Today’s reading: Isaiah 65; Matthew 4
When Jesus started His ministry by preaching that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, He wasn't talking about what we see at the end of Revelation, where the kingdom comes in it's fullness, but about the inaugurated kingdom present on earth in Him and His followers.
If you're anything like me, you probably tend to think of the kingdom of heaven largely as a future reality. There will be a day that Jesus will return and establish an eternal kingdom of righteousness with Himself as the reigning king over all creation. We just talked about this a few days ago as we were reading through the end of Revelation and John saw the vision of the new heavens and the new earth. But what we can't lose sight of is the fact that when Jesus started His ministry, He wasn't walking around telling people, "The kingdom of heaven will be at hand in a couple thousand years, maybe, or maybe a lot longer after that... No one actually knows the day or the hour except the Father." He tells us that no one knows the day or the hour of the last day, the day of His ultimate return in glory, the judgment of all opposition, and the inauguration of His reign on the new earth, but as for the kingdom of heaven, He peached, from the very beginning of His ministry, that it is at hand.
Jesus was speaking to the Jewish expectation of the Messiah. They were expecting a savior from the line of David who would arise, crush Israel's enemies, and establish His kingdom on earth. So when Jesus starts telling them the kingdom of heaven is at hand, they are immediately going to think that their expectations are soon to be met. And while Jesus was not lying to them, He was not bringing the kingdom in the way they expected. The Jews thought He was there to establish a kingdom from Israel, but Jesus was there to establish a kingdom from all nations, fulfilling God's promise to Abraham that, through him, all the nations of the earth would be blessed.
Ultimately, I would say the kingdom of heaven came on Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on Jesus' followers first, and then on the Jews who responded to their preaching. This is why the New Testament authors refer to Christians as a royal priesthood, and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Yes, there is a future reality to the kingdom of heaven which we do not yet see, but we have to realize that the kingdom of heaven is also a very present reality in the Body of Christ, the church.
This is one of those unseen realities that, the more we recognize and believe it, the more it should shape the way we live. We live and abide by the rules of the nations to which we belong here in this world, but our true citizenship is in heaven, with a king who promises to judge and reward us for our faithfulness to Him and His rule during our lives. We are here in this world, as we see and experience it today, for only a short time, but will spend eternity in the fullness of Christ's kingdom, so which do we prioritize and live for day in and day out? I very easily get distracted from the reality of my being a citizen of the most real and meaningful kingdom that will ever exist, and instead just live for the here and now, as though what I see and experience of this world is the most meaningful and important.
I want to remember, more often, that the kingdom of heaven is not just future, but is my true reality today.
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