His yoke, we will find rest for our souls.

The rest we find in the Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law and the Sabbath rest it required. The Sabbath was a type; Jesus is the full realization to which the Sabbath could only point. Indeed, Jesus called Himself the “Lord of the Sabbath.”

One day, as Jesus was walking through a field of grain, His disciples helped themselves to a little bit of it and ate. This was on a Sabbath. A group of Pharisees witnessed this and were upset. Not because of what they did — that was quite acceptable by law and custom — but by when they did it. They complained to Jesus, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” But Jesus said to them:
Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:3-8)
Jesus vindicated the act of His disciples by comparing it with three examples from the Law and the Prophets:
  • It was not lawful for David to eat the sacred bread, which was a special offering to the Lord to be eaten only by the priests. Yet the necessity of hunger prevailed. How much more would this be true of Jesus, who was recognized with the messianic title Son of David (Matthew 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30-31; 21:9)? He accepted this designation, and even argued later that, not only was He the Son of David but He was also greater than David was because He was David’s Lord (Matthew 22:41-46).
  • It was not lawful to work on the Sabbath, and yet the priests of the Lord did not refrain from their work on that holy day. If the service of the Temple was exempt, then how much more would this be true of Jesus, who was greater than the Temple? On another occasion, He even compared His body to the Temple: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:18-22).
  • God desires mercy more than sacrifice. That is what the Lord said by the prophet Hosea: “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6). There is a principle that is greater than the requirement of the law and that is the mercy of God.
As if the Pharisees were not already scandalized enough by what Jesus said, He concluded with this declaration: “For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Here was another designation with messianic implication, for “Son of Man” spoke explicitly of the humanity of Jesus, but it also implied His divinity. As Messiah and Lord, Jesus was greater than the Sabbath.

Jesus then went into their synagogue where, seeing a man who had a withered hand, the Pharisees asked, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” (Matthew 12:10) They were still looking for a way to entrap Him. Turning the table on them, Jesus asked, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?” (v. 11).

No one answered; it was an accepted practice to rescue one’s livestock, even on the Sabbath. Then Jesus answered them, while at the same time revealing the hypocrisy of their question. “Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (v. 12). Then to prove the point, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” The man stretched out his hand and it was healed (v. 13). The Pharisees were livid, and went out, plotting how they might destroy Jesus.

Jesus is the fulfillment of the Sabbath, the Temple, the Law of Moses and the promise God made to David. He calls us to set aside all other yokes and take up His, for it is easy and His burden is light, and we shall find rest for our souls. For the kingdom of Heaven on Earth is a kingdom of Sabbath rest.



The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Keys to the Kingdom of God
in the Gospel of Matthew

by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

A Kingdom That Divides

Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. (Matthew 10:11-14)
Jesus sent the disciples out to preach the kingdom and manifest the signs of it, but He cautioned them that not everyone would receive it. There would be persecution ahead. Some would be hospitable to them and believe their message; others would reject it. Those who received would have a blessing of peace given to them; for those who turned away the message, and the messengers, there was no blessing to offer. We will see Jesus talk about this again in Matthew 25:31-45, where He speaks of the division of the sheep and the goats based on how they receive His disciples. The principle, implied here but much more explicit there, is found in Matthew 25:40, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to Me.” (See Those Who Will Inherit the Kingdom)

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves,” Jesus said, “Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). They would need to have great prudence and be innocent of evil. He warned them that they would be brought up and accused before Jewish councils, and flogged in the synagogues (v. 17). They would be betrayed to Gentile governors and kings, but the Holy Spirit would show them what to say (vv. 18-20). They would be widely hated in Israel because of Jesus’ name, and persecuted from city to city for being His disciples. Just as their Master would be despised, so they would be, too. It would be a comfort to be in such good company as His (vv. 21-25).

“Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known” (v. 26). The true nature of things would be made manifest. What was now being revealed to them in secret, they would soon preach abroad (v. 27). Though men may put to death the body, they cannot touch the soul (v. 28). The God who takes care of the sparrows, which are of very little value in the marketplace, knows the number of hairs on our heads, because we are of far greater value to Him (vv. 29-31).

“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven” (vv. 32-33). Here is the great dividing line: Whoever believes and confesses the gospel of Jesus Christ openly on earth will be acknowledged before God in heaven by the Lord Jesus. Whoever rejects Him on earth will be denied by Him in heaven. It is a sobering judgment, a sword that will even separate family members from one another. But if one chooses Jesus as King, he must love Him even more than father, mother, daughter and son (vv. 34-37).

All these things awaited the disciples as they fulfilled this great commission, and came to pass within a generation, after Jesus went to the Cross. His Cross became a cross each of us must bear (v. 38). It is the cost of following Jesus (was the scribe who promised to follow Him everywhere really ready for this?). It is the difference between losing life and finding it. “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it” (v. 39).

Now Jesus returned again to the reward for those who receive the ministry of the disciples:
He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward. (Matthew 10:40-42)
The kingdom of Heaven on Earth is a reward for those who believe the message of the gospel brought by the disciples. The cost for confessing the Lord Jesus may be great, but the cost for rejecting Him is infinitely greater.



The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Keys to the Kingdom of God
in the Gospel of Matthew

by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Following the King

And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” (Matthew 8:18-22)

As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. (Matthew 9:9)
What does it mean to follow the King? Matthew gives us three vignettes. The first is about a scribe, a teacher of the law quite taken with Jesus and His message. He said, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever you go.” There is no reason to doubt that he meant it, as least as much as he understood it. But did he really know what he was asking? Jesus laid it out for him: “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” He was not speaking of a life of poverty, but a life lived on a different basis. Follow Jesus and there is no telling where you might end up. Where He was heading, there was also a lot of persecution for Him and his disciples to endure (see Matthew 10:16-26). To follow Jesus is to step away from the security offered by the world and live in full dependence on Him.

The second brief story is about “another of His disciples,” which seems to indicate that the scribe of the first story really was also a disciple of Jesus, at least at some level. This second disciple wanted to follow Jesus, but first desired to go and bury his father. If he was the oldest son, it would have been his responsibility to do so. Since he was out in public, he was no longer in the private mourning period, which indicates that his father’s body had already been placed in the tomb. But it was the custom of Jews back then to go back a year later and gather up the bones and place them in a special box called an ossuary. That is likely what this man is referring to.

However, in practical terms, “Let me bury my father,” meant, “Lord, I can’t follow you this year. Let me wait until next year.” Jesus answered, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” He was not speaking against the burial custom or the young man’s sense of responsibility to honor his father. He was directing the man to the proper perspective. Had not the young man heard Him preach earlier, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”? That set the priority concerning everything, even family matters. “Follow Me,” Jesus said, and everything else that is needed will be properly tended. “Let the dead bury their own dead.” The man’s father would be reburied by those who stayed behind. It was a secondary matter, as are all things when the King has come. The main thing is to follow the King.

A little later in his Gospel, Matthew tells of another call to follow Jesus — his own. Matthew was a tax collector, probably a customs agent, working for the Herodian system that was much despised by the Jewish people. He was sitting at his booth one day when Jesus came and said, “Follow Me.” We do not know how the first two men responded, whether or not they followed Jesus with a deeper understanding and commitment, be we do know about Matthew: “So he arose and followed Him.” We do not know the issues of his heart which brought him to his decision, but he decided to leave behind the security of his position, which was lucrative, and make the kingdom of God his priority.

Matthew then threw a party for Jesus and His disciples (Luke 5:29 tells us this was at Matthew’s house), and many of own his friends and fellow tax collectors came, too. The Pharisees were once again offended. “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Though they were neither brave enough nor polite enough to ask Him directly, Jesus heard their remarks and said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matthew 9:12-13).

The kingdom of Heaven on Earth is not for those who deem themselves righteous but for those who recognize their need of repentance. The repentance required is not only about turning away from the works of darkness, but also about turning from the dead works of religion (sacrifice without mercy) to the “physician” of souls.

To who follow the King we must recognize our need of Him, give up the security of the world and depend on Him alone, and make His kingdom our priority. Those who do will see His kingdom, Heaven of Earth.



The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Keys to the Kingdom of God
in the Gospel of Matthew

by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Friday, July 25, 2008

The Willingness of Heaven on Earth

When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. (Matthew 8:1-3)
In the Sermon of Heaven on Earth, Jesus taught them to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The kingdom of God is the will of God being done on earth just as it is being done in heaven. When He came down from the mount, a leper came and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can heal me.” He had no doubt that Jesus had the power an authority to heal, but what He wanted to know what was the will of God in the matter. Would cleansing him of leprosy demonstrate the will of God being done on earth as it is in heaven?

This was the only time anyone asked Jesus if He was willing to heal, and He settled the question: “I am willing; be cleansed.” And the man was healed of leprosy.

Jesus then went into Capernaum, where he was met by a Roman centurion who desired Him to heal his servant, who was at home paralyzed. Jesus again demonstrated the willingness of heaven to be manifested on earth. “I will come and heal him,” He said (Matthew 8:5-13)

Next, Jesus came to Peter’s house, where Peter’s mother-in-law was sick with fever. Jesus touched her hand and the fever left her (Matthew 8:14-15). That evening, people came to the house bringing many who were demonized and sick. Jesus cast out the demons and healed all who were sick (Matthew 8:16-17). It was the will of God being done on earth as it is in heaven.

A little while later, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee to the country of the Gergesenes, where He was met by two men who were violently demon-possessed, and He cast out the evil spirits (Matthew 8:28-34). Then He got back into the boat and came back across to His own town, where He healed a paralytic who had been brought to Him by his friends.

“Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you,” He said. When some of the scribes fumed over this, thinking Jesus a blasphemer, He said,
Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven you,” or to say, “Arise and walk”? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, — then He said to the paralytic “Arise, take up your bed and go to your house.”
The man got up, took his bed and went home. The crowds marveled and gave God glory, because Jesus showed it was the will of God in heaven to release His power on earth to heal sickness and forgive sins (Matthew 9:1-8).

Not long afterwards, a ruler in the synagogue asked Jesus to come home and lay His hand on his daughter so that she would live. Jesus was willing, so He got up and followed him. Along the way, a woman who suffered from constant bleeding came up behind Jesus to touch the hem of His garment. “Be of good cheer, daughter, your faith has made you well,” He told her, and the woman was healed. Jesus was completely willing for her to receive it. Arriving at the house of the synagogue ruler, Jesus went in and raised the dead girl to life, for it is the will of God in heaven that even the dead be restored on earth (Matthew 9:18-26)

When Jesus left there, two blind men began to follow Him, crying out, “Son of David, have mercy on us.” Jesus stopped and said, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They answered, “Yes, Lord.” He touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be to you.” They believed that He was both able and willing to grant their request, and they received their sight (Matthew 9:27-31).

Then a man was brought to Him, who was mute and demonized. Jesus cast out the demon and the man was able to speak. The crowds were amazed. “It was never seen like this in Israel.” But the Pharisees had no understanding of the will of God in heaven. They answered, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.”

Jesus did not turn away anyone who came to Him in faith, but granted them whatever they were seeking. For the kingdom of Heaven on Earth is the willingness of God to forgive sins, heal diseases, and set the captives free.



The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Keys to the Kingdom of God
in the Gospel of Matthew

by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Monday, June 16, 2008

The Table of the Kingdom

But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom. (Matthew 26:29)

With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.… Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. (Luke 22:15-18)
The Table of the Lord speaks of the fulfillment of the kingdom of God. Jesus said that the kingdom is already “at hand” (Matthew 4:17), which is an idiomatic way of saying that is now here. Indeed, Jesus speaks of it as being present within His disciples (Luke 17:21). But it is not yet fulfilled, that is, it has not yet come in all its completeness. This will not happen until the King Himself returns.

In Matthew’s reading, the word “new,” does not speak of newness of time but of quality, the quality of kingdom fullness. In this way, The Table of the Lord is a sign of the return of the King. Paul reminds us, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

Not only is this Table a sign of the Father’s kingdom, it also shows that we are participants in that kingdom, that we truly belong to it, for the Lord promises that He will drink of it with us. However, we participate in His kingdom not merely as servants but as sons. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). Through faith in Jesus Christ, we become the sons of God, and as sons, heirs of His kingdom. Jesus said, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). It is our inheritance.

The Table of the Lord is the sign that, though the kingdom of Heaven on Earth is already present and active within us, we shall one day experience it in all its fullness when Jesus returns.



The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Keys to the Kingdom of God
in the Gospel of Matthew

by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Those Who Inherit the Kingdom

Then the King will say to the sheep on His right hand, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 25:34)
This promise is from the parable of the sheep and the goats, a teaching that is often cited but frequently misunderstood.
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?”

The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.”

They also will answer, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?”

He will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”

Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. (Matthew 25:31-46)
There are two groups: the sheep and the goats. These are the nations of the world, not just the governmental entities, but all people. In Bible times, sheep were highly valued while goats were something of a nuisance and almost worthless.

Jesus is the Son of Man, the King who separates the nations as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The sheep are lined up at His right hand, the hand of favor; the goats are placed at His left hand, signifying dishonor.

What is the basis for this separation? That is where many people misinterpret this parable. They think that it based on how the poor and needy in general are treated. That is, those who remember the poor and needy, and treat them well, are the sheep; those who neglect them are the goats.

Certainly we should always be mindful of the poor and needy to be hospitable toward them and show them kindness. God has always displayed His heart for the poor, and every good Jew in Jesus’ day would have understood that it was part of his moral duty to look after them properly. The same is required of Christians today.

That, however, is not what Jesus is talking about in this parable. He is not referring to the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned in general. He is speaking about a particular group: “these My brethren.” Earlier in Matthew, Jesus clearly identified who are His brothers.
While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:46-50)
Who are His brothers? Those who do the will of His Father. When asked, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God,” Jesus answered, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:28-29). His disciples — all who confess Jesus Christ as Savior and King — are His brothers. To receive them is to receive Him; to reject them is to reject Him. Jesus said,
He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward. (Matthew 10:40-42)
To receive Jesus’ disciples is to receive the message they bring — the gospel of Christ — and thus receive the Lord Jesus Himself. How we respond is the difference between eternal life and everlasting punishment.

The whole world is divided into two groups: those who receive the gospel of Christ and those who reject it. Those who receive it are blessed. They inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world — the kingdom of Heaven on Earth.



The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Keys to the Kingdom of God
in the Gospel of Matthew

by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Friday, May 9, 2008

A Kingdom of Faithfulness

Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord. (Matthew 25:21)
In the previous parable (see A Kingdom for the Prepared), Jesus cautioned us to be prepared for His return. In this parable, He tells us how.
The kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. (Matthew 25:14-15)
Notice that each servant was given an amount “according to his own ability.” Nobody was given what he could not handle. But whatever the amount given, the master expected it to be put to use.
Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. (Matthew 25:16-18)
The first two servants put their talents to use. When the master returned he found that they had both doubled his money. Perhaps they each developed a business which was very profitable. Or perhaps they simply put it out at interest. Six to eight per cent was a common rate in those days, and they would have easily been able to double their money in nine to twelve years. Maybe that is how long the master had been gone.

The third servant, however, simply buried his talent in the ground. He had the ability to do more, and the opportunity to double his master’s money just as the others did, but he did nothing.
After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, “Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.” His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”

He also who had received two talents came and said, “Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.” His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” (Matthew 25:19-23)
Notice what the issue here is: faithfulness. Remember that each servant had been given funds to manage according to his ability. Competency was not an issue — all were competent, but not all were faithful. The Greek word for “faithful” is pistos, which is the same word for “faith.” Today we often think of faithfulness as loyalty and trustworthiness. But at its core, there is a very important element of faith. These first two servants were both faithful because they had faith in their master, his words and his purpose. They were trustworthy because they trusted. The master sees a very important correlation concerning faithfulness: Those who are faithful in a few things will be faithful in many things.
Then he who had received the one talent came and said, “Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.”

But his lord answered and said to him, “You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
The problem with the third servant is that he did not trust his master. He saw him as hard, stingy and oppressive, someone who exploited the labor of others. Because he had no faith, he was full of fear: “I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground.” It is like the answer Adam gave after he sinned, and God asked him, “Where are you?” Adam said, “I was afraid … and I hid” (Genesis 3:9-10).

The servant did not really know his master, but the master had his servant pretty well pegged — wicked and lazy! The master took on his servant’s argument, though he did not agree with it. “So if you thought I was oppressive, and an exploiter”—that was the sense of is his words — “then you should have put my money with the bankers so that I would at least have a little return on my investment.” Taking the money to the Exchange really would have taken no more effort than to bury it in the ground. It would have been just as safe, if not safer, and would have gathered interest — sweat free. How lazy does a person have to be to pass that one up? But the servant not only lacked faith, he was paralyzed with fear.

Now consider the consequences. The first two servants, because they were faithful in little things, were made rulers over great things, while the fearful servant lost even the one talent he had; it was given to the one who now had ten talents. Faithful diligence brings abundance, but those who are lazy and fearful will lose all they have.

The kingdom of Heaven on Earth is all about the rule and reign of God. He is looking for who will trust Him completely and obey Him diligently, even in little things, so that He may make them rulers over great things. The reward is both now and forever.



The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Keys to the Kingdom of God
in the Gospel of Matthew

by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

A Kingdom for the Prepared

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. (Matthew 25:13)
When the gospel of the kingdom has been preached in all the world, the end of the age will come and Jesus, the Son of Man, will appear in all His glory. This calls for preparedness, so Jesus gives us the parable of the Ten Virgins:
Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: “Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!” Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the wise answered, saying, “No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.” And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us!” But he answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.” (Matthew 25:1-12)
Then Jesus draws the conclusion: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (v. 13). The Greek word for “watch” literally means to keep awake. In this context, it means to be vigilant or stay ready. It is a call to preparedness, for the return of Jesus Christ is certain, though we do not know exactly when that will be.

The Son of Man will surely return someday. Will you be ready to meet Him? The kingdom of Heaven on earth belongs to those who are prepared.



The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Keys to the Kingdom of God
in the Gospel of Matthew

by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.