Jonathan Williams with Word of God, Speak

In 40 days, the little band of men who had fled in terror on the night of Jesus’ arrest had been gathered, forgiven, restored, and strengthened. They had their minds opened and renewed as they listened to “the things concerning the Kingdom.” The Resurrected Teacher was putting the finishing touches on His work to prepare them for the challenge that lay before them.

In a matter of a few days, the Kingdom of God had exercised its power in the world in two new ways: victory over sin and death at the cross and the introduction of eternal life and immortality in the resurrection. The Kingdom of God was not set back by the evil plans of men, nor had it been abandoned by God for other plans. Rather, the Kingdom triumphed over every enemy and circumstance that opposed it. God continued to fulfill Kingdom prophecy and rule with might in the midst of His people.

Jesus' followers were stunned, shocked. In a matter of a few days Jesus had gone from the pinnacle of praise to the depths of a weak and shameful death. Had not all that Jesus stood for come to a painful and cruel end? Hopes were shattered. Disappointment and fear abounded. But what they could not see was that Jesus' death was the unexpected victory of the kingdom.

Jesus used parables about the kingdom to test their perception of his mission and the way he was inaugurating the kingdom. In this lesson, we will look at the parables of the wheat and the tares, the mustard seed, the leaven, the treasure, the pearl, and the fish net.

A parable is a simple story drawn from everyday life. Throughout His ministry Jesus used them to illustrate key points in His message. Yet as the confrontation with some intensified, and as the multitudes increased, Jesus began to use parables for something more than illustrations. He used them to test their perception of His message on the Kingdom.

The Jews believed that a complete realization of God’s Kingdom would come only when God broke the rule of Rome. Thus, when Jesus stated that the Kingdom of God had arrived, many Jews found this difficult to accept. How could the Kingdom of God be present on earth if the Romans still ruled in the land promised to Israel? God’s Kingdom could not be present, they thought, for His kingly power had obviously not been displayed in judgment. How did Jesus address this difficulty in the minds of His people?

How glorious it must have been to behold Jesus’ mighty works of power! Those works of power showed that the Kingdom was present. But another way he demonstrated the presence of the kingdom was through His teaching.

How did Jesus demonstrate that the Kingdom of God had entered the world? The first way was by His mighty works of power. Never before had such an awesome and complete display of power been exhibited in Israel. Jesus demonstrated mastery over men. He gave sight to the blind and healed the lame and lepers. He gave speech to the mute and hearing to the deaf. Even the dead were raised back to life.

In this study we come to the sixth concept and the final period that set the stage for the arrival of the King on the earth. It was a time that was marked with darkness and difficulty for Israel.

God is king, and the King sovereignly created mankind to rule under his authority, but the earth was now a battlefield as the nations struggled with one another for supremacy. It is also a battlefield between the rebellious kingdoms of men and the Kingdom of God. Those are the first three major concepts to know if we want to understand the kingdom of God. We covered those in the previous lesson. Today, we will cover the next two concepts about the Kingdom of God.