The Focus Of Kingdom Ministry

John the Baptist began to struggle with whether or not his belief that his cousin, Jesus, was actually the Messiah. He expected, as did all Jews, that the Messiah would lead national Israel into a golden age of freedom and rule the earth with God. The Messiah was supposed to be a man of war, yet Christ came preaching forgiveness, enemy-love, and self-sacrifice.

Ironically, Jesus, as he always does, introduces what many have come to refer as the "upside-down kingdom" (upside-down from a human perspective, that is). He says in verse twelve that the kingdom doesn't come to inflict violence (in this age, that is), but to sufferviolence. Many people will be violently opposed to the kingdom, which is why John the Baptist is in prison and Jesus is so severely criticized by the religious establishment and viewed as a threat by the political establishment.

So what is it that sets apart someone as an authentic kingdom-of-God-minded person? Jesus says that such a person is concerned with certain types of people. In response to John's incredulous query, Jesus sends word back to him saying, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them."

In other words, Jesus is telling John that he's not busying himself in setting up an administration of an earthly kingdom that will require campaigning and, eventually, the establishment of a military arsenal. He is busying himself with something entirely different and far more important - bringing relief and peace to those that suffer the most - the blind, cripples, lepers, deaf, dead, and the poor.

Sadly, too many churches dedicate only secondary resources to the poor, largely because they are not primary in focus, but peripheral. After all, there are bills to pay and memberships to grow. But it seems clear to me that Jesus isolates these types of people throughout all four of the gospel narratives as his main focus.

Maybe we should do the same. That is an audience that will never run dry. "For you will always have the poor with you..." (Matthew 26:11).

Created 11 months ago