Jesus preached the Kingdom but the Church came!
The Kingdom of God and the church are not the same thing – the church is primarily a vehicle for preaching the kingdom. What Jesus was seeking to do was to promote Israel’s vocation to be a “blessing for the world”. He proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom in the tradition of Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel.
The “reign of God” was a second temple expectation. It would manifest itself in a complete turning of tables. It would usher in a new deliverance that would give hope to all; especially those on the margins. To declare that tax-collectors, sinners and prostitutes were “children of God’s Kingdom” was very provocative for it demonstrated that they things are is not right and he is going to change that. And this drew the ire of the establishment.
It also launches an all-out attack on any form of evil in its many manifestations; oppression, demon-possession, sickness, suffering… These evils proved beyond doubt to the people of Jesus’ day that Satan was Lord of the World. So Jesus attacks it head on and “saves” people from the bonds of satan.
Jesus also hugely emphasizes repentance and forgiveness. By this he “saves” us from all forms of alienation – dissolving the walls of hatred and alienation.
The word save (sozein) in the New Testament is thus used to deliver us from physical and moral impairments. We continue the work today through our healing outreach and working for social justice; i.e. campaigning against human trafficking…
In the synagogue Jesus chooses the text from Isa – The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach the good news to the poor and bind up the afflicted – to describe his mission. He was declaring in this that through him the Kingdom was breaking into the world. It was NOW but not yet fulfilled – the parables show us that this is a growth process – Mustard seed etc.
He preached the Good News to the poor – for the Kingdom was open to all people – it was NOT elitist as so many sects were; e.g. the Essenes. To fully gather the flock of Israel he intentionally targeted those on the margins – “The Lost Sheep…”
Therefore, he taught his disciple to pray for the coming of the Kingdom – “Thy Kingdom come..” The Our Father calls the disciples to
- Godly living – but he did not impose a rule of life on them. (later the Didacheused for converts)
- Strive for the in breaking of the Kingdom. Healing people was a major element of Jesus ministry because it demonstrated to the people of the day that he had the power to break Satan’s grip on people. Another sign of the kingdom of God breaking through. Today we do this by freeing people from bondage of all types.
- Be repentant and forgiving
Note the preaching of the Kingdom is to be a force in the world that brings healing to the broken world. It is something that had to be done now and not some time in the future.
When did the Church Begin?
Many mark it at Pentecost but the church began just after Peter’s confession at Caesarea-Philippi – Jesus asked the question – “who do people say I am?” This is the midpoint in Mark’s gospel because now everything changes for Jesus sets his sights on Jerusalem and we get the teachings on discipleship.
Peter answered Jesus – you are the messiah and Son of God. After this the community become a group that affirmed the Messiahship and Lordship of Jesus. And it was this community that he sent out to PROCLAIM – THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND, TO HEAL THE SICK AND COMFORT THE AFFLICTED.
The climax of this is when he instructs the disciples to “GO THEREFORE AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL THE NATIONS…”Mt 28:28
Ekklesia (assembly) = Church
The Greek word ecclesiatranslated the Hebrew word kahal which denoted a group gathered for prayer or worship. The primitive church used it simply as that – the community gathered to pray; eg the ecclesia in Jerusalem or the ecclesia in Corinth… It was not used at this time to distinguish itself in any way from Judaism to which it was still intrinsically linked. Nor did a connote a universal organization at the time; that is much further down the road.
The ecclesia is in Paul’s words – ambassadors through whom God is making his appeal 2Cor 5:20