The Kingdom Of God

1
The Kingdom Of God

• pp. 90-92

2
Think/Pair/Share

• How do you envision the Kingdom of God?
• What is the second coming?
• What are the End Times?

3

• Jesus made a promise to his disciples that he
  would return.
• Parousia refers to Jesus second coming in the
  end times. According to Matthew 25, Jesus appears
  in his glory. In our creed, we state that we
  believe Jesus will come again to judge the
  living and the dead.

4

• At first the gospel was passed on by word of
  mouth since Jesus was to return. When Jesus
  second coming had not taken place after 50 years,
  stories of Jesus were gathered and the oral
  tradition of Matthews account would have taken a
  written form.
• Central to Jesus teaching in Matthews gospel is
  the teaching of the kingdom of heaven.

5
Apocalyptic Literature

• At the time of Matthews gospel, Jews were ruled
  by Romans, the temple was run by people who were
  no rightfully the high priest, Jewish people had
  experienced the influence of Greece and
  Hellenization and still had the collective memory
  of the Babylonian exile from 500 years before.
• From all of this, apocalyptic literature emerged.
  Apocalyptic writings were writings in times of
  crisis.

6

• The Jewish people were wondering if God had
  abandoned them or was testing them.
• They believed that the tribulations they
  encountered were the prelude to God coming to
  them and liberating them from their sufferings.
• Apocalyptic writings emphasize and end to evil
  and present God coming to judge the world.

7

• With Gods coming, the truth of the world is to
  be revealed.
• The end times are to include a battle between
  good and evil and evil is to be defeated.
• Jesus often uses apocalyptic language but strips
  it of many of its images. (Repent for the kingdom
  of heaven is near)
• Jesus teaches of an outpouring of love and a gift
  of salvation to accompany the end times.

8
Kingdom of Heaven

• In Jesus time people spoke Aramaic. Aramaic was
  also used in synagogues when discussing scripture
  as Hebrew was not used by the common person.
• Scripture was paraphrased in Aramaic and the
  Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven became a
  metaphor for the Lord is King and to refer to
  Gods presence.
• Jesus regularly emphasizes Gods nearness in
  Matthews gospel.

9

• The coming of God appears in the person of Jesus.
• The Kingdom of God is reveal in the teachings and
  actions of Jesus.
• The Kingdom of God takes on flesh and bones in
  the person of Jesus.
• Through the person of Jesus we get a glimpse of
  the Kingdom of Heaven.

10
The Kingdom of Heaven comes among us

• The people experienced Jesus time with them as
  generosity and abundance.
• The sick were healed sinners and outcasts were
  invited and accepted people who heard his words
  were left astonished.
• Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom of God in human
  history.

11
The Kingdom of Heaven and the Church

• The Church that Matthew speaks of is not the
  Kingdom of Heaven.
• The Church are the first fruits and are a sign of
  what is to come. They are a community in which
  the Kingdom of God is at work.
• Through the sacraments and liturgy, the Church in
  present time lives this future reality.

12
The Ethics of the Kingdom of Heaven

• In the Old Testament Moses receives and delivers
  the Torah from Mount Sinai.
• In Matthews gospel, Jesus delivers the Sermon on
  the Mount (the new Torah) on a mount.
• Jesus provides a platform for the life of his
  disciples through teachings and beatitudes
  (blessings).

13
Gospel The Good News pg. 88

• Stage 1 Jesus ministry and Jesus death and
  resurrection
• Stage 2 Oral tradition of stories and sayings
• Matthew, Mark, Luke synoptic gospels (can be
  examined together as they follow the same
  timeline and have a lot in common.

14

• Stage 3 Canonical gospels are written
• Marks gospel and another referred to as Q came
  first and helped to shape Matthews and Lukes
  which were written independent of each other.
• Johns was written last and is drawn only from
  the Oral Tradition (completely different form -
  evangelical)