[CS-FSLUG] TH The kingdom of Heaven

[Nigel Ridley]

On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 07:17:15 -0500
Ed Hurst <softedges at tconline.net> wrote:

> Robert W. wrote:
> >>I was under the impression grammatically Jesus was saying, "This  
> >>Kingdom of which I speak is the sort of thing you find inside  
> >>yourself, if you find it at all."
> > 
> > [snip]
> > 
> > I was always under the impression that many Jews of Jesus' time  
> > expected Messiah to be an earthly king. A deliverer who would drive
> > out  the invaders and establish a physical kingdom in their here and
> > now.  Could Jesus have been dispelling that perception of Messiah?
> > Entrance  into heaven's realm isn't by crossing a physical border.
> > It comes from  a change in who we are (our heart).
> 
> Indeed, the much ingnored "Messianic Expectations". I was a student of
> 
> an aged ThD whose thesis was one of the better summations of that 
> material. Jesus worked awfully hard to beat back that bunch of
> nonsense.

Not 'nonsense' at all. Why did the angel Gabriel lend to that
expectation when he spoke to Mary?:

31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and
will call his name 'Jesus.' 32 He will be great, and will be called the
Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his
father, David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.
There will be no end to his kingdom." (Lk. 1:31-33).

And why didn't Jesus rebuke His disciples when they asked about
restoring the kingdom?:

6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, are you
now restoring the kingdom to Israel?"

7 He said to them, "It isn't for you to know times or seasons which the
Father has set within His own authority. 8 But you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in
Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the
earth."

It is because the Jewish Messianic expectations are still valid and will
come to pass.

Of course, us all being brothers, you are allowed to hold to a different
theological position -- even if it is wrong :-)

 That and the perversions of the Alexandrian school of
> Pharisaism.
> 
> -- 
> Ed Hurst
> -----------
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Blessings,

Nigel

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