Simply defined, the kingdom of heaven is God’s way of thinking, living, and being. Sometimes, it seems that the kingdom of heaven is the gospel sometimes it seems to represent God. In every story, the kingdom of heaven represents something valuable and good that must be bought and cherished. Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven as a priceless pearl, a buried treasure, a fishing net, a homeowner, a mustard seed, a sower, and other tactile objects. Jesus most often illustrates this concept by using parables. “The kingdom of heaven” is a metaphor for the concept of living under grace rather than law-of doing good because someone has experienced freedom in Christ, not because he/she will be punished for doing evil. Throughout the Beatitudes, Jesus uses the phrase the “kingdom of heaven” to describe a lifestyle of perspectives and priorities that are grounded in eternal purpose. Understanding this phrase is key to understanding how we’re supposed to bring heaven down to earth. Jesus spends a good portion of his teaching explaining the phrase “kingdom of heaven,” which appears in the gospels 34 times and 31 times in Matthew alone. “The Lord’s Prayer” isn’t the only place Jesus talks about the kingdom. To understand the imagery of “on earth as it is in heaven,” we might need to brush up on the metaphor “ kingdom of heaven.” What “kingdom” does Jesus pray to “come”? What kingdom belongs to God? And how does that pertain to the struggle each of us have on earth? This is how most people have learned “The Lord’s Prayer” (KJV) over the past few centuries:Īnd forgive us our debts and we forgive our debtors.Īnd lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,įor thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, He eliminates the need for a priest to communicate with God. Then Jesus inserts this special phrase “on earth as it is in heaven” into his sample prayer, which has been memorized and repeated for thousands of years under the title “The Lord’s Prayer.” By giving his audience a template for prayer, he calls them to personal communication with God. Jesus calls his followers to a new, personal perspective: to live holy lives means following the Son of God rather than a priest or a set of rules. He shares new perspectives about murder, marriage, adultery, divorce, oaths, love, and giving.įor instance, instead of softening the rules for adultery, Jesus explains that even thinking lustful thoughts about someone is adultery within the framework of the kingdom of heaven. After delivering the Beatitudes, Jesus continues a lengthy lesson about relational laws that are obvious addendums to the Law of Moses that his audience would have known.
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