MATT 12:28–THE KINGDOM HAS COME UPON YOU?April 25, 2019
READING TIME: 1-2 MINUTES
“Dave, what does ‘the kingdom has come upon you’ mean in Matthew 12:28?”
My good friend Dr./Pastor Andy Woods does an excellent job of answering this question.
The offer of the kingdom is the idea that the kingdom was offered to the nation by John the Baptist, Christ, and the disciples, rejected by the nation, postponed, and eventually will be re-offered to the nation during the future Tribulation period. This interpretive framework allows the various manifestations of the kingdom in the life of Christ (Matthew 12:28), such as His miracles, the exorcising of demons, and His Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8) to be interpreted as mere tokens of the coming kingdom rather than announcing an inaugurated form of the kingdom. They do not represent the manifestation of the age to come, but rather epitomize a mere foreshadowing of it.
Thus, the presence of the kingdom in the life of Christ could have become a reality for Israel and the world had Israel fulfilled her responsibility of enthroning her king (Deuteronomy 17:15).
Jesus’s statement here simply meant that the tokens of the kingdom (His miracles, exorcisms, etc.) could have become a reality for the nation of Israel had she responded to the contingency of the offer that Christ was extending to her.
The passages under consideration aptly accord with the idea of a near approach of the Kingdom to the Jews in the person of Christ, implying an offer of establishment which might be withdrawn; they are equivalent to the declaration of Luke 10:9, 11.
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.
