The kingdom of heaven has come near

and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 3:2)

 

“The kingdom of heaven has come near.” can be diversely interpreted in a case. That meaning of the most common use in our lives is probably “Death of the flesh is imminent.” And there may be also some people who accept it as meaning “God’s judgment has come.” The former and the latter, respectively, express the negative feelings, that is, death and judgment. How nice would it be if the same words could be a message of positivity and hope for both the speaker and the listener? Although John the Baptizer in the wilderness had a poor appearance and shouted solely of repentance, in fact, he told people of hope and promised a bright future that would come soon.

 

When we see people we meet these days, they look more worriments than ever before. In general, COVID-19 is the basic cause of the anxiety they have. It is the most immediate duties for them to make much efforts in order to prevent the disease and manage health. And also, they would get worried about eating because of lack money, of course. In addition to the common problems of the public, there would be many other things to worry about personally. One regrettable thing to Christian is they can’t attend the worship at the church easily. And church pastors have to feel sorry because the members cannot be freely gathered as usual to worship and other activities. And most people including merchants are hardly doing well business, so they have no choice but to lose their motivation for working and living. People who like to walk around outside will be even annoyed by unintentionally being tied up inside home. However, on the other hand, there would be some people who think joyful that worrying situation. Those who had unwillingly attended chapel may be liked by saying, “Good for me now!” And some members who don’t want to offer the money at the chapel may feel relieved by saying, “It’s nice chance, no problem not offering the money.”

The attitude of worrying or liking on the grounds of infectious diseases cannot be anything meaningful for themselves. In other words, for it’s not something to worry about even if we’re worried about, and it’s not something to like even if we like it. You might raise a question against me now because it’s unclear what I mean above. For it’s natural to worry, but it would be undesirable to like worrying. Now, wouldn’t you think of the matter well in the position of the faith? If you consider the meaning of John the baptizer’s declaration of repentance, you will know the answer. John cried out the repentance and Heavenly kingdom. According to John’s preaching, repentance is a prerequisite for Heavenly kingdom. The mistake of ignoring God and disobedience, and the ignorance to Christ who came into the world for salvation, these are the sins to repent. Know what God demands for us is to know and obey God. Speaking in detail, to know God and to obey is same to the act of believing in the Savior Jesus Christ.

The Heaven which was cried out by John the Baptizer is the kingdom ruled by God. And the kingdom of God is the kingdom of glory to be fulfilled within Christ Jesus. That Heaven is a peaceful and happy country forever. Those who believe in Jesus are having peace and happiness first in this world because they live now in the arms of God. And the kingdom is eternal in Jesus the Spirit, at present and in the future, namely in this life and the afterlife. Because with Christ, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day, as 2 Peter 3:8, “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” That means He is a being not staying in the same time constraints that we feel in this world. By believing in Jesus, if I have Him in me and He has me in Himself, the constraints of the world could hold me mere temporarily. That is, it is to live in Jesus forever. Just that is the eternal life of Christian. Thus even if we have some worrying things in our current life, the hardships will not be able to lead us into a deep place of trouble. It is first essential now to take the best care for quarantine and health care in front of the situation of danger in COVID-19. Of course, we’ll also have to work hard on our economic life. Nevertheless we must not worry or complain about anything we are faced with.

 

The first thing to do when you are in difficulties is repentance above all. John the Baptizer asked strongly the people to do repentance on the premise of Heavenly kingdom. The kingdom cannot be given without repentance. However most people would not try to do that so according to John’s request. They only hope to be given God’s kingdom, but they don’t like to repent. Ah, that must be disappointing and contradictory thing. A prayer without repentance is nothing but greed. That is because the Spirit of Christ cannot stay in the hearts that are not cleaned.

 

(Written by Koonoh, Pastor of JDO Presbyterian Church in Korea, on July 19th 2020)