By Angus Harley

We are continuing the Matthean, thematic, background to Matthew 24-25 with the theme of the heavenly and universal kingdom.

A HEAVENLY AND UNIVERSAL KINGDOM

To understand Matthew’s view of the kingdom of heaven, it has to be set against its Jewish counterpart.

The ‘Jewish’ kingdom

The Jews, including Jesus’ disciples, were locked into the idea of a this-world kingdom emanating from Jerusalem. That was the repeated imagery of the Psalms and the Latter Prophets, after all. The Messiah will return at the end of time to reverse Israel’s fate in spiritual ‘exile’ there in the land of Israel itself, gather the Israelites from the Diaspora, reconstitute the twelve tribes, and, once again, exalt Jerusalem as the Davidic, or messianic, center of God’s reign.  The nations will then flood into Jerusalem to bow the knee in homage, worshipping before Yahweh in the new temple (see Eze.40ff.).

Matthew’s kingdom of heaven

However, Matthew is not complying with this Jewish understanding of the Messianic kingdom. At least thirty-two times in Matthew is God’s “kingdom” said to be of “heaven”.

Danielic origin

This combo recalls the Danielic narrative that contrasts the kingdom of king Nebuchadnezzar with God’s kingdom that issues from heaven. God’s kingdom that is from heaven will set itself up on earth in opposition to the kings of the nations, for it comes to crush their kingdoms (Dan.2:37, 44). See in this teaching the contrast of warfare, of a kingdom created by the God of heaven’s hand that crushes earthly kings and kingdoms.

Heavenly in nature

Unlike the Danielic narrative that tells us of a kingdom merely originating from heaven, Matthew’s “kingdom of heaven” actually is heavenly in both origin and nature. By contrast, earthly kingdoms are both of this world and also earthly and physical in nature, marked by all the trappings of royalty and earthly majesty that we all know about. Christ’s presence itself represented a heavenly, spiritual, kingdom, not an earthly one, because his kingdom was “near” yet there were none of the earthly features of an earthly king or kingdom accompanying him. Nor did his kingdom authority set up a form of an earthly kingdom here on earth. Rather, he created subjects who were wholly spiritual in nature (e.g, 5:3, 10, 19, etc.). Thus, the first call of this kingdom was to, “ “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” ” (3:2). Jesus’ model for prayer, nevertheless, showed the mission of the heavenly kingdom was to invade and subdue the kingdoms of men, “ “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven” ” (6:10). The kingdom of God is literally his heavenly authority and reign that is then imposed on earth. In a similar vein of heaven’s conquest of earth, whatever the apostolic authority binds on earth, will be bound in heaven; and when the apostles loose on earth, it will be loosed in heaven (16:19; 18:18). This is because the apostles are not of earthly origin, but have been appointed by the king of heaven himself, the Christ, and therefore have the keys of the kingdom of heaven (16:19), not “to heaven” but “of the kingdom of heaven”. They are heavenly apostles in not only origin but also in function and nature.

Cosmic/celestial kingdom

Just as the kingdom of heaven is global in its reach, so is it universal or cosmic in its extent and reach. For the kingdom of God in heaven, its reign and power, extends over the entirety of creation, not just the sky and the earth, nor merely over earthly kingdoms, but over the entire material creation. Thus, God used “his star” to signal the birth of the Christ (2:2, 7, 9, 10). Also, at the end of time, when the Son of Man returns, the cosmic and celestial order will bend and submit to his heavenly, other-world, authority and presence (24:29, 30). See, here, how at the beginning, in his first coming, the celestial served to magnify the presence of the Christ, and the same will be true of the Second Coming, of the Son of Man’s return.

A spiritual kingdom at spiritual war

It is evident from the Danielic background and Matthew’s Gospel that the kingdom of heaven is at war with the kingdoms of men. Yet, as the heavenly kingdom does not merely originate from heaven, but it is, most importantly, heavenly in nature, it therefore engages in a different form of warfare, one that is inevitably heavenly alone.

Not earthly warfare

As God’s kingdom is from heaven and is heavenly in nature, too, it does not operate on the basis of the flesh and this-world methods and strategies. No Gospel brings this out better than John’s, especially Jesus’ statement in John 18:36:

“ “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” ”

Matthew 26:51-53 has its own version of the Johannine teaching:

“51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached and drew out his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. 53 Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?” ”

We can take a number of things from these two passages. The kingdoms of this world, including the Jews’ understanding of kingdom, was physical, this-world, based. It incorporated earthly kings, armies, soldiers, and weapons. Notice, too, how Jesus, in Matthew, even discards the enlistment of the angelic, or spiritual, world in the same ‘this-world’ capacity. Perhaps we might think that this contradicted what he just said. However, it does not; for, the Jewish concept of angels is tied to them aiding Israel in physical warfare. Just read the OT. Those days and ways for God’s kingdom were over, Jesus implied. His kingdom used, rather, a different form of violence: one that engaged in spiritual warfare, and that, therefore, willingly suffered the violence of the kingdoms of this world (5:38-42; 26:47-27:56) (see ahead). One last word on this: it was not just the Jews who understood the kingdom in physical terms, it was Jesus’ disciples, too, as amply magnified in Peter’s drawing of the sword. This event, remember, happened after Matthew 24:1-3 and surely informs us of the disciples’ very this-world understanding of the Messianic kingdom.

Spiritual invasion and violence

Why was it, then, that Christ’s heavenly kingdom was found on earth, spreading here? It was because it was the reign of God in heaven, through his beloved Son, that invaded this world to be at war with the spiritual powers that held the kingdoms of men in darkness and bondage. To establish his heavenly kingdom on earth, he must first crush Satan and those under his authority in this world, in the kingdoms of men. Matthew 11:12 described the nature of God’s kingdom as one of spiritual violence and of spiritually violent men who “take it by force”. John the Baptist and those who followed him (the sons of the kingdom) were fighting to assert God’s heavenly reign, for the kingdom must be torn away from the Jews, who were under the Babylonian exile of the Satanic Nebuchadnezzar, spiritually speaking. In destroying Satan’s ‘work’ in the land of Judea, Jesus was, by extension, demonstrating his superior authority and intimating that the world will also bow to his Messianic rule.

The cross

In this context of spiritual warfare, we must highlight the centrality of the cross. For it was ‘the’ way that the Son used ‘spiritual violence’ to beat down Satan and his authority. Let us remind ourselves of what we read in Matthew 26:51-53, for Jesus’ kingdom had to demonstrate its power over death and sin by his death on the cross. With great irony, the Romans, thinking in terms of an earthly king or Messiah, named Jesus the “king of the Jews” (27:11, 29), yet did not realize that his kingdom authority was there-and-then being enacted and executed on the cross. Was that not why Satan tried so hard, in reaction to this form of kingdom warfare, to keep Jesus from the cross, and tried to turn the apostolic authority of Peter against the Christ suffering in death (16:23)?

Miracles

In the same context of spiritual warfare via the cross in particular, we must also comprehend that his miracles were weapons of violence. They were not, in other words, so many examples of God wanting us to ‘prosper’ here on earth. They were demonstrating, rather, the heavenly power of God, of the realm of eternal life, over Satan, sin, and death. That was why Matthew 8:14-17 wrote that Jesus’ healing of Peter’s mother-in-law was in fulfillment of the Servant Song of Isaiah 53, a text traditionally used to refer to the cross. For eternal life and its power and incorruptibility is invariably channeled, to speak loosely, through the Christ of the cross, according to Matthew.

‘Our Father’

This ‘violence theology’ puts a totally different spin on Jesus’ ‘Our Father prayer’ in Matthew 6. For the petition that asks “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (6:10) is the disciples’ call to bring war to the enemy, to crush the foe to complete the invasion, and to seal the victory that comes through the cross of the heavenly and Messianic king.

Satanic rulership

It is vital to understand that Jesus’ perception of the kingdoms of men is that they are in bondage to Satan.  As much as it is true that God and the Word created all things (John 1:1-3), and God reigns over creation, including the physical earth, the nations of the world do not submit to him, bow the knee to him, nor to his Christ. Indeed, this world is ruled by Satan (John 12:31), and his aim is to subvert the Son of God and his heavenly, spiritual, kingdom. Thus, it is Jesus who has to break into the strong man’s house to spoil it by overpowering its master (12:25-29). Throughout Matthew there are references to demons and to Jesus overpowering them (e.g., 4:24; 7:22; 8:16, 28-34, etc.). For Jesus is taking the war to Satan by plucking souls from Satan’s domain to make them sons of the heavenly kingdom. Satan fights back by tempting Jesus. Satan deliberately placed Jesus on the temple height within the city of Jerusalem, trying to allure Jesus by temple and city sentiment (4:5-6). ‘Will not God protect his own Son, in his own city, in his own temple?’, is Satan’s temptation.  See, then, how Satan moves to the greater sphere and concern, the ’most appealing fruit of temptation’: ruling over the kingdoms of the world (4:8). This implies that Satan possessed these kingdoms as their ruler, and that even he understood that it was never merely about Israel, Jerusalem, and the temple. Later, Satan went after Jesus’ disciples, using them to try to trick Jesus to give up on going to the cross (16:23). In all these Satanic temptations were utilized this-world comforts, power, and rewards. For Satan manipulated and dominated ‘the flesh’, the world and its nations, to try and prevent a spiritual work on earth being done by the heavenly Christ.

The kingdom of a new world

Old destroyed

The aim of this spiritual warfare is not to restore God’s kingdom in this world as it stands. For, Matthew mentions a couple of times about heaven and earth passing away (5:18, 35), but not his word. The implication of this is that heaven and earth as the domain of Satan are destroyed, for they do not comply with the word of Christ.

Regeneration

The flipside of this is that there will be a new world. This is what Matthew calls the “regeneration”. It does not mean ‘restoration’, as is often thought. It reflects the same idea as that found in the other use of anakainósis in Titus 3:5, one of regeneration. It will be a new creation, one that is ‘present’ and not passed away, one befitting the word of Christ and those who follow it, a new heaven and earth in which there is no disobedience or demonic presence.

Resurrection-like

Nor is this “regeneration” the blessing of being ‘born again’, as is sometimes argued. The context does not suit such an individualistic, salvific, meaning. Although, we do see such salvific theology in Titus 3:5. The concept of spiritual regeneration is correctly identified by some as a form of spiritual resurrection (see Eph.2:1-6). To use the idea of resurrection in illustration, the regeneration of Matthew is, effectively, this creation that has “passed away”, only to be ‘raised up from the dead’ to be delivered from the curse of sin and from Satan’s control over mankind and the nations. It is then wholly given over to Christ’s reign. To steal and adapt Paul’s language in 1 Corinthians 15- just as Jesus’ body went into the ground as one type of body and was raised as another, so the world will go into the ground, so to speak, as one type of ‘body’ and be ‘raised’ as another. (Of course, this is an illustration.) The world will be ‘resurrected’, not reconstituted, perfected, or restored. It has to be ‘resurrected’ because the world as we know it is ruled by Satan. A new, Messianic, ruler marks a new creation, a new world, and the passing away of the other, sinful, Satanically controlled, world.

Objection

It will be said against my view that it fails to recognize that this world is the Lord’s and is the Messiah’s, too. It was not that he was therefore taking it back, for he had never lost it. Therefore, it is not a brand-new kingdom, but it is one that is restored to its rightful owner, thus the parable of the landowner and his son (21:33-46).

The assumption of this view is that God’s kingdom is established on earth and is therefore earthly in nature. It thinks the Jewish nation to be God’s kingdom, not just in name, but quite literally. I think, however, this misinterprets the OT. The nation of Israel is indeed a “kingdom of priests, a holy nation”, but it is not a “heavenly kingdom of priests” or a “heavenly and holy nation”. This is to say that, Israel’s priesthood and holiness was this-world bound. The physical nation was marked out as a servant of Yahweh, conveying to it a form of holiness and priesthood. But that did not mean that the nation itself, its kingdom, was a form of heaven on earth, or was in itself the heavenly kingdom in action. If one reads the OT, the kingdom of heaven is literally heavenly, and its power emanates from heaven to earth. God’s heavenly presence rarely came down to earth, and when it did it was preeminently in the form of the ‘shekinah’ glory in the temple. The two realms- heaven’s kingdom and the Jewish kingdom- were separate, yet the heavenly did sometimes reveal itself ‘on the ground’, as it were, via the Jewish nation.

God’s heavenly kingdom, by contrast, invaded this fallen world. Early Israel was the staging post for this, for it was warfare. It was not until the coming of the Christ that God’s kingdom in its spiritual and heavenly force and form was let loose on this physical world, its demonic overlords, and its ‘sons’. The Christ’s inheritance, in other words, was not this world as such, for it was rotten and evil, and controlled by Satan, but a literal heavenly world, one in which was truly merged together as one heaven and earth. For this to happen, this evil world will have to die and then be ‘raised’ (see before) to be the heavenly-earthly kingdom of God. Revelation 21 depicts this very thing, for the divine glory of God and the Lamb that is located in heaven becomes then the glory of this creation in its entirety, merging heaven with earth, making this world, quite literally, ‘heavenly’ in nature. Is this not why, too, Jesus’ resurrection body is a heavenly body, and he is called “the second man…from heaven”, so that his followers will bear the same heavenly image in their resurrection bodies (1 Cor.15:40, 47-49)? Their new bodies are not the ‘restoration’ of their old bodies, but the old, corrupt, bodies used as seed and then ‘watered by’ the heavenly power to bring forth new, heavenly, bodies, without corruption or evil. So, a similar process is applicable to this world are ‘resurrected’, for it will have no evil or sin it, and all demonic powers will be forever cast out of it.

Such is the inheritance of the son of the parable of Matthew 21. The Jews had abused God’s heavenly presence on earth. It was now torn away from them, so that the flood gates of a cosmic form of the heavenly kingdom would be opened up. It was this far superior cosmic kingdom, a new heaven and earth, that was the Son’s inheritance.

Please, reader, review Hebrews 1. It refers to a heavenly king reigning from heaven, who must put away the old creation completely. For his heavenly kingdom is of a different land, yet it extends its power over this world. The implication is that one day, a new, heavenly, world will emerge out of heaven itself, a new creation. On the spiritual level, we already experience this in the form of spiritual resurrection through faith in Christ Jesus.

Reflections

Jesus was not, in his ministry, responding to an Old Covenant Israel, but asserting the New Covenant and its heavenly kingdom over rebellious Israel. The Israelites had not been wise stewards of the kingdom ‘riches’ that they had been given. Moreover, they were jealous of the Christ, for he was bringing the full weight of heaven with him to create a truly heavenly-world, one extending heaven’s life, glory, and light throughout a ‘resurrected’ world. The Jews were no longer central; they were cut off.

The relevance of this to Matthew 24-25 is that, we must not therefore make that passage predominantly about Israel’s plight, forcing the temple and Jerusalem to be the interpretive focus. The kingdom of heaven and its new, expanded, presence is the true center of thinking. For, Jesus’ first coming marked the end of the old order, not only of Jewish primacy, but of the world and its demonic nature. For Judea and the Jews were ruled over by Satan, but refused to acknowledge this and bow the knee to the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven. So, until the Son returns, he will engage in spiritual warfare with this world, bringing Gospel-judgments upon it, until at last he comes again for a second time to finish the job of crushing his enemies on earth.