What did Jesus Teach the "Kingdom of Heaven/God" is?

by truth_b_known 17 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • truth_b_known
    truth_b_known

    The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the beginning of Acts are filled with what the authors purport are statements of Jesus. Jesus is quoted as making several statements about "the Kingdom of Heaven" or "The Kingdom of God". Those statements are often given as parables that start with a phrase something like "The Kingdom of Heaven is like..."

    So there are many statements of what this kingdom is like. Jesus command his followers to go out and preach about this kingdom. However, after all these years, I still can't tell you what this kingdom is supposed to be based solely on Jesus teachings. It seems that when professed Christians try to explain what this kingdom is they have to refer to books written by the apostles after Jesus' ascension to heaven.

    Are there any statements purported to be from Jesus where he explains what this kingdom is?

  • Bobcat
    Bobcat

    Hi tbk,

    This post (off site) may be of help. Also check out the link at the bottom of that post.

  • Jeffro
    Jeffro

    No, and Paul doesn’t really say much about It either apart from that it’s in heaven and certain people aren’t allowed in.

  • alanv
    alanv

    God moves in mysterious ways lol

  • smiddy3
    smiddy3

    Where in the bible does it speak of "Jehovah`s Kingdom" ? that is to be preached in all the inhabited earth ?

  • menrov
    menrov

    Reading what is written:

    Matt 28:18 Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you....

    There is no mention of a kingdom to be taught. It was about teaching the new baptized people to obey everything Jesus had commanded them.

    See what the statement Jesus made before he told them what to do (verse 18). You could say that the "Kingdom" is the life style one adopts when obeying the command made by Jesus, as Jesus was already King when he said these words. In other words, if you live with all baptized people that obey Jesus's commands, you experience the His Kingdom.
    Now as each religion made up their own version of what the kingdom is and what people should be taught, you can say that His kingdom actually does not really exist.

    Those who believe in the scriptures hope that his kingdom will one day be active on earth.


  • nowwhat?
    nowwhat?

    I enjoyed bobcats answer. It really is the kingship or ruling of God. Not a physical kingdom that Jesus was talking about

  • waton
    waton

    not jesus talking directly, but perhaps directing the transfer: Col. 1:13 a "kingdom of the son's love."

  • Sea Breeze
    Sea Breeze

    It's really pretty simple. Jesus is the heir to the throne of David, his forefather. When Zedikiah was deposed, no one has sat on that throne since...over 2500 years.

    In the absence of a King, religious leaders have filled in the void. That's why they killed him. They didn't want to lose "their place and their nation".

    As usual, its all about the power and money.

    Jesus was utterly disgraced and robbed of everything. But just as it was his destiny to be the "scapegoat" of the world; it is also his destiny to rule Israel from Jerusalem.

    “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land shall mourn, each family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself... - Zech 12: 10-14

  • Disillusioned JW
    Disillusioned JW

    I think the most reliable extant sources of what Jesus taught about the kingdom of God the gospel books called "According to Mark" and "According to Matthew". The message is that the kingdom of God is as follows. It is near, very near, even at hand (Mark 1:1, 4-5, 14-15; Matthew 3:1-2, 7-12) and that the kingdom is the god's rule on the Earth (at least over Judea) through the messianic son of man. The son of man would rule on Earth. In order to enter the kingdom and receive its blessings people would have to obey the god's laws and seek righteousness, including loving one's neighbor as oneself, and by striving hard to get into the kingdom (Matthew chapters 5 through 7; 18:7-9). Jesus' message about the kingdom was an apocalyptic one (Matthew 13:1-52; 16:27-28; chapters 24-25). The existing political systems and the existing economic systems would be overturned by the kingdom. Many of the poor and of the oppressed would become blessed (Matthew 9:35-38) and most of the rich would suffer and fail to enter the kingdom (Matthew 19:23-24). Those existing in slavery would be released from bondage. Those who worshiped the god properly would be cured of infirmities and of diseases and would receive long life (Matthew 4:23; 10:7-8; 11:2-6; 14:14; 15:30-39). The dead would raised to life (Matthew 10:8; 27:51-53). The resurrected righteous dead would be greatly rewarded and the resurrected unrighteous dead would be judged and receive contempt (John 5;28-29; Daniel 12:2; John 11:24).

    Reading what H.G. Wells' said about Jesus in Wells' two volume book called The Outline Of History: Being A Palin History Of Life And Mankind (but note the subtitle on the cover of the book is "The Whole Story Of Man") contributed to be once again believing that Jesus was a historical person. [The edition I read is the final revised edition, revised by Raymond Postgate and G. P. Wells, bearing the copyright date of 1971.] That is because I saw how his apocalyptic message, including a number of hard sayings for those who were prosperous, indicate that Jesus of Galilee must have existed as the founder (or probably a co-founder along with John the baptist/baptizer) of the Nazarene movement within Judaism which later evolved (largely due to Saul/Paul of Tarsus) into what became known as Christianity.

    The apocalyptic message of Jesus failed to come true (other than the destruction of Jerusalem). The kingdom of the god did not become established upon Earth throughout the Earth, nor even upon Judea.

    Page 445 of Wells' book says the following.

    "....remarkable is the enormous prominence given by Jesus to the teaching of what he called the Kingdom of Heaven, and its comparative insignificance in the procedure and teaching of most of the Christian churches.

    This doctrine of the Kingdom Heaven, which was the main teachings of Jesus, and which plays so small a part in the Christian creeds, is certainly one of the most revolutionary doctrines that ever stirred and changed human thought.

    ... For the doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven,a s Jesus seems to have preached it, was no less than a bold and uncompromising demand for a complete change and cleansing of the life of our struggling race, an utter cleansing without and within."

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