Whose Kingdom is This?

Mark 9

 And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.” (Mark 9)

First of all, let me admit that I am confused, very confused. I hope, by the time you read this letter, in your century, that all has become clear. Actually, my real hope is that, by your time, God’s kingdom will have already come. Because, you should know, in my time, what you call the first century, God’s kingdom remains where it has always been, in heaven. I hope that you no longer need to pray, as Jesus himself taught us, saying “thy kingdom come.”

Who am I? A nobody, really, an obscure person living in an obscure nation, and belonging to an obscure sect called “the Way.” My name will mean nothing to you, and perhaps everything about me and my fellow Jesus-followers will not survive what you call the first century.

But I hope. Yes, I and my fellows hope in the promises of Jesus, the man we believe to be the Messiah and the Son of God. Here is a sample of his promise:

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news. (Mark 1)

Yes, he told us that the kingdom of God, in the person of Jesus himself, came near in his very presence.

These promises hold so much hope for us. Why? Because, you see, we are an oppressed people, living under the rule of the Roman legions who occupy our country. That, in itself, would be bad enough. But there’s more, much more evil that afflicts us.

We have a king, Herod is his name. He reigns at the pleasure of the Romans, and he regularly violates what we consider sacred, our Jewish law, written in what we call the Torah. Among other things, Herod illegally married his brother’s wife, and then killed John the Baptizer for calling him out.

Our religious leaders, members of the council, say nothing. They sit in their chamber in Jerusalem, smugly complicit with our Roman masters, and lining their pockets with the money we spend on sacrifices at the temple. The Romans tax us and our own religious leaders steal from the treasury. They tell us that they speak for us, but they speak only for themselves, and for the rich and powerful in our nation.

Jesus called them hypocrites and he was right. But then, worst of all, they had him killed, using their backhanded friendship with the Romans to get them to do their dirty work.

Those same leaders lied to us. Yes, they wove a story about Jesus, hoping to justify eliminating him. They told us that Jesus was a troublemaker, violating our religious law. They told us that his miraculous healings were false, and that he was a sorcerer. He had made a pact with the devil, they said. One even called Jesus a “Samaritan.” Another claimed that he was demon-possessed. They accused him of blasphemy and false prophecy. Not one of these charges, of course, was true. But some people did believe them. And when the highest leaders of your nation speak like this, many people will not question them. So, they joined our leaders in calling for the death of Jesus.

I can only hope that someday, these misguided souls will see how badly they have been used.

Here is what Jesus said about our leaders:

Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8)

Jesus spoke the truth and he exposed their lies. That was what our leaders couldn’t tolerate. He spoke for the poor and the outcasts and the helpless. Our leaders, together with the Pharisees, cared nothing for these, even going so far as to say that poverty and sickness were the result of a sinful life.

I’ll say again, Jesus was and still is our hope. Our hope for the coming kingdom of God is still alive. But in my confusion, I am beginning to wonder.

Why? What has happened? This: Jesus left us years ago, and his kingdom has not yet arrived. Many of us have, in fact, “tasted death” and still, we wait.

In the meantime, evil seems to be growing ever stronger. Followers of Jesus, like me, are being persecuted and driven out. Some, like the deacon Stephen and the Apostle James, were killed, making them martyrs for our faith.

Did we misunderstand Jesus? I recall his words to Pontius Pilate:

Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” (John 18)

Christ Before Pilate

Mihály Munkácsy, 1881

If his kingdom does not belong here, then whose kingdom are we living in? Whose world is this? I fear the answer to that question. Are we living in the kingdom of Satan?

And after calling Satan “the father of lies,” Jesus said more:

…. the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. (John 14)

Is Satan truly the “ruler of this world?” Satan himself certainly thought so:

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” (Matthew 4)

Perhaps now, you can understand my confusion.

I remember one of the confrontations between Jesus and some Pharisees. These always seemed so contentious.

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)

Remembering this gives me some comfort. Jesus was the evidence of the kingdom of God. His presence gave us a foretaste of it. In him we found peace and joy and freedom. Those things are what we hope for in the kingdom of God. And in Jesus, we could see and feel it, if only as long as he was with us. But we can experience at least a taste of his kingdom, even in the midst of our troubled and evil time.

Because even though Jesus is no longer physically with us, our memory of him lives on, and his spirit continues to live inside of each one of us. And what’s more, the words of Jesus live on, strengthening our faith, even after he has left us:

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. (Matthew 24). You see, nothing, not even Satan can stop the words of Jesus.

What does it all mean? All I can tell you, in your time, is this: if the kingdom of God has still not come, look back to us in the first century. We are living through a troubled and evil time in the hope that Jesus gave us, that he will return and God’s kingdom will arrive with him. Take comfort in our hope and in our faith that the kingdom of God will surely come.

And when you think of us, I also want you to remember how we found God’s kingdom in small places. Yes, our fragile community of believers gives us the peace, freedom and joy that Jesus promised. In fact, Jesus assured us of this:

For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them. (Matthew 18)

As the Apostle Paul has told us, we, in our small community of believers, we are the “body of Christ.” In that way, we can hold the kingdom of God within that body, even as we wait in hope.

And so, if you, in your century, are also living in a troubled and evil time, and if your leaders lie to you and steal from you, remember us. Remember our faith, a faith that even in Satan’s world, we can still feel the kingdom of God, both as the “Body of Christ” and also in the promises, the words and the spirit of the presence of Christ. Hold on to these, yes, hold on to these and, like us, live in the hope of the kingdom of God.

Yes, hope. We do live in the hope of the kingdom, hoping for the return of the Risen Christ. Our hope is one more evidence of his kingdom. Why? Because it’s a hope that will not die, cannot die, even as Satan tries with all his might, to kill it. He can never kill the hope of the kingdom.

My prayer for you is that, even over the centuries that separate us, that we will be somehow connected in that hope, and in the faith that we can trust the promises of Jesus. He will come!