What Kind of Kingdom is This? (Luke 13:18-35)
Wednesday, March 30 - What Kind of Kingdom is This?
Read Luke 13:18-35 
What kind of kingdom is this?
People wondered in Jesus’ day; we wonder, too. For it is a very strange kingdom Jesus is announcing.
People wondered in Jesus’ day; we wonder, too. For it is a very strange kingdom Jesus is announcing.
He welcomed the wrong people. He offended the wrong people. He said we were to love our enemies. He said we were to treat everyone as our neighbor. He made cryptic statements about dying in Jerusalem. Surely, he couldn’t be serious?
What kind of kingdom is this?
Jesus says the kingdom is like a mustard seed in the garden, and like leaven in the bread. What is that supposed to mean?
Perhaps this: His kingdom starts small and works from the inside out. A tiny seed planted in the garden becomes a large tree. A small bit of leaven, working from within, leavens the entire loaf. Large trees from small seeds. Transformation from within, not from without.
What kind of kingdom is this?
And what of his words about narrow doors and gnashing teeth? People who think they’re on the inside may find themselves on the outside. People who seem to be on the outside might find themselves on the inside.
Perhaps this: the people of Israel, who assumed the kingdom was their birthright, were in danger of finding themselves on the outside looking in. And many who had been excluded from God’s blessing in the past (Gentiles, lepers, crippled women, tax collectors, etc.), were being welcomed into the kingdom. A whole new day was dawning.
What kind of kingdom is this?
Jesus is warned that Herod is after him, but he seems not to care. Instead, it almost appears as if he is calling Herod out: “Go tell that fox….” Does he have some kind of death wish?”
But just when we think he is unaccountably brash, he weeps over his beloved city: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,” he says. “How often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
His heart breaks over the belligerence of the very people he has come to rescue. Like a mother hen who gives her life save her chicks, will Jesus give his life to save his people? And if he does, will they still reject him?
What kind of kingdom is this?
It is a kingdom like no other kingdom before or since. In Jesus’ kingdom, outcasts are welcomed and insiders are challenged. It is a kingdom which, like leaven in bread, transforms from the inside out, not the outside in. It is a kingdom which, unlike Herod, cares little for political power, and like a mother hen, lays down its life for her children.
“Lord, help me to live by the values of your kingdom, not the kingdoms of this world. Let your kingdom come, let your will be done, in Cave Creek as it is in heaven.”
What kind of kingdom is this?
Jesus says the kingdom is like a mustard seed in the garden, and like leaven in the bread. What is that supposed to mean?
Perhaps this: His kingdom starts small and works from the inside out. A tiny seed planted in the garden becomes a large tree. A small bit of leaven, working from within, leavens the entire loaf. Large trees from small seeds. Transformation from within, not from without.
What kind of kingdom is this?
And what of his words about narrow doors and gnashing teeth? People who think they’re on the inside may find themselves on the outside. People who seem to be on the outside might find themselves on the inside.
Perhaps this: the people of Israel, who assumed the kingdom was their birthright, were in danger of finding themselves on the outside looking in. And many who had been excluded from God’s blessing in the past (Gentiles, lepers, crippled women, tax collectors, etc.), were being welcomed into the kingdom. A whole new day was dawning.
What kind of kingdom is this?
Jesus is warned that Herod is after him, but he seems not to care. Instead, it almost appears as if he is calling Herod out: “Go tell that fox….” Does he have some kind of death wish?”
But just when we think he is unaccountably brash, he weeps over his beloved city: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,” he says. “How often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
His heart breaks over the belligerence of the very people he has come to rescue. Like a mother hen who gives her life save her chicks, will Jesus give his life to save his people? And if he does, will they still reject him?
What kind of kingdom is this?
It is a kingdom like no other kingdom before or since. In Jesus’ kingdom, outcasts are welcomed and insiders are challenged. It is a kingdom which, like leaven in bread, transforms from the inside out, not the outside in. It is a kingdom which, unlike Herod, cares little for political power, and like a mother hen, lays down its life for her children.
“Lord, help me to live by the values of your kingdom, not the kingdoms of this world. Let your kingdom come, let your will be done, in Cave Creek as it is in heaven.”