The Kingdom of God is Near
And now we have a change of Prime Minister and the real possibility of an early election. I’m not telling you how you should vote, but it is important that you vote – even if you are sceptical about the outcome!
The real issues relate to the underpinnings of our society.
We may be disturbed by this or that policy – or casual comment – of our
political leaders. We may be deeply troubled by increases in violence and a decline
of moral standards in our society. Perhaps we panic at the thought of global
warming or are concerned at the distortions and politicisation of the whole
question of climate change. We may well wonder about the kind of world our
grandchildren and great grandchildren will face… All these and more are
significant issues of our day. Some of them are issues such are brought down
the
The Kingdom
of God
Jesus had sent out the twelve two-by-two – we read that in
Luke chapter 9.1-6. Their specific task was “to preach the
Now (Lk 10.1ff), a little while later, he was sending out
seventy-two two-by-two (some manuscripts say seventy, but that’s not a critical
difference). Seventy-two “others” – this time the twelve disciples stayed with
Jesus. The seventy-two brought the same message, “The
The
But there was a Fall. The original human beings listened to Satan and chose to disobey the Creator, to break from his Rule, to live autonomous lives – with the false promise that this would make them wise like God. This choice wasn’t only a disaster for Adam, Eve and their descendants – it sent shockwaves through the whole of creation.
Life can never be the same again – we can’t get back to
The chosen people were waiting – or were they? Successive foreign nations had overpowered them. Currently they were under Roman rule. They wanted a Messiah to deliver them – from the oppression of foreign rule. But what about the Rule of God? What of their relationship with God. Their rituals and sacrifices weren’t the real thing. They were pointers and promises of God’s grace.
Right now the Messiah has come. He says that the one who
hears his words and does them is like a wise man who built his house on a rock.
His words have an authority and immediacy – quite unlike any other. But is he
really the one? He’s a northerner – comes from
The
Korazim
Back
in February 2001, I had the opportunity to visit
The black basalt ruins are some ten kilometres from
The
historical interpretation informed us that this first-century town probably
benefitted from an influx of Jews following the exile from
The Bible doesn’t tell us much about what happened in Korazin – but it does say what didn’t happen there!
Jesus was on his way to
But
other towns wouldn’t welcome them. They were to wipe the dust off their sandals
and leave the town with the clear message that, in spite of their rejection,
“the
That had already been their experience in
Korazim had witnessed very
significant miracles (though there is no other reference to these in the New
Testament).
Welcome the King!
The
It is plain good sense not to resist and reject till, like Korazim, there is nothing left but God’s judgment. God is offering his love, his forgiveness, his life. We’d be fools to slip up on that!
The King himself is near. His offer is forgiveness and a whole new life. Now is the time to welcome him and to spread the good news so that others will welcome him too.
© Peter J. Blackburn, Halifax &
Ingham, 4 July 2010
Except where otherwise noted, Scripture
quotations are from the New International Version, © International Bible
Society, 1984.
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