When Jesus hears John is imprisoned, He leaves the area of John’s ministry and returns north to the area around the Sea of Galilee and begins His public ministry. The message He preaches in His public ministry was: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!” (Matthew 4: 17)
Those familiar with their Bibles will note this message Jesus began to preach is the very same one that John the Baptist was preaching.
“In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’” (Matthew 3: 1, 2)
The message of John and Jesus for the Jewish nation would have been clear to them. Turn away from your sins, because the long-awaited Messiah is near.
The Greek word for kingdom is also an action. A king rules or reigns. In the original Greek, a kingdom means not just the place where the king reigns or the people over whom he reigns, but also is the ruling or reigning activity of the king. When Jesus and John say that “the kingdom of heaven is near” they are not just saying the physical kingdom of heaven is near but are also saying the ruling activity of the kingdom of heaven is near. The one who rules in heaven is near.
So for the Jews this message was very much about the coming Messiah and His ruling activity. It is a message of utmost urgency. They were being told to get ready with urgency, to prepare themselves, because what they had longed for – for generations – was about to occur.
Unfortunately for the Jews they, for the most part, missed the message. For them the ruling activity of their long-awaited Messiah was to include overthrowing the Romans. They were looking for a worldly king as their Messiah and were not able to see the ruling activity of Jesus as their Messiah.
Over and over in the Gospels we see the words or similar words “Scripture was fulfilled in Him” yet the Jews did not see their Messiah or His ruling actions. In addition to His preaching ministry those ruling actions also included healing the sick, raising the dead, and driving out demons. By these actions Jesus demonstrated His authority over death, Satan, and disease. Yet, for the most part, the Jews and in particular their leaders did not see the Kingdom of Heaven, that is the kingdom of their long-awaited Messiah, in their midst.
The Jews paid a terrible price for not recognizing Jesus and His ruling activity. Jesus Himself prophesied what that price would be.
“The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” (Luke 19: 43 & 44)
We know this prophecy was fulfilled in 70AD when the Romans came and destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. They burned the temple and tore the walls of the city and temple down. So, the Jews paid a terrible price for missing the Messiah and not recognizing His ruling activity. Their temple has not been rebuilt to this day, and so their system of sacrifice, which was so essential to their worship, has also not resumed.
That is not unplanned by God, not an accident. That system of sacrifices became redundant after Jesus Christ became the ultimate sacrifice as the Lamb of God. Jesus willingly gave His life as payment for our sin. No sacrifice for payment of sin was required thereafter.
However, the fact the Jews did not recognize their Messiah proved to be a great benefit to the rest of the world. Because the Jews rejected their Messiah, the Gentiles have been evangelized and now make up the vast majority of those now in the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.
“Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles.” (Romans 11: 11b & 12)
We, as the Gentiles, or non-Jews, have had the Gospel preached to us because the Jews rejected and did not recognize their Messiah. They were looking for a worldly king, not a suffering servant.
As Christians, we need to realize this message of John and Jesus was not just for the Jews, it was and is an eternal message. It is as important and urgent for us today as it was 2,000 years ago. Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.
Sadly, many today also do not recognize the ruling activity of Jesus. They see no reason to repent since they do not recognize the sin in their lives they inherited from Adam or the sin that is daily in their lives. They live for this world only and like the Jews who did not recognize their Messiah, will miss the resurrection we all look forward to that results in life eternal.
Pray for those around you in this blind state and witness to them the desire of God “who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)
We have that knowledge and have been commissioned to share it.
Blessings!
Rev. Terry Goerz,
Redeemer Lutheran Church.