July 16, 2019
READING TIME: 1-2 MINUTES
Dave, what does it mean when the Gospels say “the kingdom is at hand”?
Early in the Gospels, we find the expression “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” as proclaimed to the nation by John the Immerser (Matt 3:2; Mark 1:15), Christ (Matt 4:17), the Twelve (Matt 10:5-7), and the Seventy (Luke 10:1, 9, 11). James 5:8–9 uses the identical verb engizō to communicate the nearness or any-moment expectation of the Lord’s coming (the Rapture). This expression “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” depicts the kingdom’s imminent nearness rather than its arrival; the OT expectation of an earthly kingdom had drawn near in the person of Christ. So, Christ offered a literal earthly kingdom to the Jewish nation and as a nation, they rejected it in Matthew 12 (especially verse 24). During the future seven-year Tribulation Christ will re-offer this kingdom to the Jewish nation and at that time they will accept it.
Interestingly, in the events surrounding both Matthew 20:20-21 and Acts 1:6, Christ never issued a rebuke due to a faulty understanding or expectation of a future, earthly kingdom. Rather, in Matthew 20, His only correction to the mother of James and John related to her failure to consider that the cross precedes the crown (Matt 20:22-23). Similarly, in Acts 1, His only correction of the disciples involved their misunderstanding concerning the timing of the establishment of the Davidic kingdom, not the fact of its ultimate fulfillment (Acts 1:7).
Source Used
Woods, Andrew M. The Coming Kingdom: What Is the Kingdom and How Is Kingdom Now Theology Changing the Focus of the Church? Grace Gospel Press, chapter 16.
