Jesus and the Kingdom

By the time John the Baptist and Jesus came on the scene, expectation of the Messianic Kingdom was almost at a fever-pitch among many in Israel.

Jesus' message was that the Kingdom "is at hand"; that the "time is fulfilled".

He said things like, "The hour is coming, and now is..."

He spent effort correcting the Jews' concepts of the Kingdom, explaining the true nature of the Kingdom.

He said things like, "...the son of man coming in His Kingdom..."

"...with power and great glory..."

But He also said, "The Kingdom cometh not with observation".

"The Kingdom is within you".

"The Kingdom of God has come upon you."

The Apostles including Paul had precisely the same message: the Kingdom is coming, and believers in Jesus are in the Kingdom already.

"Except a man be born again, he shall not see the Kingdom of heaven," Jesus told a ruler of the Jews.

The present GOSPEL-scheme isn't just some interim scheme while we wait for God to get back to a Levitical Kingdom scheme for Israel. The Gospel is the very Kingdom-scheme which had been promised to the Patriarchs, foreshadowed by the Law, and predicted by the Prophets.

It's all about JESUS!