Heaven’s Kingdom
Matthew’s Gospel has often been referred to as the Gospel of the Kingdom, and especially as the Gospel of the Kingdom of heaven. The following statistics regarding words used in Matthew are quite interesting.
Heaven - 77X
Kingdom - 56X
Kingdom of heaven- 32X
Kingdom of God- 5X
There are, of course, different interpretations of these statistics, usually tied primarily to one’s overall perspective on Scripture as a whole. Those who take a strongly “vertical” view of Dispensations, for example, hold that the “kingdom of heaven,” as it is used in the Gospel of Matthew [and the phrase never occurs outside of Matthew] refers to the millennial reign of Christ on the earth during which time many among the children of Israel shall come to Christ as their Saviour and Messiah.
Others, who equate the phrase mentioned in the previous paragraph with the phrase, “the kingdom of God” [which occurs 5X in Matthew and 64X outside of Matthew], essentially hold to a broad general interpretation. Basically, the phrases are taken to refer to the “realm of men’s hearts over which they willingly surrender the rule to God.”
I like to combine these two approaches. This may very well be uncomfortable to many. But it is impossible for me to do otherwise. I am glad to acknowledge the Dispensational applications of the “kingdom of heaven” as the phrase is used in Matthew’s Gospel. It does not trouble me in the least to recognize that there will come a day when all Israel, essentially, shall come under the rule of her King, when the high standards of the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount will be the reality of sons of Jacob here on earth. It is a precious hope, and one to delight in as we wait for the return of our Lord.
Yet, to limit these precious references to some later date upon the earth when the Lord will be again dealing with His people Israel, seems to rob them of their precious hope and power in the lives of believers today. In fact, to relegate these references to the “Kingdom Age” is to rob many generations of believers, since the days when our Lord spoke them, of the blessedness they promise to all throughout all time that have been “poor in spirit,” or that have “mourned” their sins, or that have been “meek,” etc. That is something I am not prepared to do.
Therefore, I am of the opinion that though these references have special relevance for Israel at a date in the future, still, they have precious meaning to all believing ones ever since they were uttered by the Lord many years ago.
Establishment of the Ekklesia
This Greek word, which literally means “a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly,” is used 118 times in the New Testament. Of these, it is translated “assembly” 3 times, and “church” 115 times. Its first occurrence is in Matthew 16:18, where the Lord Jesus Christ tells Peter:
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
This is where God introduces us to His entirely new channel of redemptive truth. Previously that channel of truth had been through the Hebrew people and the writings they produced under God’s direct inspiration. Perhaps the most significant aspect of this statement by the Lord is that these little “assemblies” of people, called out to fellowship in God’s Truth, would be engaged in a great warfare against the “gates of hell.”
As suggested a moment ago, God had begun to pass along His Truth through the Hebrew writings that we refer to as the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit refers to them using the Greek word “logion,” translated “oracles” 4 times in the KJV.[1] The concept of an oracle as a source of truth is well known among the Greeks. They had set up numerous places where folks could go and seek “truth” from a “gifted seer.” By using this same Greek word referring to the Hebrew writings, the Holy Spirit was clearly using a concept that was very familiar to the Greek-speaking world to suggest that the true “oracles” were those given by God through the Hebrew writings. It was an enormous claim.
This Greek word is derived from the same Greek word [logos] that God uses to identify His Son in John 1:1ff.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Using this same Greek word established a connection between the entire Greek world “seeking wisdom” and the Lord Jesus Christ. It clearly corresponds to Jesus’ statement about Himself in John 14:6:
I am the way, the truth, and the life.
Additionally, it connected the Hebrew writings [the oracles of God] with Christ’s teaching and that of His apostles as they later came through the ekklesia, the assemblies Jesus spoke of standing against the gates of hell.
Thus, we see that in this very first book of the New Testament writings we have the establishment [by the Lord] of the churches taking the place of the Hebrew people and their inspired writings as the channel of God’s Truth in the world. This certainly adds significance to Paul’s identification of these assemblies as he did in 1 Timothy 3:15 as:
…the pillar and ground of the truth.
World-Wide Significance
The emphasis upon the world as the recipient of the truth about Jesus of Nazareth being the Christ of God is overwhelmingly stressed in the writings of John. The English word “world” occurs no less than 110 times in John’s New Testament books![2] Perhaps the most familiar usage is in John 3:16:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
And it should come as no surprise that the message of the Gospel of Matthew, which reveals Jesus of Nazareth as the one true King, would clearly identify that the entire world is in view, not only the Jews. Matthew uses the word no less than 18 times. All of these passages bear close attention by the serious student of the Gospel of Matthew.[3] We will consider only a few very briefly here.
Matthew 5:14- Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Near the beginning of His teaching His disciples, Jesus makes it clear that the world is in view, not only the Jews.
Matthew 13:38- The field is the world.
Jesus plainly identifies that the world is in view in the sowing of the Truth, not only the Jews.
Matthew 24:14- And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
This verse is especially important because Jesus specifically says that this Gospel of the kingdom [that God’s Christ is the true King] must be preached to all the world before the end of the world can come.
It matters that these mentions of the world in Matthew’s Gospel, so clearly connect Jesus of Nazareth not only with the Jews, but all the world!
[1] Acts 7:38, Romans 3:2, Hebrews 5:12 and 1 Peter 4:11.
[2] Gospel of John, 1st John, 2nd John, 3rd John and Revelation.
[3] 4:8; 5:14; 12:32(twice); 13:22, 35, 38, 39, 40, 49; 16:26; 18:7; 24:3, 14, 21; 25:34; 26:13; and 28:20.