Subtitle: What’s politics got to do with it? (Got to do with it?)

Jesus’s preaching on the Kingdom of God was absolutely surprising to the original audience. Many of his parables were such that they taught about some aspect of the Kingdom that was against the common conception of what the Kingdom was supposed to look like. In this brief series, I will be looking at some of those misconceptions

“Jesus answered, ‘My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.’”
-John 18:36

Jesus was being charged on two different accounts. First, the Jewish leaders were charging him with blasphemy on the basis of equating himself with God, but because of the fact that Rome had granted Israel religious freedom, they would have nothing to do with those charges. So when Jesus was brought before Pilate, they said that he was guilty of insurrection against Caesar. Funny how things change. As I mentioned in the previous post, this was exactly what they were looking for in the messiah. So Jesus is here standing before Pilate, having a little one-on-one time, when he makes this surprising statement: “My Kingdom is not of this world.”

Jesus was admitting that he was a king- but not in the sense that everyone was thinking, and certainly not in the sense of a insurrectionist against Caesar. The Kingdom of God that was ushered in was not the same kind of kingdom that they were thinking of- that is, this kingdom was not a political kingdom. It was probably this declaration that made Pilate declare that he found no guilt in Christ- he certainly wasn’t trying to overthrow Caesar. If he was heading a revolt against Caesar in order to establish some political kingdom, then his followers would have tried to stop his trial from taking place. After all, what good is revolt when your leader is killed? No, this was not a worldly kingdom with political boundaries, but a kingdom that existed in spite of such boundaries. It was a Kingdom that would contain every tribe, tongue, and nation (Revelation 7:9)

Consider for a moment Colossians 3, where Paul is describing what the new community was to be like. After discussing the kingdom ethics over and against the false teaching at Colossae, Paul gives us a glance at what the new community looks like: “[there] is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free man.” The Kingdom of God that came in the person of Jesus Christ knows no political, ethnic, religious*, cultural, nor class bounds. It does not come through political activism- though that certain is an important part of being part of the new community (Romans 13). Racism, ethno-elitism, and class superiority are absolutely untenable in this kingdom. Those today who think they can usher in the Kingdom through such means have missed the point completely, but we will see this more when we look at our next Scripture. The Kingdom was not a worldly kingdom- something much more profound had broken into the scene.

“One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, ‘When will the Kingdom of God come?’
Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, “Here it is!” or “It’s over there!” For the Kingdom of God is already among you.’”
-Luke 17:20-21

Wordly kingdoms are visible. We can mark their boundaries on a map, or see their governments in action. But the Kingdom of God is not worldly, nor is it something that can be seen. Yet, says Christ, it is already among you. Some translations say that it is within you, but we usually understand that in a spiritual sense, i.e. the indwelling Holy Spirit. Though, this is true of believers, I think the best way to translate this verse is “among you,” because the audience Jesus was speaking to were outsiders to this Kingdom. Jesus would not be saying that they were indwelled with the Holy Spirit.

When we apply the idea that the Kingdom of God being invisible to believers, however, it makes sense much more sense to say “within you.” That is because one’s entrance into the Kingdom is through regeneration (John 3:3). This, of course, is a phenomenon that cannot be seen. We cannot tell who is inside or outside of the Kingdom just by looking at them. Again, I think Colossians bears this out really well:
“Focus your thoughts on those heavenly things, not on worldly things, for you have died and your life has been hidden with Christ in God. When Christ (who is your life) is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.”
Colossians 3:2-4 author’s translation)

The reality of our being citizens of the Kingdom of God is hidden. But notice what the text also says, one day, what is hidden will be revealed. When Christ appears at the end of time, those who are true citizens of his Kingdom will appear as they really are.

Unfortunately, there are some today who have completely missed the point- those who think that the Kingdom will be ushered in by political means as I mentioned above, and those who think that the Kingdom will be ushered in through visible means, a social Gospel. Christ has devestated both of those views- not only is his Kingdom not of this world, neither is it visible, where people can point to some act and say “there it is!”

Don’t mishear me. Political and social activism are good things. Indeed, we are called to do such things- but do not let us reverse how they appear. It is precisely because the Kingdom of God has appeared that these things make any difference, not because of these things the Kingdom of God will appear.  The reality of the situation is that as the Kingdom of God spreads across political boundaries, cultures, and tongues (the subject of the next post), lives are transformed through regenerartion and sanctification. It is when these changed people, members of the new community, go into their nations and cultures, will there be hope of any transformation of the nations and cultures themselves- it is as the Gospel of the Kingdom spreads that these things will come about, not vice versa.

The Kingdom of God is not like our worldly kingdoms which rise and fall like the waves of the sea, but it is much more glorious and magnificent. It is an everlasting Kingdom, which shall never be destoryed (Daniel 7:13-14).

Next: From Seemingly Insignificant Beginnings, to Unimaginable Endings.

*By this, I do not mean to say that all religions are viable for salvation. Christianity makes exclusive claims to that, and I believe that Salvation is only by faith in Christ. What I mean here is that there is no religion that gives anyone an edge in becoming a Christian, just as being one race instead of another gives anyone a better starting point.