What springs to your mind when you hear: “the kingdom of God”?
For the last three Sundays, including today, we have listened to a number of made-up stories told by Jesus to his audience, a motley crew of people interested in what He was teaching. All those stories – known as parables – had an educational purpose: presenting various aspects of “the kingdom of God”. Each parable was introduced by the phrase: “The kingdom of heaven is like…” This phrase, specific to St Matthew’s gospel, unintentionally points us towards “heaven”, something we automatically associate with the afterlife. But this cannot be right. The first recorded sentence uttered by Jesus at the beginning of His public ministry was this: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.” (Matthew 4:17) Surely, He didn’t mean any immediate mass extinction of those he’d addressed. The slightly misleading phrase “the kingdom of heaven” was specifically used by St Matthew instead of “the kingdom of God”, commonly found in the other gospels. Most biblical scholars agree that both terms have an identical meaning. Moreover, based on so many instances when Jesus talked about “the kingdom of God/heaven”, he certainly didn’t mean a distant afterlife.
“Once, Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” (Luke 17:20-21) The question presumed that the kingdom of God would be a political system of firstly liberating Israel and then governing the re-established independent kingdom of Israel, as had happened before in the times of the Maccabees. After their successful revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BC they established a fully independent kingdom, reasserted the Jewish religion, expanded the boundaries of Judea by conquest, and reduced any foreign cultural influence. In the times of Jesus, the memory of that kingdom was still fresh and alive; some elderly people might have even remembered it. But Jesus rejected the notion that “the kingdom of God” He was proclaiming and announcing was a template for a political system of governance. Jesus wasn’t promoting a theocracy; a political system where religious law is codified as the law of the land. The past Christian theocracies, as well as the modern Islamic ones, clearly show that this is a bad idea.
Having dealt with two misconceptions regarding “the kingdom of God”, we ought to find out in a positive manner what, in fact, it was or is about.
Jesus’ opening call: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand”, can give a very important clue when we dig a bit deeper into it. The English translation of the first word is deficient for two reasons. In English, we rarely use so-called reflexive verbs, commonly used in other European languages. The action described by the verb is directed at the one who does the action, for example, “I wash myself” or “he washes himself”. When I was writing these phrases, my word processor underlined them as incorrect, confirming that reflexive verbs are rare in English. Secondly, the word “repent” used in the translation of Jesus’ call touches only on one narrow meaning of the Greek word “metanoia”. It requires a descriptive translation as “a transformative change of heart” (Merriam-Webster), a change of mind, and a rearrangement of priorities. A moral change in life is a consequence of that transformative change of heart. Jesus started his public ministry by calling people to change their own hearts and minds – repent yourselves – to make the kingdom of God happen. Its proclaimed proximity (“the kingdom of heaven is close at hand”) wasn’t physical, geographical or political. It becomes present as a result of the metanoia.
The story of the newly crowned king Solomon in the first reading is a good insight into the meaning of such a personal, individual transformation. Given the opportunity to have a wish, he pleaded for “a heart to understand how to discern between good and evil, [to] govern this people of yours that is so great.” In simple terms, King Solomon wanted to serve his subjects well. As the biblical author noted: “It pleased the Lord.” Solomon’s request was then contrasted with other, more obvious choices: “[you did] not ask for long life for yourself or riches or the lives of your enemies.” In other words, he could have asked for things that would make his heart content.
Like King Solomon, the hardest challenge we face in life is our selfishness and self-centeredness combined with insecurities and fears. We hold on to various things to sate the former and alleviate the latter. They either offer us a sense of importance or safety or both. But they can hold us back, averse to the risk of trusting God. That’s what two of today’s parables addressed. In order to acquire the found treasure and the pearl of great value, the respective individuals had to sell everything they owned. Between getting rid of their possessions and getting their hands on the prizes, there was a gap, the time of their greatest vulnerability. Fear of such a state of insecurity often stops us from committing to the greater good. There’s no need to be afraid if we believe what St Paul wrote in today’s second reading: “We know that by turning everything to their good, God co-operates with all those who love him, with all those he has called according to his purpose.” The kingdom of God isn’t a state of mind but rather God’s presence within you: “I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come into you and eat with you, and you with me.” (Apocalypse 3:20)
