The Kingdom of Heaven: The Riddle of the Gospels

In Matthew, after his testing, Christ took up the words of John the Baptist, preaching, "Repent, the kingdom of heaven is near."

When I first read that New Testament as an adult, it seemed that the focus of Christ's entire message was "the kingdom of heaven or God" is at hand. He was announcing a change in the nature of reality, and, looking back at how Christianity did change the nature of reality over the last 2,000 years (including the perceptions of other religions), this statement seemed very prophetic. However, there is a riddle in what Christ means by the "kingdom of heaven" that we have to study all of Christ's words throughout the Gospels to discover.

First, let us clear away the differences between our English translation and the original Greek. We have to rely on Greek because, unlike many of Christ's words, this phrase doesn't refer to any Old Testament teaching, an important fact in itself.

The Greek word metanoeo is translated as "repent," but its specific meaning is to "perceive afterward" as in to see the truth after a mistake is made. This emphasis on perception is important because of the meaning of the "kingdom of heaven."

In the actual Greek, the phrase used in Matthew (and NOT in the other Gospels) "kingdom of heaven" doesn't necessarily mean the kingdom or rule of God (the phrase used in all the Gospels including Matthew). It means literally, the rule of the universe. The meaning of ouranos (the heavens) can include the heavenly abode of God, but it certainly isn't limited to it.

The term translated as "near" in the version above or "at hand" in King James is eggizo, which is a verb and means "to bring near" or "to join one thing to another."

So the actual meaning is that we must change our perceptions. The laws of the unverse are not what we think. We are coming to those laws or they are coming to us. The laws of men are being joined to the laws of the universe.

There is a lot to think about here. The phrase brings us back to the Lord's Prayer, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Again, we get the idea that the our earthly, parochial view is being joined with a more universal view.

However, what is this "rule of heaven" that Christ talks about? In the Gospels, it is described as many things--a growing tree, yeast in bread, a net that catches all fish, and a harvest that includes both weeds and wheat. At least part of what is meant is the last judgment, separating saints from sinners, but that is only a part of what is meant. But that judgment, whether at the end of the world or the end of our lives is only one aspect of the kingdom or rule that Christ speaks about.

As far as this kingdom drawing near or being joined with the world of men, Christ always refers to this, not as something that happens at a specific time, but something that is always being culminated right now. (The Greek tense use is the "perfect," which doesn't exist in English. It means an action that is being completed now.) Since the general assumption of this blog is that Christ's words apply to us now as much as they applied to his contemporaries, this would mean that the process is still being completed today as it was 2,000 years ago.