The Eye of a Needle
A persistent widow, a patient father, a needle’s eye, a treasure hidden in a field: These are among the most iconic images of the parables of Jesus of Nazareth. These stories were delivered verbally by Jesus and recorded in the gospels, and they have since been collected in the most widely available work of literature in the world. Yet for all their familiarity to modern readers, at the center of these parables lies an enigma. The kingdom of Heaven, a concept whose meaning and implications have been fiercely debated in the two millennia since Jesus’ life, is the focus of all Jesus’ parables; his stories were intended to provided points of reference for his followers to understand this mystery. The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (EDT) states that the terms “kingdom of God”, “kingdom of the heavens”, “his kingdom”, and “my kingdom” are all equitable to “kingdom of Heaven” in different contexts, and together they appear over one hundred times in the gospels (607-611). It is little wonder that interpretations of the phrase vary so widely, as sometimes its uses within the gospels seem diametrically opposed to one another. In some passages the kingdom of Heaven is at hand (Matt. 3:2, 4:7, 10:7; Mark 1:15; Luke 21:31 KJV), yet at various points in the gospels the term seems to refer to a reign of God that will begin only at the end of the present age (EDT 364-365). These two seemingly contradictory concepts form two poles between which stands a spectrum of interpretations. The fundamentalist Protestant view holds that the kingdom of Heaven is exclusively a description of a coming age, and though it often goes unspoken, that view is echoed in conservative movements throughout Christendom. However, through a precursory understanding of eschatology, a close examination of Jesus’ statements regarding the kingdom of Heaven, and a critical review of the fundamentalist interpretation, it becomes apparent that Jesus’ presentation of the kingdom of Heaven is just as much a message for this world as it is a vision of the next.
The study of what Jesus terms the kingdom of Heaven falls largely within a branch of Christian theology called eschatology. In his voluminous Christian Theology, Millard J. Erickson states that eschatology “has traditionally meant the study of the last things” (1149). In the Old Testament, eschatology was always forward-looking, focused on the coming “day of the Lord” (Isaiah 13:6, 9; Ezekiel 13:5, 30:3 NIV) which is perceived as an age, its beginning marked by a great battle, in which the wicked will be destroyed and the righteous vindicated. In some passages (Amos 5:18-20 KJV) those Hebrews who yearn for the day of the Lord are scorned for thinking they themselves will escape judgment: “Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light--pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?” The first references to the “kingdom” also appear scattered throughout the Old Testament books, sometimes translated “dominion” (Psalm 22:28 KJV). The word from which both of these terms are derived is the Hebrew malekut, which also appears in secular contexts throughout the Old Testament. Malekut is used to refer to the reign of a king, encompassing both his authority to kingship and the domain of his kingdom. “When malekut is used of God, it almost always refers to his authority or his rule as the heavenly King” (EDT 608).
The New Testament eschews any mention of the “day of the Lord”; in the gospels, Jesus instead expounds on the Old Testament notion of the kingdom of God. In these statements and parables, the focus of eschatology shifts. While the notes of the forward-looking mindset from the Old Testament books is still present, in the New Testament “the dominant note is fulfillment--fulfillment by Jesus, who in by his passion and resurrection has begotten his people anew” (EDT 363). The operative word in the New Testament’s kingdom of Heaven is basileia, a Greek word roughly equivalent to the Hebrew malekut. Basileia again refers to both the domain over which a king rules and his authority to rule, so the kingdom of Heaven, like the day of the Lord, refers to a state in which the order of things is in line with God’s will. But unlike the Old Testament concept, the eschatology presented in the gospels is one of immanence, as Jesus declares, “Do you not say, ‘four more months and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35 NIV). Though the Old Testament view of eschatology held that the day of the Lord would occur only at the end of what was then the present age, Jesus’ of immediacy is contextually warranted: The Hebrew belief was that the coming of the Messiah would mark the beginning of the new age, and the gospels hold that Jesus is the Messiah predicted in the same prophesies that spoke of that coming age.
A contextual understanding is useful in interpreting Jesus’ references to the kingdom of Heaven, but the most useful evidence lies within the passages themselves. If “the kingdom” is equitable to the reign of God, when and where does Jesus say that reign is enacted? The majority of Jesus’ references to the kingdom of Heaven appear in his parables, and these allegories fall within a spectrum between two poles, as do modern interpretations of Jesus’ overall message behind the stories. At one end of the spectrum are the parables that emphasize how the kingdom is enacted through individual, immediate action. These include the parable of the treasure hidden in the field (Matthew 13:44) and that of pearl of great price, found in the following verse. These stories show the reign of God enacted when an individual person abandons the vestiges of his old life in pursuit of the will of God. In contrast to these are stories like the parable of the weeds (Matthew 13:24-29), which speaks of a final division of the saved and unsaved that has clearly not yet occurred. Between these two poles exist most of Jesus’ references to the kingdom; it is a realm that is referenced repeatedly in a future tense (Matthew 7:21, 25:1) yet it has been “forcibly advancing” (Matthew 11:12) since the days of John the Baptist. These opposing ideas are often presented even within a single chapter, so their dichotomy is inescapable.
Jesus’ definitive statement regarding the kingdom of Heaven, however, is hidden in plain view in one of the New Testament’s most famous passages, the Lord’s Prayer. This passage appears in two of the three synoptic gospels; though there are minor differences between the version found and Matthew 6:9-13 and that in Luke 11:2-4, the relevant statement is almost identical in both versions. The prayer opens, “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven (KJV) (Luke’s version reads, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.”) Without reading too much into these brief verses, three simple statements can be made. First, the repetition signifies that “Thy kingdom come” and “Thy will be done” are synonymous, or at least strongly correlated, concepts. The kingdom, or the reign of God, is a state in which God’s will is enacted. Second, Heaven is a realm apart from earth in which we can infer that God’s will is done. Lastly, Jesus wills that the reign of God be enacted on earth in the same way that it is in Heaven. This verse is extraordinarily rich in meaning, as are many of Jesus’ sayings, and a careful examination of it can decode the dichotomy presented in the rest of Jesus’ teachings on the kingdom of Heaven. The kingdom is the reign of God no matter where that reign is enacted, and the power given by Jesus to his followers (Matthew 16:19 NIV) carries with it both the authority and the responsibility to enact that reign.
Consequently, radical views on what the kingdom of Heaven comprises must be measured against this understanding. One such view holds the kingdom of Heaven as purely a prediction of the future, focusing on the book of Revelation and appropriating scattered verses from the gospels and epistles to support the view that the kingdom is not, in fact, at hand. Because a simple reading of the gospels thoroughly debunks this concept, it is very difficult to find a theological treatise supporting it, but it has nevertheless permeated much of Christian thought throughout the history of the faith. Though many groups that support this view, such as many socially conservative movements among American evangelicals, would never say aloud that they deny the kingdom of Heaven as a present reality, their stance is reflected more accurately in their focus on apocalyptic prophecy and insistence that Satan rules the present world and will rule it until the second coming of Jesus foretold in Revelation. Groups who adhere to this view are effectively crippled, unable to emulate the work that Jesus did during his life in pursuit of bringing the kingdom of Heaven to earth. Thus these movements and their adherents are rendered useless to the work with which Jesus entrusted his followers. Conversely, they often tarnish the image of Jesus and pose a direct impediment to the work of those who strive to enact Jesus’ vision in the present day. “We need to recognize,” Erickson insists, “that eschatology does not pertain exclusively to the future. Jesus did introduce a new age” (1164).
Progressive evangelical Rob Bell is even more emphatic. He affirms that the order of things that presides in Heaven can indeed be brought to earth, but complementing this statement is its disturbing complement: Hell, he states, can also be enacted in the present. Following an anecdote about a concentration camp, Bell continues to say that “when we say something was a ‘living hell’, we mean that it was devoid of any love or peace or beauty of meaning. It was absent of the will and desire of God” (22). Bell is a strong proponent of the idea that the kingdom of Heaven exists anywhere God’s will is being done; conversely, he presents that the utter lack of God’s will and intention is the very essence of Hell. “When Jesus talks about heaven and hell, they are first and foremost present realities that have serious implications for the future. Either can be invited to earth, right now, through our actions. It’s possible for heaven to invade earth. And it’s possible for hell to invade earth” (22).
So if it is the responsibility of Jesus’ followers to enact the kingdom of Heaven on earth, what and whom does this kingdom comprise; what are the elements of Heaven on earth? Jesus’ sayings and parables can help to discern this, and though the phrase itself does not accompany every one of Jesus‘ instructions, it is certainly prevalent enough to be called the central theme of his teachings. Though most Protestant groups are emphatic on “faith-alone” salvation, the kingdom of Heaven presented in the gospels is almost entirely action-driven. Jesus’ most frequent command is forgiveness; in Matthew alone, Jesus says seven times that to forgive is to be forgiven (Matthew 6:14-15 NIV). Beyond this, the most detailed statement regarding Heaven comes late in Jesus’ teaching (Matthew 25:31-46 NIV), when he describes returning at the end of the age to “separate the people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (25:32). Here, Jesus states that those bound for Heaven are those who fed the hungry, welcomed strangers, clothed the wanting, looked after the sick, and visited those in prison. Upon reading this passage, it would seem unthinkable that anyone could interpret Jesus’ teachings to say that the kingdom of Heaven is merely a future reality. As shown by an introduction to eschatology, an examination of Jesus’ teachings throughout the gospels, and a critical look at an opposing viewpoint, the kingdom can come to earth just as it exists in Heaven. But there should never have been any question; in a single statement, Jesus makes it clear that the kingdom is something we must enact in the present world if we are ultimately to attain it.
Works Cited
Bell, Rob. Sex God Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality And Spirituality. Boston: Zondervan Company, 2007. Print.
BibleGateway.com - The Bible, New International Version. Biblica. Web. 16 Nov. 2009.
Elwell, Walter A., ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Book House, 1985. Print.
Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. New York: Baker Book House, 1986. Print.
The Holy Bible, King James Version. Grand Rapids, Mich: World. Print.
(c) Evan Fuller 2009-2010.
