In his book, “Dictionary of Biblical Theology,” Xavier Leon-Dufour points out that in the OT, the Israelite understanding of divine kingship differed from that of other ancient Eastern kingdoms in an essential way: Yahweh has a covenant with his people. He desires his reign to be recognized by obedience to the Law. His reign is of the heart, a moral code, not a political one. (p 292)
In today’s gospel, after his baptism, Jesus has moved to Capernaum, on the Sea of Galliee and beings his public ministry by declaring the “Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Then he began teaching in the synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom, and curing people. A sign, it seems, that the kingdom had indeed come in the person of Jesus. It has broken into history, into time and space.
People came from all over to see and hear Jesus. They brought the sick, the mentally ill, the suffering, and he cured them. They may have been simply curious. They may have been desperate, unable to find relief from suffering and giving this guy a chance. I doubt many believed he was the Christ at that moment. Maybe after a cure. Maybe not. Maybe they thought he was a wonderworker or magician.
What sticks with me is the image of Jesus, moved by compassion, reaching out to the crowds that followed him, making them whole, giving them a fresh beginning to live life without the chronic illness that plagued them. The kingdom was marked by compassion and love, not judgement.
I pulled out reference books and read about the concept of “kingdom” and “kingdom of God” in the scriptures. The kingdom arriving and still being yet to come speaks to the need for our involvement in making it present in our time. The kingdom is sometimes compared to a seed or to leaven: It exists in one form but continues to grow and change what surrounds it. Seeds grow into plants that feed us or trees that shelter birds and animals. Leaven turns a measure of flour into loaves of bread.
We are called to participate in the kingdom’s coming, in its transformation of the world, by following Jesus’ example and commands: Love God, love self, love neighbor. John L. McKenzie, in his classic “Dictionary of the Bible,” says “The accomplishment of the reign of God demands a moral revolution in those who submit themselves to the reign…” and states that the reign of God itself enables such moral transformation.
Grace begets grace. God not only shares the Divine Self with us, but gives us the Grace to respond to it. The Kingdom is here. The Kingdom is still coming. No matter how we understand God, or name the Divinity that is the source of all, we can choose to respond to the gift of God’s self or not. We can “preach” the kingdom with our lives and help it come or not.
Reading news reports on global warming, deadly violence, rape, oppression, wars, and poverty, I wonder where this kingdom could possibly be. Knowing good people of faith and of no faith, who work for justice, who reach out with compassion, who freely share the Grace they have been given, I recognize it in our midst. Jesus shows us the way and is the way. He is the kingdom and invites us to be part of the kingdom. He gives us the Spirit we need to say “Yes” to becoming healing Love and to pouring it out on our part of a suffering world.
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